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Sat 15 Aug, 2015 11:26 am
Australopithecus, the first hominid, had a brain of about 375-550cm. This size increased as it turned from Australopithecus, into Homo Habilis, into Homo Erectus and so on. The increase with brain size stopped with the Neanderthals, since the average brain size had been shrinking over the past 25,000-30,000 years. Neanderthals had a brain of 1,500-1,800cm2. Present day, average adults have the brain size of 1,375cm2.
@Evolutions,
My whacky ex wife claimed that cetaceans (whales, proposes, etc) are the dominate life form on the planet. Sperm whales have the biggest brains.
Maybe Douglas Adams and my ex were right? So long and thanks for all the fish....
@Leadfoot,
9,000cm2 brain, good point.
@Evolutions,
More important is a number called the "Encephalization Quotient" or EQ. (Its the volumetric ratio of the brain to the overall body. Humans have an EQ of about 7 something I think. Even the "hobbits" fell into an EQ range of that 7 value, All this from fossils of the Hobbits.
I think EQs for things like Cetaceans are like 6 or slightly lower. I always wanted to see what a chart of various species has to say wrt EQ's
@farmerman,
Quote:@Evolutions,
More important is a number called the "Encephalization Quotient" or EQ. (Its the volumetric ratio of the brain to the overall body. Humans have an EQ of about 7 something I think. Even the "hobbits" fell into an EQ range of that 7 value, All this from fossils of the Hobbits.
I think EQs for things like Cetaceans are like 6 or slightly lower. I always wanted to see what a chart of various species has to say wrt EQ's
I don't get it. What is the significance of EQ? If it is meaningful in terms of the brain's potential, does that imply that a computer's capability is inversely proportional to the size of the box it's in or that it loses capability if we put it in a bigger box?
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