Relative brain size expanded, especially in H. habilis.
Biologists typically use a simple scale called the encephalisation quotient to give an idea of the relative brain size of an animal and it relates brain volume to body mass.
Because of its large body mass, however, its relative brain size had not expanded over that of its presumed ancestor, H. habilis.
We derived community indices from species traits of habitat specialisation, trophic position, relative brain size and body mass.
Interspecific variation in response to habitat change was not explained by variation in body mass or relative brain size.
Table 3 depicts the effects of Fl and EGCG on body weight gain, food and water intake, and relative brain weight in control and experimental rats.
Treatment with EGCG effectively attenuated the Fl-induced alterations in food and water intake, body weight, and relative brain weight, when compared with Fl-treated rats.
A significant (p < 0.05) decrease in relative brain weight were also recorded in Fl-treated rats when compared with control rats.
This paper examines how various measures of basicranial length and cranial base angulation affect the relationship between basicranial flexion and relative brain size in anthropoids, including Homo sapiens.
So recently an international team of researchers set about testing this hypothesis in birds, a class of animals with widely varying habitats and relative brain sizes.
How does relative brain size figure into the discussions of the cognitive capacities of animals and their ability to suffer?
