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The Evolution of Relative Brain Size in Marsupials Is Energetically Constrained but Not Driven by Behavioral Complexity

Overview of attention for article published in Brain, Behavior and Evolution, May 2015
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  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • Among the highest-scoring outputs from this source (#14 of 704)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (97th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (88th percentile)

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8 news outlets
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10 X users
video
1 YouTube creator

Citations

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49 Dimensions

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79 Mendeley
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Title
The Evolution of Relative Brain Size in Marsupials Is Energetically Constrained but Not Driven by Behavioral Complexity
Published in
Brain, Behavior and Evolution, May 2015
DOI 10.1159/000377666
Pubmed ID
Authors

Vera Weisbecker, Simon Blomberg, Anne W. Goldizen, Meredeth Brown, Diana Fisher

Abstract

Evolutionary increases in mammalian brain size relative to body size are energetically costly but are also thought to confer selective advantages by permitting the evolution of cognitively complex behaviors. However, many suggested associations between brain size and specific behaviors - particularly related to social complexity - are possibly confounded by the reproductive diversity of placental mammals, whose brain size evolution is the most frequently studied. Based on a phylogenetic generalized least squares analysis of a data set on the reproductively homogenous clade of marsupials, we provide the first quantitative comparison of two hypotheses based on energetic constraints (maternal investment and seasonality) with two hypotheses that posit behavioral selection on relative brain size (social complexity and environmental interactions). We show that the two behavioral hypotheses have far less support than the constraint hypotheses. The only unambiguous associates of brain size are the constraint variables of litter size and seasonality. We also found no association between brain size and specific behavioral complexity categories within kangaroos, dasyurids, and possums. The largest-brained marsupials after phylogenetic correction are from low-seasonality New Guinea, supporting the notion that low seasonality represents greater nutrition safety for brain maintenance. Alternatively, low seasonality might improve the maternal support of offspring brain growth. The lack of behavioral brain size associates, found here and elsewhere, supports the general 'cognitive buffer hypothesis' as the best explanatory framework of mammalian brain size evolution. However, it is possible that brain size alone simply does not provide sufficient resolution on the question of how brain morphology and cognitive capacities coevolve. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 10 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 79 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Chile 1 1%
Sweden 1 1%
Australia 1 1%
Brazil 1 1%
Unknown 75 95%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 18 23%
Student > Master 12 15%
Student > Bachelor 11 14%
Researcher 8 10%
Student > Doctoral Student 5 6%
Other 14 18%
Unknown 11 14%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 40 51%
Psychology 6 8%
Earth and Planetary Sciences 4 5%
Neuroscience 4 5%
Environmental Science 3 4%
Other 8 10%
Unknown 14 18%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 68. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 21 July 2023.
All research outputs
#630,067
of 25,374,917 outputs
Outputs from Brain, Behavior and Evolution
#14
of 704 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#7,284
of 279,171 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Brain, Behavior and Evolution
#1
of 9 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,374,917 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 704 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.5. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 279,171 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 9 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than all of them