The question of what makes modern humans unique has long been a driving force for researchers. Comparisons with our closest relatives, the Neandertals, therefore provide fascinating insights. The increase in brain size, and ...
Evolution
Sep 8, 2022
3
584
These days, dragons are keeping "Game of Thrones" fans on their toes. But they are also providing important insights into vertebrate brain evolution, as revealed by the work of Max Planck scientists on the brain of the Australian ...
Evolution
Sep 2, 2022
0
545
Throughout evolution, prey animals have adopted a range of strategies to evade their predators. But often these elaborate strategies come at a cost. For example, looking out for and fleeing from predators involves a great ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 17, 2022
1
64
Neanderthals are the closest relatives to modern humans. Comparisons with them can therefore provide fascinating insights into what makes present-day humans unique, for example regarding the development of the brain. The ...
Evolution
Jul 29, 2022
0
521
Researchers from the Charles University in Prague reconstructed the evolution of brain neuron numbers in amniotes and revealed that mammals and birds have dramatically increased neuron numbers in brain parts associated with ...
Evolution
Mar 8, 2022
0
1143
Researchers at Stockholm University have provided the first experimental evidence that brain regions can evolve independently of each other during cognitive evolution. This so called mosaic brain evolution was verified empirically ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 10, 2021
1
75
The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. Now, a new study has brought us closer to understanding some of its evolution. It shows that human brains decreased in size approximately 3,000 years ago. By studying ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 22, 2021
15
2519
A new framework which reconciles the roles of behavioral genetics and cultural evolution in inheritance—and cuts through the nature/nurture debate—has been put forward by researchers at the London School of Economics ...
Evolution
Jul 13, 2021
1
132
An individual human can maintain stable social relationships with about 150 people. This is the proposition known as "Dunbar's number"—that the architecture of the human brain sets an upper limit on our social lives. A ...
Plants & Animals
May 4, 2021
1
369
If a friend boasts of having a "big-brained" dog, your reaction is probably not to ask "relative to what?" You would simply assume your friend thinks their dog is pretty smart. But are we always right to equate big brains ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 29, 2021
0
37
