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THE EVOLUTION OF INSECT BRAINS AND WHY BIG MAY BE BETTER
Author(s) -
Strausfeld Nicholas James
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.205.1
Subject(s) - eusociality , biology , evolutionary biology , insect , taxon , divergence (linguistics) , endocast , hymenoptera , zoology , ecology , paleontology , skull , linguistics , philosophy
Hennigian cladistics, employing neural character sets, corroborating molecular phylogenies, strongly supports the origin of Hexapoda from a marine ancestral stem taxon that is likely to have shared more features with crown Malacostraca than with crown Branchiopoda. Comparative studies of corresponding brain regions show fascinating examples of evolutionary modification and divergence of those centers recognized as supporting multijoint movements, multimodal integration, and allocentric memory. Particularly those brain centers associated with the first true segment of the brain reveal enormous diversity across the Insecta, with some larger species possessing centers comprising hundreds of thousands of neurons and centers that show greatly expanded circuits accommodating novel inputs. The largest and most elaborate brains belong to solitary Hymenoptera, both predatory species and parasitoids. It is these taxa whose survival may be dependent on the ability to counter novel situations with novel behavioral strategies.