Why did the human brain size evolve? A way forward

Why the human brain size evolved has been a major evolutionary puzzle since Darwin, but addressing it has been challenging. A key reason is the lack of research tools to infer the causes of a unique event for which experiments are not possible. We suggest that analogous problems have been successfully addressed in other disciplines using what has been recently termed simulation-based inference. Following that approach, we outline a strategy to address why the human brain size evolved: hypotheses are expressed in mechanistic models that yield quantitative predictions for evolutionary and developmental trajectories of brain and body sizes, the predicted trajectories are compared with data, and models are chosen by their ability to explain the data. We discuss a recently published model that makes quantitative predictions for evolutionary and developmental trajectories of brain and body sizes for six hominin species, and compare the model predictions with data, finding that the model recovers many aspects of hominin evolution and development. Counter-intuitively, the human brain size evolves in this model as a spandrel or by-product of selection for something else, namely, fertility-determinant traits. Our analysis indicates that simulation-based inference offers a way forward to infer why the human brain size evolved.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Selection shapes diverse animal minds'.