Bigger animals don’t always have the biggest brains relative to body size – new research

Elephants may have large brains but they are outliers. SiljeAO

Scientists have long believed that, generally speaking, the bigger an animal is, the bigger its brain. But our recent study challenges the nature of that linear view and reveals new insights about how brain size and body size have evolved together.

There is astounding diversity in the shape, size and internal structure of the brain among different animals. While the size of the brain usually correlates with cognitive abilities, its variation is strongly linked to the size of the animal itself.