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Within‐species brain‐body weight variability: A reexamination of the Danish data and other primate species
Author(s) -
Holloway Ralph L.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330530115
Subject(s) - allometry , encephalization , brain size , biology , body weight , primate , partial correlation , zoology , danish , evolutionary biology , correlation , ecology , mathematics , medicine , linguistics , philosophy , geometry , magnetic resonance imaging , radiology , endocrinology
Abstract A restudy of the Danish brain weight data published by Pakkenberg and Voigt ('64), using partial correlation techniques, confirms and extends their earlier conclusions regarding a much stronger allometric relationship between height and brain weight than between body weight and brain weight. The relationship is particularly strong in males, and not in females, which is hypothesized to be related to higher fat components in the latter. Comparative data for smaller samples of Pan, Gorilla, Pongo, Macaca, Papio , and Saimiri using body weights, suggest that such relationship also hold more strongly in males than females, although more reliable data are greatly needed. In addition to providing within‐species ranges of variability for variously derived neural statistics (e.g., encephalization quotients, “extra neurons,” etc.), for “normal” primates, it is suggested that while allometric trends do exist within species, and particularly males, evolutionary pressures leading to larger brain size were probably very diverse, and that any one homogenistic theory is unlikely.