The social brain hypothesis (SBH) posits that complex social environments exert a major selection pressure driving the evolution of large brains and intelligence. The hypothesis was first proposed to explain the remarkable cognitive abilities of primates and has since been extended to other vertebrate groups and gained a substantial popularity. Nevertheless, the empirical support is equivocal in virtually every group where the hypothesis has been tested. In this thesis, the SBH is tested in the African mole-rats (Bathyergidae). Mole-rats share a subterranean mode of life and similar ecologies while covering the whole social spectrum, from solitary to "eusocial". The number of brain neurons is considered a better proxy for intelligence than relative or absolute brain size. Therefore, a novel approach, the isotropic fractionator, was used to estimate the total number of neurons and other cells in five brain parts (olfactory bulbs, cerebral cortex, cerebellum, diencephalon and basal ganglia, brain stem) of eleven bathyergid species. This simultaneously allows for examining if and how mole-rats differ from other rodents with respect to brain cellular scaling rules. We found that, contrary to expectations, mole-rats generally conform to these rules, with a few exceptions. They tend to have higher...
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:nusl.cz/oai:invenio.nusl.cz:345061 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Kverková, Kristina |
| Contributors | Němec, Pavel, Pavelková, Věra |
| Source Sets | Czech ETDs |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
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