Sociality does not drive the evolution of large brains in eusocial African mole-rats.

ABSTRACT: The social brain hypothesis (SBH) posits that the demands imposed on individuals by living in cohesive social groups exert a selection pressure favouring the evolution of large brains and complex cognitive abilities. Using volumetry and the isotropic fractionator to determine the size of and numbers of neurons in specific brain regions, here we test this hypothesis in African mole-rats (Bathyergidae). These subterranean rodents exhibit a broad spectrum of social complexity, ranging from strictly solitary through to eusocial cooperative breeders, but feature similar ecologies and life history traits. We found no positive association between sociality and neuroanatomical correlates of information-processing capacity. Solitary species are larger, tend to have greater absolute brain size and h

SUBMITTER: Kverkova K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6003933 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature