ArticleScience advances2021
The evolution of mammalian brain size.
Article in Science advances, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 75 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
75 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Socioecological complexity in primate groups and its cognitive correlates.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2022Pooled it
- Phylogeny of Cortical-Hippocampal Projections Reveals Selective Elimination of Input From Sensory Regions.Hippocampus · 2026Article
- Energy Constraints and Ecological Adaptation Drive Divergent Evolution of Sensory and Cognitive Brain Regions in Bats.Integrative zoology · 2026Article
- Shelf-invading low-oxygen waters control Cenozoic organic carbon burial rates.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Brain structure and function in Homo naledi.Brain structure & function · 2026Review
- Evolutionary stasis in synapsid encephalization during the end-permian mass extinction.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- A Neuro-Symbolic Bioinformatics Framework for Unlocking Chordate Physiological Dark Data and Validating Allometric Scaling.Biology · 2026Article
- Predation risk is associated with head-size-related divergence in breeding phenology in a female sea duck.Oecologia · 2026Article
- Functional bipartition of medial prefrontal cortex into salience detection and movement gain.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Anthropogenic Infrastructures Shape Brown Bear Movements in Human-Modified Landscapes.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
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- Structural Equation Modeling Reveals How Allometry Shapes Integration in Avian Cranial Evolution.Integrative and comparative biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Pre- and Postnatal Ontogeny of Brain Size in Beluga and Bowhead Whales.Brain, behavior and evolution · 2026Article
- Macroevolutionary brain scaling is a microevolutionary metaphenomenon.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Parental investment and body temperature explain encephalization in vertebrates.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Revised Body Mass Estimates for Extinct Lemurs.American journal of biological anthropology · 2025Article
- Robust regression rescues poor phylogenetic decisions.BMC ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Slowly but Surely: Larger Brains Improve Immature Survival in Primates.American journal of primatology · 2025Article
- Why did the human brain size evolve? A way forward.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Article
15 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
22 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Relative brain size has long been considered a reflection of cognitive capacities and has played a fundamental role in developing core theories in the life sciences. Yet, the notion that relative brain size validly represents selection on brain size relies on the untested assumptions that brain-body allometry is restrained to a stable scaling relationship across species and that any deviation from this slope is due to selection on brain size. Using the largest fossil and extant dataset yet assembled, we find that shifts in allometric slope underpin major transitions in mammalian evolution and are often primarily characterized by marked changes in body size. Our results reveal that the largest-brained mammals achieved large relative brain sizes by highly divergent paths. These findings prompt a reevaluation of the traditional paradigm of relative brain size and open new opportunities to improve our understanding of the genetic and developmental mechanisms that influence brain size.
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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.