Brain Size

Certainty Style Key

Hover over keys for definitions:

True Likely Speculative

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Human Uniqueness Relative to "Great Apes":

True

MOCA Domain:

Neuroscience

MOCA Topic Authors:

Todd M Preuss

Humans have the largest brains of any primate in absolute terms, as well as relative to body size. Brain size varies with body size - larger bodied species tend to have larger brains. The evolutionary increase in brain size in the hominin lineage, subsequent to the split between humans and chimpanzees, is well documented in the fossil record, with the greatest increase in the last 2 million years with the emergence of the genus Homo.

Referenced By:

Title	Certainty
Adrenarche	Speculative
Age of Closure of Fontanelles / Sutures	Likely
Brow Ridge	Speculative
Occipital Morphology	Likely
Organized Gathering of Food	Likely
Parental Investment	None
Placement of Foramen Magnum	Speculative
Projection of the external nose	Likely
Rate of CNS Development	None
Relative Size of the Corpus Callosum	True
Requirements at Different Life Stages	None
Sagittal Crest of Skull	Likely
Small/Large Intestine Length Ratio	Likely
Thyroid Hormone Metabolism	Likely
Tool Making	Likely
Transthyretin	None
Von Economo (Spindle) cells	Likely
Whole Body Cooling	None

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