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Fu Y, Song Y, Yang C, Liu X, Liu Y, Huang Y. Relationship between brain size and digestive tract length support the expensive-tissue hypothesis in Feirana quadranus. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.982590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The brain is among the most energetically costly organs in the vertebrate body, while the size of the brain varies within species. The expensive-tissue hypothesis (ETH) predicts that increasing the size of another costly organ, such as the gut, should compensate for the cost of a small brain. Here, the ETH was tested by analyzing the relationship between brain size variation and digestive tract length in a Swelled-vented frog (Feirana quadranus). A total of 125 individuals across 10 populations ranging from 586 to 1,702 m a.s.l. from the Qinling-Daba Mountains were sampled. With the increase in altitude, the brain size decreases and the digestive tract length increases. Different brain regions do not change their relative size in a consistent manner. The sizes of telencephalon and cerebellum decrease with the increase in altitude, while the olfactory nerve increases its size at high altitudes. However, the olfactory bulb and optic tectum have no significant relationship with altitude. After controlling for snout-vent length (SVL), a significant negative correlation could be found between brain size and digestive tract length in F. quadranus. Therefore, the intraspecific variation of brain size follows the general patterns of ETH in this species. The results suggest that annual mean temperature and annual precipitation are environmental factors influencing the adaptive evolution of brain size and digestive tract length. This study also suggests that food composition, activity times, and habitat complexity are the potential reasons driving the adaptive evolution of brain size and digestive tract length.
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Lynch LM, Allen KL. Relative Brain Volume of Carnivorans Has Evolved in Correlation with Environmental and Dietary Variables Differentially among Clades. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2022; 97:284-297. [PMID: 35235933 DOI: 10.1159/000523787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2021] [Accepted: 02/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Carnivorans possess relatively large brains compared to most other mammalian clades. Factors like environmental complexity (Cognitive Buffer Hypothesis) and diet quality (Expensive-Tissue Hypothesis) have been proposed as mechanisms for encephalization in other large-brained clades. We examine whether the Cognitive Buffer and Expensive-Tissue Hypotheses account for brain size variation within Carnivora. Under these hypotheses, we predict a positive correlation between brain size and environmental complexity or protein consumption. Relative endocranial volume (phylogenetic generalized least-squares residual from species' mean body mass) and 9 environmental and dietary variables were collected from the literature for 148 species of terrestrial and marine carnivorans. We found that the correlation between relative brain volume and environment and diet differed among clades, a trend consistent with other larger brained vertebrates (i.e., Primates, Aves). Mustelidae and Procyonidae demonstrate larger brains in species with higher-quality diets, consistent with the Expensive-Tissue Hypothesis, while in Herpestidae, correlations between relative brain size and environment are consistent with the Cognitive Buffer Hypothesis. Our results indicate that carnivorans may have evolved relatively larger brains under similar selective pressures as primates despite the considerable differences in life history and behavior between these two clades.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leigha M Lynch
- Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.,Midwestern University, Glendale, Arizona, USA
| | - Kari L Allen
- Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
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3
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Heldstab SA, Isler K, Graber SM, Schuppli C, van Schaik CP. The economics of brain size evolution in vertebrates. Curr Biol 2022; 32:R697-R708. [PMID: 35728555 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Across the animal kingdom, we see remarkable variation in brain size. This variation has even increased over evolutionary time. Traditionally, studies aiming to explain brain size evolution have looked at the fitness benefits of increased brain size in relation to its increased cognitive performance in the social and/or ecological domain. However, brains are among the most energetically expensive tissues in the body and also require an uninterrupted energy supply. If not compensated, these energetic demands inevitably lead to a reduction in energy allocation to other vital functions. In this review, we summarize how an increasing number of studies show that to fully comprehend brain size evolution and the large variation in brain size across lineages, it is important to look at the economics of brains, including the different pathways through which the high energetic costs of brains can be offset. We further show how numerous studies converge on the conclusion that cognitive abilities can only drive brain size evolution in vertebrate lineages where they result in an improved energy balance through favourable ecological preconditions. Cognitive benefits that do not directly improve the organism's energy balance can only be selectively favoured when they produce such large improvements in reproduction or survival that they outweigh the negative energetic effects of the large brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra A Heldstab
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland; Development and Evolution of Cognition Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Bücklestrasse 5a, 78467 Konstanz, Germany.
