Quantifying primate brain evolution: Evidence from virtual endocasts

Fossil endocasts provide key insights into macroevolutionary changes in primate brain size and morphology over geological time. Compared with other mammals of similar body size, primate brains range from relatively large to essentially “average” for mammals. Endocasts reveal that the major groups of living primates have evolved relatively larger brains and neocortices in parallel. Among haplorhine primates, the neocortex has expanded as a proportion of total brain size and olfactory bulb size has decreased relative to body size. These distinctive features probably reflect an increased importance of vision and a de-emphasis on olfaction in haplorhine sensory ecology.

Duke Scholars

Author Richard Frederick Kay Evolutionary Anthropology