The Endocranial Cast of Khirtharia (Artiodactyla, Raoellidae) Provides New Insights into the Earliest Evolution of the Cetacean Brain
We show here that cetaceans that nowadays have the second biggest brain after humans derive from a group of animals that had a lower-than-average expected brain size. This is probably a side effect of the adaptation to aquatic life. Conversely, this very small brain size relative to body mass might be another line of evidence supporting the aquatic habits in raoellids.
Authors
- Rajendra Rana
- Thierry Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1795-2564)
- Maëva J. Orliac (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8922-8356)
- Mohd Waqas
Institutions
- Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University (IN)
- Université de Montpellier (FR)
- Institute of Natural Sciences (BE)
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Brain Behavior and Evolution
- Published
- 2024-12-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1159/000542574
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Marine animal studies overview
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.38
Funders
- Centre Méditerranéen de l’Environnement et de la Biodiversité
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche