Macroevolutionary brain scaling is a microevolutionary metaphenomenon

TL;DR

The study shows brain-body size scaling is curvilinear across many species, revealing macroevolutionary patterns stem from microevolutionary changes.

Contribution

The paper demonstrates curvilinear brain-body scaling across 4679 species and links macroevolutionary patterns to within-species dynamics.

Findings

Brain-body mass relationships are curvilinear across seven animal classes.

Curvilinearity arises from diminishing allometry within species as body mass increases.

Macroevolutionary patterns emerge from microevolutionary within-lineage dynamics.

Abstract

From bees to blue whales, it has long been assumed that brain size scales with body size according to a simple log-linear relationship – with differences in the slope and intercept observed amongst different groups of animals. However, recent analyses in mammals contradict this view, revealing size dependency in the form of curvature in the brain and body mass relationship. Here, we use data from 4679 species across seven animal classes and spanning nearly 12 orders of magnitude to uncover near universal curvilinearity. We demonstrate that this body size dependence is a metaphenomenon emerging from a pattern of diminishing allometry within species with increasing body mass. This has fundamental implications for how we interpret macroevolutionary patterns – which can arise as a consequence of within-lineage dynamics. Our integration of inter- and intra-specific allometries reshapes perspectives on morphological evolution by providing a broader framework for understanding how microevolutionary within-species dynamics shape macroevolutionary phenomena.

Recent work has demonstrated that the relationship between brain and body mass across mammals is curvilinear. Here, the authors demonstrate this curvilinearity across 4679 species, spanning multiple major animal classes. They show that it is caused by systematic changes in allometry within species leading to macroevolutionary patterns.

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