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Human Brain Evolution: II. Embryology and Brain Allometry

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Intelligence and Evolutionary Biology

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIG,volume 17))

Abstract

The unusually large size of the human brain with respect to the human body as compared to other mammals is a dominating fact in the study of human evolution. No account of the similarities and differences between human and other primate brains is complete without accounting for this quantitative fact. The intuitive correlation between this statistic, encephalization, and the seemingly astronomical gulf between human and non-human intellectual capabilities has led many to argue that this disproportionate size in itself reflects the fundamental adaptation in human brain evolution (Dubois, 1898; 1924; von Bonin, 1952; Jerison, 1973; Van Valen, 1974; Gould, 1975, Passingham, 1975a).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Terrence W. Deacon

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  1. Terrence W. Deacon
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA School of Medicine University of California, Los Angeles, 760 Westwood Plaza, 90024, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Harry J. Jerison  & Irene Jerison  & 

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© 1988 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Deacon, T.W. (1988). Human Brain Evolution: II. Embryology and Brain Allometry. In: Jerison, H.J., Jerison, I. (eds) Intelligence and Evolutionary Biology. NATO ASI Series, vol 17. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70877-0_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70877-0_20

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