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Multiple Determinants of Whole and Regional Brain Volume among Terrestrial Carnivorans

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  • Eli M Swanson
  • Kay E Holekamp
  • Barbara L Lundrigan
  • Bradley M Arsznov
  • Sharleen T Sakai

Abstract

Mammalian brain volumes vary considerably, even after controlling for body size. Although several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this variation, most research in mammals on the evolution of encephalization has focused on primates, leaving the generality of these explanations uncertain. Furthermore, much research still addresses only one hypothesis at a time, despite the demonstrated importance of considering multiple factors simultaneously. We used phylogenetic comparative methods to investigate simultaneously the importance of several factors previously hypothesized to be important in neural evolution among mammalian carnivores, including social complexity, forelimb use, home range size, diet, life history, phylogeny, and recent evolutionary changes in body size. We also tested hypotheses suggesting roles for these variables in determining the relative volume of four brain regions measured using computed tomography. Our data suggest that, in contrast to brain size in primates, carnivoran brain size may lag behind body size over evolutionary time. Moreover, carnivore species that primarily consume vertebrates have the largest brains. Although we found no support for a role of social complexity in overall encephalization, relative cerebrum volume correlated positively with sociality. Finally, our results support negative relationships among different brain regions after accounting for overall endocranial volume, suggesting that increased size of one brain regions is often accompanied by reduced size in other regions rather than overall brain expansion.

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  • Eli M Swanson & Kay E Holekamp & Barbara L Lundrigan & Bradley M Arsznov & Sharleen T Sakai, 2012. "Multiple Determinants of Whole and Regional Brain Volume among Terrestrial Carnivorans," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(6), pages 1-11, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0038447
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0038447
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Daniel Sol & Núria Garcia & Andrew Iwaniuk & Katie Davis & Andrew Meade & W Alice Boyle & Tamás Székely, 2010. "Evolutionary Divergence in Brain Size between Migratory and Resident Birds," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(3), pages 1-8, March.
    2. Eleanor M. Weston & Adrian M. Lister, 2009. "Insular dwarfism in hippos and a model for brain size reduction in Homo floresiensis," Nature, Nature, vol. 459(7243), pages 85-88, May.
    3. Robert A. Barton & Paul H. Harvey, 2000. "Mosaic evolution of brain structure in mammals," Nature, Nature, vol. 405(6790), pages 1055-1058, June.
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