| | - Karin Isler
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Sereina M Graber
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Caroline Schuppli
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland; Development and Evolution of Cognition Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Bücklestrasse 5a, 78467 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Carel P van Schaik
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland; Comparative Socioecology Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Bücklestrasse 5a, 78467 Konstanz, Germany; Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Science, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
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4
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The energy allocation trade-offs underlying life history traits in hypometabolic strepsirhines and other primates. Sci Rep 2021; 11:14196. [PMID: 34244546 PMCID: PMC8270931 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-93764-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Life history, brain size and energy expenditure scale with body mass in mammals but there is little conclusive evidence for a correlated evolution between life history and energy expenditure (either basal/resting or daily) independent of body mass. We addressed this question by examining the relationship between primate free-living daily energy expenditure (DEE) measured by doubly labeled water method (n = 18 species), life history variables (maximum lifespan, gestation and lactation duration, interbirth interval, litter mass, age at first reproduction), resting metabolic rate (RMR) and brain size. We also analyzed whether the hypometabolic primates of Madagascar (lemurs) make distinct energy allocation tradeoffs compared to other primates (monkeys and apes) with different life history traits and ecological constraints. None of the life-history traits correlated with DEE after controlling for body mass and phylogeny. In contrast, a regression model showed that DEE increased with increasing RMR and decreasing reproductive output (i.e., litter mass/interbirth interval) independent of body mass. Despite their low RMR and smaller brains, lemurs had an average DEE remarkably similar to that of haplorhines. The data suggest that lemurs have evolved energy strategies that maximize energy investment to survive in the unusually harsh and unpredictable environments of Madagascar at the expense of reproduction.
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5
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Abstract
Abstract
Brain size exhibits significant changes within and between species. Evolution of large brains can be explained by the need to improve cognitive ability for processing more information in changing environments. However, brains are among the most energetically expensive organs. Enlarged brains can impose energetic demands that limit brain size evolution. The expensive tissue hypothesis (ETH) states that a decrease in the size of another expensive tissue, such as the gut, should compensate for the cost of a large brain. We studied the interplay between energetic limitations and brain size evolution in small mammals using phylogenetically generalized least squares (PGLS) regression analysis. Brain mass was not correlated with the length of the digestive tract in 37 species of small mammals after correcting for phylogenetic relationships and body size effects. We further found that the evolution of a large brain was not accompanied by a decrease in male reproductive investments into testes mass and in female reproductive investment into offspring number. The evolution of brain size in small mammals is inconsistent with the prediction of the ETH.
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6
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Elizondo Lara LC, Young J, Schliep K, De León LF. Brain Allometry Across Macroevolutionary Scales in Squamates Suggests a Conserved Pattern in Snakes. ZOOLOGY 2021; 146:125926. [PMID: 33932854 DOI: 10.1016/j.zool.2021.125926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2020] [Revised: 04/03/2021] [Accepted: 04/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Despite historical interest in brain size evolution in vertebrates, few studies have assessed variation in brain size in squamate reptiles such as snakes and lizards. Here, we analyzed the pattern of brain allometry at macroevolutionary scale in snakes and lizards, using body mass and snout vent length as measures of body size. We also assessed potential energetic trade-offs associated with relative brain size changes in Crotalinae vipers. Body mass showed a conserved pattern of brain allometry across taxa of snakes, but not in lizards. Body length favored changes of brain allometry in both snakes and lizards, but less variability was observed in snakes. Moreover, we did not find evidence for trade-offs between brain size and the size of other organs in Crotalinae. Thus, despite the contribution of body elongation to changes in relative brain size in squamate reptiles, snakes present low variation in brain allometry across taxa. Although the mechanisms driving this conserved pattern are unknown, we hypothesize that the snake body plan plays an important role in balancing the energetic demands of brain and body size increase at macroevolutionary scales. We encourage future research on the evolution of brain and body size in snakes to test this hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis C Elizondo Lara
- Programa de Maestría en Ciencias Biológicas, Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Postgrado, Universidad de Panamá, Avenida Simón Bolívar, Panama City, Panama, Apartado 3366 Panama 4, Panama; Departamento de Fisiología y Comportamiento Animal, Escuela de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Exactas y Tecnología, Universidad de Panamá, Avenida Simón Bolívar, Panama City, Panama, Apartado 3366 Panama 4, Panama.
