The mummified brain of a pleistocene woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius) compared with the brain of the extant African elephant ( Loxodonta africana)
ABSTRACT This study presents the results of an examination of the mummified brain of a pleistocene woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius ) recovered from the Yakutian permafrost in Siberia, Russia. This unique specimen (from 39,440–38,850 years BP) provides the rare opportunity to compare the brain...
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crwiley:10.1002/cne.23905 2024-06-02T08:13:07+00:00 The mummified brain of a pleistocene woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius) compared with the brain of the extant African elephant ( Loxodonta africana) Kharlamova, Anastasia S. Saveliev, Sergei V. Protopopov, Albert V. Maseko, Busisiwe C. Bhagwandin, Adhil Manger, Paul R. National Research Foundation of South Africa (BCM, AB, PRM) 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cne.23905 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fcne.23905 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/cne.23905 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Journal of Comparative Neurology volume 523, issue 16 ISSN 0021-9967 1096-9861 journal-article 2015 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.23905 2024-05-03T11:54:38Z ABSTRACT This study presents the results of an examination of the mummified brain of a pleistocene woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius ) recovered from the Yakutian permafrost in Siberia, Russia. This unique specimen (from 39,440–38,850 years BP) provides the rare opportunity to compare the brain morphology of this extinct species with a related extant species, the African elephant ( Loxodonta africana ). An anatomical description of the preserved brain of the woolly mammoth is provided, along with a series of quantitative analyses of various brain structures. These descriptions are based on visual inspection of the actual specimen as well as qualitative and quantitative comparison of computed tomography imaging data obtained for the woolly mammoth in comparison with magnetic resonance imaging data from three African elephant brains. In general, the brain of the woolly mammoth specimen examined, estimated to weigh between 4,230 and 4,340 g, showed the typical shape, size, and gross structures observed in extant elephants. Quantitative comparative analyses of various features of the brain, such as the amygdala, corpus callosum, cerebellum, and gyrnecephalic index, all indicate that the brain of the woolly mammoth specimen examined has many similarities with that of modern African elephants. The analysis provided here indicates that a specific brain type representative of the Elephantidae is likely to be a feature of this mammalian family. In addition, the extensive similarities between the woolly mammoth brain and the African elephant brain indicate that the specializations observed in the extant elephant brain are likely to have been present in the woolly mammoth. J. Comp. Neurol. 523:2326–2343, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost Siberia Wiley Online Library Journal of Comparative Neurology 523 16 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
description |
ABSTRACT This study presents the results of an examination of the mummified brain of a pleistocene woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius ) recovered from the Yakutian permafrost in Siberia, Russia. This unique specimen (from 39,440–38,850 years BP) provides the rare opportunity to compare the brain morphology of this extinct species with a related extant species, the African elephant ( Loxodonta africana ). An anatomical description of the preserved brain of the woolly mammoth is provided, along with a series of quantitative analyses of various brain structures. These descriptions are based on visual inspection of the actual specimen as well as qualitative and quantitative comparison of computed tomography imaging data obtained for the woolly mammoth in comparison with magnetic resonance imaging data from three African elephant brains. In general, the brain of the woolly mammoth specimen examined, estimated to weigh between 4,230 and 4,340 g, showed the typical shape, size, and gross structures observed in extant elephants. Quantitative comparative analyses of various features of the brain, such as the amygdala, corpus callosum, cerebellum, and gyrnecephalic index, all indicate that the brain of the woolly mammoth specimen examined has many similarities with that of modern African elephants. The analysis provided here indicates that a specific brain type representative of the Elephantidae is likely to be a feature of this mammalian family. In addition, the extensive similarities between the woolly mammoth brain and the African elephant brain indicate that the specializations observed in the extant elephant brain are likely to have been present in the woolly mammoth. J. Comp. Neurol. 523:2326–2343, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. |
author2 |
National Research Foundation of South Africa (BCM, AB, PRM) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kharlamova, Anastasia S. Saveliev, Sergei V. Protopopov, Albert V. Maseko, Busisiwe C. Bhagwandin, Adhil Manger, Paul R. |
spellingShingle |
Kharlamova, Anastasia S. Saveliev, Sergei V. Protopopov, Albert V. Maseko, Busisiwe C. Bhagwandin, Adhil Manger, Paul R. The mummified brain of a pleistocene woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius) compared with the brain of the extant African elephant ( Loxodonta africana) |
author_facet |
Kharlamova, Anastasia S. Saveliev, Sergei V. Protopopov, Albert V. Maseko, Busisiwe C. Bhagwandin, Adhil Manger, Paul R. |
author_sort |
Kharlamova, Anastasia S. |
title |
The mummified brain of a pleistocene woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius) compared with the brain of the extant African elephant ( Loxodonta africana) |
title_short |
The mummified brain of a pleistocene woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius) compared with the brain of the extant African elephant ( Loxodonta africana) |
title_full |
The mummified brain of a pleistocene woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius) compared with the brain of the extant African elephant ( Loxodonta africana) |
title_fullStr |
The mummified brain of a pleistocene woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius) compared with the brain of the extant African elephant ( Loxodonta africana) |
title_full_unstemmed |
The mummified brain of a pleistocene woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius) compared with the brain of the extant African elephant ( Loxodonta africana) |
title_sort |
mummified brain of a pleistocene woolly mammoth ( mammuthus primigenius) compared with the brain of the extant african elephant ( loxodonta africana) |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cne.23905 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fcne.23905 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/cne.23905 |
genre |
permafrost Siberia |
genre_facet |
permafrost Siberia |
op_source |
Journal of Comparative Neurology volume 523, issue 16 ISSN 0021-9967 1096-9861 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.23905 |
container_title |
Journal of Comparative Neurology |
container_volume |
523 |
container_issue |
16 |
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1800759782128222208 |