A cast of the cranial cavity of a fossil skull that can point to the general size and shape of its brain, but does not offer specific details of it. 

Endocasts

Some modern species' brains still maintain anatomical similarities to those of their ancestors, allowing for more a thorough analysis of these features,  especially of internal structures (i.e., nuclei, fiber tracts, connections between neurons). 

Studying Present-Day Species

This diagram of the main classes of vertebrates represents the different paths of evolution taking place simultaneously and separately. 

Changing Vertebrate Brains

Comparisons between modern and ancient species can reveal important information about brain evolution (i.e., general trends of increasing brain size amongst vertebrates over time), including how it may relate to behavior. 

• Endocasts 
• Studying Present-Day Species 

Villanova University

All mammal brains possess the same structures responsible for visual, auditory, and somatosensory processes, despite some variation in the specific dimensions and locations of these structures as species adapted to their unique environments. 

Homology of the Brain 

Breedlove, S. & Watson, N. (2017). Behavioral neuroscience, eighth edition. Oxford University Press.

Behavioral Neuroscience 8th Edition

Brain size varies among species and is mostly relative to the general size of the animal. It is not an automatic indicator of behavioral capability. 

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