| | - José Young
- Departamento de Fisiología y Comportamiento Animal, Escuela de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Exactas y Tecnología, Universidad de Panamá, Avenida Simón Bolívar, Panama City, Panama, Apartado 3366 Panama 4, Panama
| | - Klaus Schliep
- Institute of Computational Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria
| | - Luis F De León
- Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA; Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología (INDICASAT-AIP), City of Knowledge, Clayton, Panama
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7
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Rakotondrazandry JN, Ravelomandrato F, Sefczek TM, Andriamalala YR, Frasier CL, Villanova VL, Rasoloharijaona S, Raveloson H, Louis EE. Developmental Timeline of Wild Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) Infants in Kianjavato and Torotorofotsy, Madagascar. INT J PRIMATOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-021-00216-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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8
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Todorov OS, Blomberg SP, Goswami A, Sears K, Drhlík P, Peters J, Weisbecker V. Testing hypotheses of marsupial brain size variation using phylogenetic multiple imputations and a Bayesian comparative framework. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20210394. [PMID: 33784860 PMCID: PMC8059968 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Considerable controversy exists about which hypotheses and variables best explain mammalian brain size variation. We use a new, high-coverage dataset of marsupial brain and body sizes, and the first phylogenetically imputed full datasets of 16 predictor variables, to model the prevalent hypotheses explaining brain size evolution using phylogenetically corrected Bayesian generalized linear mixed-effects modelling. Despite this comprehensive analysis, litter size emerges as the only significant predictor. Marsupials differ from the more frequently studied placentals in displaying a much lower diversity of reproductive traits, which are known to interact extensively with many behavioural and ecological predictors of brain size. Our results therefore suggest that studies of relative brain size evolution in placental mammals may require targeted co-analysis or adjustment of reproductive parameters like litter size, weaning age or gestation length. This supports suggestions that significant associations between behavioural or ecological variables with relative brain size may be due to a confounding influence of the extensive reproductive diversity of placental mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Orlin S. Todorov
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Simone P. Blomberg
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Anjali Goswami
- Genetics, Evolution, and Environment Department, University College London, UK
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Karen Sears
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, College of Life Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Patrik Drhlík
- Faculty of Mechatronics, Informatics and Interdisciplinary Studies, Technical University of Liberec, Czechia
| | - James Peters
- Department of Animal Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA
| | - Vera Weisbecker
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Australia
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9
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Randimbiharinirina RD, Richter T, Raharivololona BM, Ratsimbazafy JH, Schüßler D. To tell a different story: Unexpected diversity in local attitudes towards Endangered Aye‐ayes
Daubentonia madagascariensis
offers new opportunities for conservation. PEOPLE AND NATURE 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/pan3.10192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Roger Doménico Randimbiharinirina
- Mention Anthropobiologie et Développement Durable de la Faculté des Sciences University of Antananarivo Antananarivo Madagascar
- Groupe d'Etude et de Recherche sur les Primates de Madagascar (GERP) Antananarivo Madagascar
| | - Torsten Richter
- Research Group Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation University of Hildesheim Hildesheim Germany
| | - Brigitte M. Raharivololona
- Mention Anthropobiologie et Développement Durable de la Faculté des Sciences University of Antananarivo Antananarivo Madagascar
| | - Jonah H. Ratsimbazafy
- Groupe d'Etude et de Recherche sur les Primates de Madagascar (GERP) Antananarivo Madagascar
| | - Dominik Schüßler
- Research Group Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation University of Hildesheim Hildesheim Germany
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10
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Bauernfeind AL, Babbitt CC. Metabolic changes in human brain evolution. Evol Anthropol 2020; 29:201-211. [PMID: 32329960 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2019] [Revised: 08/30/2019] [Accepted: 03/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Because the human brain is considerably larger than those of other primates, it is not surprising that its energy requirements would far exceed that of any of the species within the order. Recently, the development of stem cell technologies and single-cell transcriptomics provides novel ways to address the question of what specific genomic changes underlie the human brain's unique phenotype. In this review, we consider what is currently known about human brain metabolism using a variety of methods from brain imaging and stereology to transcriptomics. Next, we examine novel opportunities that stem cell technologies and single-cell transcriptomics provide to further our knowledge of human brain energetics. These new experimental approaches provide the ability to elucidate the functional effects of changes in genetic sequence and expression levels that potentially had a profound impact on the evolution of the human brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy L Bauernfeind
