Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Cortical complexity in cetacean brains.

Patrick R Hof1, Rebecca Chanis, Lori Marino

  • 1Department of Neuroscience, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York 10029, USA. patrick.hof@mssm.edu

The Anatomical Record. Part A, Discoveries in Molecular, Cellular, and Evolutionary Biology
|October 4, 2005
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

An update on captive cetacean welfare.

PeerJ·2025
Same author

Accredited ocean sanctuaries for transforming captive cetacean care.

PLoS biology·2025
Same author

Variation in whale (Cetacea) inner ear anatomy reveals the early evolution of "specialized" high-frequency hearing sensitivity.

Journal of anatomy·2024
Same author

Support US OCTOPUS Act to keep octopuses wild.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2024
Same author

Putative neural consequences of captivity for elephants and cetaceans.

Reviews in the neurosciences·2021
Same author

The Paracingulate Sulcus Is a Unique Feature of the Medial Frontal Cortex Shared by Great Apes and Humans.

Brain, behavior and evolution·2021
Same journal

Mice lacking the p75 receptor fail to acquire a normal complement of taste buds and geniculate ganglion neurons by adulthood.

The anatomical record. Part A, Discoveries in molecular, cellular, and evolutionary biology·2006
Same journal

Projections of somatosensory cortex and frontal eye fields onto incertotectal neurons in the cat.

The anatomical record. Part A, Discoveries in molecular, cellular, and evolutionary biology·2006
Same journal

Pulmonary intravascular monocytes/macrophages in a rat model of sepsis.

The anatomical record. Part A, Discoveries in molecular, cellular, and evolutionary biology·2006
Same journal

Epicardium-derived cells are important for correct development of the Purkinje fibers in the avian heart.

The anatomical record. Part A, Discoveries in molecular, cellular, and evolutionary biology·2006
Same journal

Remodeling dynamics in the alveolar process in skeletally mature dogs.

The anatomical record. Part A, Discoveries in molecular, cellular, and evolutionary biology·2006
Same journal

Human cranial anatomy and the differential preservation of population history and climate signatures.

The anatomical record. Part A, Discoveries in molecular, cellular, and evolutionary biology·2006
See all related articles

Cetacean brains evolved unique features despite a divergent history from primates. Studying these brains reveals alternative evolutionary paths to complex cognition and behavior.

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Neuroscience
  • Comparative anatomy

Background:

  • Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises) diverged from terrestrial mammals over 55 million years ago.
  • Despite a distant common ancestor with primates, cetaceans exhibit convergent cognitive traits.
  • Cetacean neurobiology presents a unique model for understanding brain evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the evolutionary divergence of cetacean brains from terrestrial mammals.
  • To compare cetacean cognitive and neurobiological features with those of primates.
  • To investigate cetacean brain size, cortical complexity, and evolutionary adaptations.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of brain size and hemisphere surface configuration in multiple cetacean species.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Overview of the cerebral cortex cytoarchitecture in bottlenose dolphins.
  • Comparative analysis with primate brain evolution.

    • Main Results:

    • Cetaceans display a unique set of neurobiological features distinct from primates.
    • Data on brain size and surface configuration were summarized for several cetacean species.
    • The cerebral cortex of the bottlenose dolphin was examined for cytoarchitectural complexity.

    Conclusions:

    • Cetacean brains represent an alternative evolutionary pathway to neurobiological and cognitive complexity.
    • The study of cetacean brains offers insights into how complex behaviors arise from different neuroanatomical structures.
    • Cetacean and primate brains serve as crucial models for understanding convergent evolution of intelligence.