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Brain size evolution in whales and dolphins: new data from fossil mysticetes Project ID: 000347005 Public
10 Media · 4 Specimens · Managed by: mmccurry1

Cetaceans (whales and dolphins) have some of the largest and most complex brains in the animal kingdom. When and why this trait evolved remains controversial, with proposed drivers ranging from echolocation to foraging complexity and high-level sociality. This uncertainty partially reflects a lack of data on extinct baleen whales (mysticetes), which has obscured deep-time patterns of brain size evolution in non-echolocating cetaceans. Building on new measurements from mysticete fossils, we show that the evolution of large brains preceded that of echolocation, and subsequently followed a complex trajectory involving several independent increases (e.g. in rorquals and oceanic dolphins) and decreases (e.g. in right whales and ‘river dolphins’). Echolocating whales show a greater tendency towards large brain size, thus reaffirming cognitive demands associated with sound processing as a plausible driver of cetacean encephalisation. Nevertheless, our results suggest that other factors like sociality were also important.

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Identifier Taxonomy Total Media Date Added Source
nmv:p:216929 Janjucetus hunderi 2 2021-03-04 User Created
nmv:mammalogy:38157 Caperea marginata 2 2021-03-04 User Created
lacm:p:131146 Fucaia goedertorum 2 2021-03-04 User Created
usnm:ip:205950 Parietobalaena palmeri 2 2021-03-02 User Created
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