- Department of Neuroscience, Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.,Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Courtney C Babbitt
- Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
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11
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Cofran Z. Brain size growth in wild and captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Am J Primatol 2018; 80:e22876. [PMID: 29797332 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22876] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2018] [Revised: 05/03/2018] [Accepted: 05/07/2018] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Despite many studies of chimpanzee brain size growth, intraspecific variation is under-explored. Brain size data from chimpanzees of the Taï Forest and the Yerkes Primate Research Center enable a unique glimpse into brain growth variation as age at death is known for individuals, allowing cross-sectional growth curves to be estimated. Because Taï chimpanzees are from the wild but Yerkes apes are captive, potential environmental effects on neural development can also be explored. Previous research has revealed differences in growth and health between wild and captive primates, but such habitat effects have yet to be investigated for brain growth. Here, I use an iterative curve fitting procedure to estimate brain growth and regression parameters for each population, statistically comparing growth models using bootstrapped confidence intervals. Yerkes and Taï brain sizes overlap at all ages, although the sole Taï newborn is at the low end of captive neonatal variation. Growth rate and duration are statistically indistinguishable between the two populations. Resampling the Yerkes sample to match the Taï sample size and age group composition shows that ontogenetic variation in the two groups are remarkably similar despite the latter's limited size. Best fit growth curves for each sample indicate cessation of brain size growth at around 2 years, earlier than has previously been reported. The overall similarity between wild and captive chimpanzees points to the canalization of brain growth in this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary Cofran
- Anthropology Department, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York
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12
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Young JW, Shapiro LJ. Developments in development: What have we learned from primate locomotor ontogeny? AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 165 Suppl 65:37-71. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jesse W. Young
- Department of Anatomy and NeurobiologyNortheast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED)Rootstown Ohio, 44272
| | - Liza J. Shapiro
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of TexasAustin Texas, 78712
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13
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Genoud M, Isler K, Martin RD. Comparative analyses of basal rate of metabolism in mammals: data selection does matter. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2017; 93:404-438. [PMID: 28752629 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2016] [Revised: 05/29/2017] [Accepted: 06/05/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Basal rate of metabolism (BMR) is a physiological parameter that should be measured under strictly defined experimental conditions. In comparative analyses among mammals BMR is widely used as an index of the intensity of the metabolic machinery or as a proxy for energy expenditure. Many databases with BMR values for mammals are available, but the criteria used to select metabolic data as BMR estimates have often varied and the potential effect of this variability has rarely been questioned. We provide a new, expanded BMR database reflecting compliance with standard criteria (resting, postabsorptive state; thermal neutrality; adult, non-reproductive status for females) and examine potential effects of differential selectivity on the results of comparative analyses. The database includes 1739 different entries for 817 species of mammals, compiled from the original sources. It provides information permitting assessment of the validity of each estimate and presents the value closest to a proper BMR for each entry. Using different selection criteria, several alternative data sets were extracted and used in comparative analyses of (i) the scaling of BMR to body mass and (ii) the relationship between brain mass and BMR. It was expected that results would be especially dependent on selection criteria with small sample sizes and with relatively weak relationships. Phylogenetically informed regression (phylogenetic generalized least squares, PGLS) was applied to the alternative data sets for several different clades (Mammalia, Eutheria, Metatheria, or individual orders). For Mammalia, a 'subsampling procedure' was also applied, in which random subsamples of different sample sizes were taken from each original data set and successively analysed. In each case, two data sets with identical sample size and species, but comprising BMR data with different degrees of reliability, were compared. Selection criteria had minor effects on scaling equations computed for large clades (Mammalia, Eutheria, Metatheria), although less-reliable estimates of BMR were generally about 12-20% larger than more-reliable ones. Larger effects were found with more-limited clades, such as sciuromorph rodents. For the relationship between BMR and brain mass the results of comparative analyses were found to depend strongly on the data set used, especially with more-limited, order-level clades. In fact, with small sample sizes (e.g. <100) results often appeared erratic. Subsampling revealed that sample size has a non-linear effect on the probability of a zero slope for a given relationship. Depending on the species included, results could differ dramatically, especially with small sample sizes. Overall, our findings indicate a need for due diligence when selecting BMR estimates and caution regarding results (even if seemingly significant) with small sample sizes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michel Genoud
