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The Fossil Record of Anthropoid Brain Evolution
Richard F Kay1,2, E Christopher Kirk3,4, Sergio F Vizcaino5,6
1Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
American Journal of Biological Anthropology
|July 1, 2025
Summary
Brain evolution in early anthropoids shows convergent brain size increases and a shift towards larger neocortices, particularly in visual processing areas, predating overall brain enlargement.
Area of Science:
- Paleoanthropology
- Primate Evolution
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Understanding primate brain evolution is key to human origins.
- Early fossil anthropoids provide crucial insights into primate brain development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate brain evolution in early fossil anthropoids.
- To analyze endocranial morphology and brain component proportions.
Main Methods:
- Virtual reconstructions of endocranial morphology.
- Estimation of brain size and component proportions using primate endocasts.
- Inclusion of extant primates and Oligocene-mid-Miocene anthropoids.
Main Results:
- Brain size enlargement occurred convergently across anthropoid lineages.
- Tarsiers and anthropoids exhibit smaller olfactory bulbs and larger neocortices than strepsirrhines.
- Neocortical expansion in tarsiers and anthropoids primarily involves visual processing regions, not the frontal lobe.
Conclusions:
- Shifts in brain proportions preceded overall brain enlargement in early anthropoids.
- The haplorhine visual system's importance is highlighted by neocortical expansion in visual processing areas.
- Neocorticalization patterns suggest independent or shared evolutionary events in tarsioid and anthropoid lineages.
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