Everything about Encephalization totally explained
Encephalization is defined as the amount of
brain mass exceeding that related
to an animal's total body mass. Quantifying an animal's encephalization has been argued to be directly related to that animal's level of
intelligence. In fact, as early as 1871,
Charles Darwin wrote in his book
The Descent of Man: "No one, I presume, doubts that the large proportion which the size of man's brain bears to his body, compared to the same proportion in the gorilla or orangutan, is closely connected with his mental powers."
Williams has recently argued that the most accurate means for quantifying the encephalization of humans and other adult primate species requires the use of Lapicque's universal exponent of 0.28 in Snell's equation of simple
allometry. Since Lapicque's slope was derived from various vertebrate groups, this equation may potentially be universally applicable for determining relative adult vertebrate encephalization and intelligence.
Encephalization may also refer to the tendency for a species toward larger brains through evolutionary time.
Anthropological studies indicate that
bipedalism preceded encephalization in the human evolutionary lineage after divergence from the
chimpanzee lineage. Compared to the chimpanzee brain, the human brain is larger and certain brain regions have been particularly altered during human evolution. Most brain growth of chimpanzees happens before birth while most human brain growth happens after birth.
In 2004,
Dennis Bramble and
Daniel Lieberman proposed that early
Homo were scavengers that used stone tools to harvest meat off carcasses and to open bones. They proposed that humans specialized in long-distance running to compete with other scavengers in reaching carcasses. It has been suggested that such an adaptation ensured a food supply that made large
brains possible.
More encephalized species tend to have longer
spinal shock duration.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Encephalization'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://encephalization.totallyexplained.com">Encephalization Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