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Division of Conservation Biology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Bern, CH-3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Karin Isler
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zürich-Irchel, CH-8057, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Robert D Martin
- Integrative Research Center, The Field Museum, Chicago, IL, 60605-2496, U.S.A.,Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zürich-Irchel, CH-8057, Zürich, Switzerland
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14
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Liao WB, Lou SL, Zeng Y, Kotrschal A. Large Brains, Small Guts: The Expensive Tissue Hypothesis Supported within Anurans. Am Nat 2016; 188:693-700. [DOI: 10.1086/688894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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15
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The Ontogeny of Encephalization: Tradeoffs Between Brain Growth, Somatic Growth, and Life History in Hominoids and Platyrrhines. Evol Biol 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s11692-015-9351-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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16
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Hogg RT, Godfrey LR, Schwartz GT, Dirks W, Bromage TG. Lemur Biorhythms and Life History Evolution. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0134210. [PMID: 26267241 PMCID: PMC4534448 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0134210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2014] [Accepted: 07/07/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Skeletal histology supports the hypothesis that primate life histories are regulated by a neuroendocrine rhythm, the Havers-Halberg Oscillation (HHO). Interestingly, subfossil lemurs are outliers in HHO scaling relationships that have been discovered for haplorhine primates and other mammals. We present new data to determine whether these species represent the general lemur or strepsirrhine condition and to inform models about neuroendocrine-mediated life history evolution. We gathered the largest sample to date of HHO data from histological sections of primate teeth (including the subfossil lemurs) to assess the relationship of these chronobiological measures with life history-related variables including body mass, brain size, age at first female reproduction, and activity level. For anthropoids, these variables show strong correlations with HHO conforming to predictions, though body mass and endocranial volume are strongly correlated with HHO periodicity in this group. However, lemurs (possibly excepting Daubentonia) do not follow this pattern and show markedly less variability in HHO periodicity and lower correlation coefficients and slopes. Moreover, body mass is uncorrelated, and brain size and activity levels are more strongly correlated with HHO periodicity in these animals. We argue that lemurs evolved this pattern due to selection for risk-averse life histories driven by the unpredictability of the environment in Madagascar. These results reinforce the idea that HHO influences life history evolution differently in response to specific ecological selection regimes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Russell T. Hogg
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, Florida, United States of America
| | - Laurie R. Godfrey
- Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Gary T. Schwartz
- Institute of Human Origins and School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Wendy Dirks
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Timothy G. Bromage
- Department of Biomaterials and Biomimetics, and Department of Basic Science and Craniofacial Biology, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, New York, United States of America
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17
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Yu Y, Karbowski J, Sachdev RNS, Feng J. Effect of temperature and glia in brain size enlargement and origin of allometric body-brain size scaling in vertebrates. BMC Evol Biol 2014; 14:178. [PMID: 25277168 PMCID: PMC4193995 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-014-0178-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2014] [Accepted: 07/29/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Brain signaling requires energy. The cost of maintaining and supporting energetically demanding neurons is the key constraint on brain size. The dramatic increase in brain size among mammals and birds cannot be understood without solving this conundrum: larger brains, with more neurons, consume more energy. Results Here we examined the intrinsic relationships between metabolism, body-brain size ratios and neuronal densities of both endothermic and ectothermic animals. We formulated a general model to elucidate the key factors that correlate with brain enlargement, and the origin of allometric body-brain size scaling. This framework identified temperature as a critical factor in brain enlargement via temperature-regulated changes in metabolism. Our framework predicts that ectothermic animals living in tropical climates should have brain sizes that are several times larger than those of ectothermic animals living in cold climates. This prediction was confirmed by data from experiments in fish brains. Our framework also suggests that a rapid increase in the number of less energy-demanding glial cells may be another important factor contributing to the ten-fold increase in the brain sizes of endotherms compared with ectotherms. Conclusions This study thus provides a quantitative theory that predicts the brain sizes of all the major types of animals and quantifies the contributions of temperature-dependent metabolism, body size and neuronal density. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-014-0178-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuguo Yu
- Centre for Computational Systems Biology, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People's Republic of China.
