Paper: Bigger is not always better: when brains get smaller

Bigger is not always better: when brains get smaller

Kamran Safi, Marc A. Seid, Dina K.N. Dechmann
Zoologisches Institut, Universita?t Zu?rich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057
Zu?rich, Switzerland

Abstract:
Many studies assume that an increase in brain size is beneficial. However,
the costs of producing and maintaining a brain are high, and we argue that
brain size should be secondarily reduced by natural selection whenever the
costs outweigh the benefits. Our results confirm this by showing that brain
size is subject to bidirectional selection. Relative to the ancestral state,
brain size in bats has been reduced in fast flyers, while it has increased
in manoeuvrable flyers adapted to flight in complex habitats. This study
emphasizes that brain reduction and enlargement are equally important, and
they should both be considered when investigating brain size evolution.

Abstract and Full Text Lionks at The Royal Society
http://tinyurl.com/7w84n

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek


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