Cetaceans Have Complex Brains for Complex Cognition

2007322 citationsReviewgold Open Access

Authors

Lori Marino · Emory University

Richard C. Connor · University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

R. Ewan Fordyce · University of Otago

Louis M. Herman · University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Patrick R. Hof · Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Louis Lefebvre · McGill University

David Lusseau

Abstract

A group of eminent cetacean researchers respond to headlines charging that dolphins might be "flippin' idiots". They examine behavioural, anatomical and evolutionary data to conclude that the large brain of cetaceans evolved to support complex cognitive abilities.

Topics & Keywords

Marine animal studies overview Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior Cephalopods and Marine Biology

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Life below water

Publication Details

Published in: PLoS Biology

Volume 5, Issue 5, pp. e139-e139

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0050139

Field-Weighted Citation Impact: 17.54