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18
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Dror Y, Hopp M. Hair for brain trade-off, a metabolic bypass for encephalization. SPRINGERPLUS 2014; 3:562. [PMID: 25332862 PMCID: PMC4190188 DOI: 10.1186/2193-1801-3-562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2014] [Accepted: 09/15/2014] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Hair loss in humans is perplexing and raises many hypothetical explanations. This paper suggests that hair loss in humans is metabolically related to encephalization; and that hair covered hominids would have been unable to evolve large brains because of a dietary restriction of several amino acids which are essential for hair and brain development. We use simulations to imply that hair loss must have preceded increase in brain size & volume. In this respect we see hair loss as a major force in human evolution. We assume that hair reduction required favorable climatic conditions and must have been quick. Using evolutionary and ecological time scales, we pinpoint hair loss to a period around 2.2-2.4 million years ago. The dating is further supported by a rapid selection at that time of the sialic acid deletion mutation which may have protected growing human brains against calcium ion flux. In summary we view encephalization, in part, as a metabolic trade-off between hair and brain. Other biochemical changes may have intervened in the process too; and the deletion mutation of sialic acid hydroxylation may have been involved as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yosef Dror
- Biochemistry and Human Nutrition, Faculty of Agriculture, The Hebrew University, 76100 Rehovot, Israel
| | - Michael Hopp
- Department of Geography, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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Duka T, Anderson SM, Collins Z, Raghanti MA, Ely JJ, Hof PR, Wildman DE, Goodman M, Grossman LI, Sherwood CC. Synaptosomal lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme composition is shifted toward aerobic forms in primate brain evolution. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2014; 83:216-30. [PMID: 24686273 PMCID: PMC4096905 DOI: 10.1159/000358581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2013] [Accepted: 01/13/2014] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
With the evolution of a relatively large brain size in haplorhine primates (i.e. tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans), there have been associated changes in the molecular machinery that delivers energy to the neocortex. Here we investigated variation in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) expression and isoenzyme composition of the neocortex and striatum in primates using quantitative Western blotting and isoenzyme analysis of total homogenates and synaptosomal fractions. Analysis of isoform expression revealed that LDH in synaptosomal fractions from both forebrain regions shifted towards a predominance of the heart-type, aerobic isoform LDH-B among haplorhines as compared to strepsirrhines (i.e. lorises and lemurs), while in the total homogenate of the neocortex and striatum there was no significant difference in LDH isoenzyme composition between the primate suborders. The largest increase occurred in synapse-associated LDH-B expression in the neocortex, with an especially remarkable elevation in the ratio of LDH-B/LDH-A in humans. The phylogenetic variation in the ratio of LDH-B/LDH-A was correlated with species-typical brain mass but not the encephalization quotient. A significant LDH-B increase in the subneuronal fraction from haplorhine neocortex and striatum suggests a relatively higher rate of aerobic glycolysis that is linked to synaptosomal mitochondrial metabolism. Our results indicate that there is a differential composition of LDH isoenzymes and metabolism in synaptic terminals that evolved in primates to meet increased energy requirements in association with brain enlargement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tetyana Duka
- Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC
| | - Sarah M. Anderson
- Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC
| | - Zachary Collins
- Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC
| | - Mary Ann Raghanti
- Department of Anthropology and School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH
| | - John J. Ely
- Alamogordo Primate Facility, Holloman Air Force Base, NM
| | - Patrick R. Hof
- Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
| | - Derek E. Wildman
- Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI
| | - Morris Goodman
- Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI
| | - Lawrence I. Grossman
- Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI
| | - Chet C. Sherwood
- Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC
