ArticlePloS one2017
Volume of the crocodilian brain and endocast during ontogeny.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 71 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative endocranial anatomy in the crocodylians Leidyosuchus canadensis and Stangerochampsa mccabei from the upper Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada.Journal of anatomy · 2026Article
- Computed tomography reveals the endocranial anatomy of Crocodylia: Implications for phylogenetic relationships and ecomorphological convergence across Crocodylomorpha.Journal of anatomy · 2026Article
- Bioimaging of sense organs and the central nervous system in extant fishes and reptiles in situ: A review.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2026Review
- Ontogenetic Changes in the Endocast and Endosseous Labyrinth of the Siamese Freshwater Crocodile (Zoological studies · 2026Article
- Ontogenetic Changes in Endocranial Anatomy in Gorgosaurus libratus (Theropoda: Tyrannosauridae) Provide Insight Into the Evolution of the Tyrannosauroid Endocranium.The Journal of comparative neurology · 2025Article
- Ontogeny of a Brazilian Late Triassic Traversodontid (Cynodontia, Cynognathia): Anatomical and Paleoecological Implications.Journal of morphology · 2025Article
- Avian telencephalon and cerebellum volumes can be accurately estimated from digital brain endocasts.Biology letters · 2025Article
- Dinosaur palaeoneurology: an evolving science.Biology letters · 2024Review
- Endocranial development in non-avian dinosaurs reveals an ontogenetic brain trajectory distinct from extant archosaurs.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Comparative MRI analysis of the forebrain of three sauropsida models.Brain structure & function · 2024Article
- The neuroanatomy and pneumaticity of Hamadasuchus (Crocodylomorpha, Peirosauridae) from the Cretaceous of Morocco and its paleoecological significance for altirostral forms.Journal of anatomy · 2023Article
- Neuroanatomy of the crocodylian Tomistoma dowsoni from the Miocene of North Africa provides insights into the evolutionary history of gavialoids.Journal of anatomy · 2023Article
- Neuroanatomy of the crocodylomorph Portugalosuchus azenhae from the late cretaceous of Portugal.Journal of anatomy · 2023Article
- Neuroanatomy of the mekosuchine crocodylian Trilophosuchus rackhami Willis, 1993.Journal of anatomy · 2022Article
- Ontogenetic variation in the crocodylian vestibular system.Journal of anatomy · 2022Article
- The evolution of brain neuron numbers in amniotes.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Iron-doped calcium phytate nanoparticles as a bio-responsive contrast agent inScientific reports · 2022Article
- Braincase anatomy of extant Crocodylia, with new insights into the development and evolution of the neurocranium in crocodylomorphs.Journal of anatomy · 2021Article
- First record of a tomistomine crocodylian from Australia.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- The endocranial anatomy of Buriolestes schultzi (Dinosauria: Saurischia) and the early evolution of brain tissues in sauropodomorph dinosaurs.Journal of anatomy · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Understanding complex situations and planning difficult actions require a brain of appropriate size. Animal encephalisation provides an indirect information about these abilities. The brain is entirely composed of soft tissue and, as such, rarely fossilises. As a consequence, the brain proportions and morphology of some extinct vertebrates are usually only inferred from their neurocranial endocasts. However, because the morphological configuration of the brain is not fully reflected in the endocast, knowledge of the brain/endocast relationship is essential (especially the ratio of brain volume to endocast volume or the equivalent proportion of interstitial tissue) for studying the endocasts of extinct animals. Here we assess the encephalic volume and structure of modern crocodilians. The results we obtained using ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging reveal how the endoneurocranial cavity and brain compartments of crocodilians change configuration during ontogeny. We conclude that the endocasts of adult crocodilians are elongated and expanded while their brains are more linearly organised. The highest proportion of brain tissue to endocast volume is in the prosencephalon at over 50% in all but the largest animals, whereas the proportion in other brain segments is under 50% in all but the smallest animals and embryos. Our results may enrich the field of palaeontological study by offering more precise phylogenetic interpretations of the neuroanatomic characteristics of extinct vertebrates at various ontogenetic stages.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.