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Liu J, Zhou CQ, Liao WB. Evidence for neither the compensation hypothesis nor the expensive-tissue hypothesis in Carassius auratus. ANIM BIOL 2014. [DOI: 10.1163/15707563-00002437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
In many taxa, the left and right testes often differ in size. The compensation hypothesis states that an increase in size of one testis can compensate for a reduced function in the other testis. Moreover, the expensive-tissue hypothesis predicts that an increase in investment of a metabolically costly tissue is offset by decreasing investment in the other metabolically costly tissues. Here we tested these two hypotheses in Carassius auratus, by analysing difference between left and right testes mass, and between brain mass and both gut length and gonad mass (testes mass in males and clutch mass in females). We found no difference between left and right testis mass and no correlations between relative testis size and body measurements. These findings suggest that the left testis cannot serve a compensatory role. Nonetheless, contrary to the predictions of the expensive-tissue hypothesis, brain mass was positively correlated with both gut length and gonad mass within each sex. This positive correlation between brain mass and other organs (gut, gonad and clutch tissues) suggests that organisms may compensate for substantial variation in investment in tissues without sacrificing other expensive tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiao Liu
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong 637009, P.R. China
- Institute of Rare Animals and Plants, China West Normal University, Nanchong, P.R. China
| | - Cai Quan Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong 637009, P.R. China
- Institute of Rare Animals and Plants, China West Normal University, Nanchong, P.R. China
| | - Wen Bo Liao
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong 637009, P.R. China
- Institute of Rare Animals and Plants, China West Normal University, Nanchong, P.R. China
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Kozlovsky DY, Brown SL, Branch CL, Roth II TC, Pravosudov VV. Chickadees with Bigger Brains Have Smaller Digestive Tracts: A Multipopulation Comparison. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2014; 84:172-80. [DOI: 10.1159/000363686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2014] [Accepted: 05/12/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Judaš M, Sedmak G, Kostović I. The significance of the subplate for evolution and developmental plasticity of the human brain. Front Hum Neurosci 2013; 7:423. [PMID: 23935575 PMCID: PMC3731572 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2013] [Accepted: 07/14/2013] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The human life-history is characterized by long development and introduction of new developmental stages, such as childhood and adolescence. The developing brain had important role in these life-history changes because it is expensive tissue which uses up to 80% of resting metabolic rate (RMR) in the newborn and continues to use almost 50% of it during the first 5 postnatal years. Our hominid ancestors managed to lift-up metabolic constraints to increase in brain size by several interrelated ecological, behavioral and social adaptations, such as dietary change, invention of cooking, creation of family-bonded reproductive units, and life-history changes. This opened new vistas for the developing brain, because it became possible to metabolically support transient patterns of brain organization as well as developmental brain plasticity for much longer period and with much greater number of neurons and connectivity combinations in comparison to apes. This included the shaping of cortical connections through the interaction with infant's social environment, which probably enhanced typically human evolution of language, cognition and self-awareness. In this review, we propose that the transient subplate zone and its postnatal remnant (interstitial neurons of the gyral white matter) probably served as the main playground for evolution of these developmental shifts, and describe various features that makes human subplate uniquely positioned to have such a role in comparison with other primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miloš Judaš
- Section of Developmental Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, University of Zagreb School of Medicine Zagreb, Croatia
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Warren DL, Iglesias TL. No evidence for the 'expensive-tissue hypothesis' from an intraspecific study in a highly variable species. J Evol Biol 2012; 25:1226-31. [PMID: 22507754 DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2012.02503.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
The 'expensive-tissue hypothesis' states that investment in one metabolically costly tissue necessitates decreased investment in other tissues and has been one of the keystone concepts used in studying the evolution of metabolically expensive tissues. The trade-offs expected under this hypothesis have been investigated in comparative studies in a number of clades, yet support for the hypothesis is mixed. Nevertheless, the expensive-tissue hypothesis has been used to explain everything from the evolution of the human brain to patterns of reproductive investment in bats. The ambiguous support for the hypothesis may be due to interspecific differences in selection, which could lead to spurious results both positive and negative. To control for this, we conduct a study of trade-offs within a single species, Thalassoma bifasciatum, a coral reef fish that exhibits more intraspecific variation in a single tissue (testes) than is seen across many of the clades previously analysed in studies of tissue investment. This constitutes a robust test of the constraints posited under the expensive-tissue hypothesis that is not affected by many of the factors that may confound interspecific studies. However, we find no evidence of trade-offs between investment in testes and investment in liver or brain, which are typically considered to be metabolically expensive. Our results demonstrate that the frequent rejection of the expensive-tissue hypothesis may not be an artefact of interspecific differences in selection and suggests that organisms may be capable of compensating for substantial changes in tissue investment without sacrificing mass in other expensive tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- D L Warren
- Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
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Taufik E, Fukuda K, Senda A, Saito T, Williams C, Tilden C, Eisert R, Oftedal O, Urashima T. Structural characterization of neutral and acidic oligosaccharides in the milks of strepsirrhine primates: greater galago, aye-aye, Coquerel's sifaka and mongoose lemur. Glycoconj J 2012; 29:119-34. [PMID: 22311613 DOI: 10.1007/s10719-012-9370-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2011] [Revised: 01/14/2012] [Accepted: 01/18/2012] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
The structures of milk oligosaccharides were characterized for four strepsirrhine primates to examine the extent to which they resemble milk oligosaccharides in other primates. Neutral and acidic oligosaccharides were isolated from milk of the greater galago (Galagidae: Otolemur crassicaudatus), aye-aye (Daubentoniidae: Daubentonia madagascariensis), Coquerel's sifaka (Indriidae: Propithecus coquereli) and mongoose lemur (Lemuridae: Eulemur mongoz), and their chemical structures were characterized by (1)H-NMR spectroscopy. The oligosaccharide patterns observed among strepsirrhines did not appear to correlate to phylogeny, sociality or pattern of infant care. Both type I and type II neutral oligosaccharides were found in the milk of the aye-aye, but type II predominate over type I. Only type II oligosaccharides were identified in other strepsirrhine milks. α3'-GL (isoglobotriose, Gal(α1-3)Gal(β1-4)Glc) was found in the milks of Coquerel's sifaka and mongoose lemur, which is the first report of this oligosaccharide in the milk of any primate species. 2'-FL (Fuc(α1-2)Gal(β1-4)Glc) was found in the milk of an aye-aye with an ill infant. Oligosaccharides containing the Lewis x epitope were found in aye-aye and mongoose lemur milk. Among acidic oligosaccharides, 3'-N-acetylneuraminyllactose (3'-SL-NAc, Neu5Ac(α2-3)Gal(β1-4)Glc) was found in all studied species, whereas 6'-N-acetylneuraminyllactose (6'-SL-NAc, Neu5Ac(α2-6)Gal(β1-4)Glc) was found in all species except greater galago. Greater galago milk also contained 3'-N-glycolylneuraminyllactose (3'-SL-NGc, Neu5Gc(α2-3)Gal(β1-4)Glc). The finding of a variety of neutral and acidic oligosaccharides in the milks of strepsirrhines, as previously reported for haplorhines, suggests that such constituents are ancient rather than derived features, and are as characteristic of primate lactation is the classic disaccharide, lactose.
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Affiliation(s)
- Epi Taufik
- Graduate School of Animal and Food Hygiene, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, 080-8555, Japan
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O'Mara MT, Gordon AD, Catlett KK, Terranova CJ, Schwartz GT. Growth and the development of sexual size dimorphism in lorises and galagos. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2011; 147:11-20. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2010] [Accepted: 07/18/2011] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Weisbecker V, Goswami A. Neonatal maturity as the key to understanding brain size evolution in homeothermic vertebrates. Bioessays 2010; 33:155-8. [PMID: 21319183 DOI: 10.1002/bies.201000128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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