9 March 2021 - Wits University
Scientific evidence shows specialised features in the large brains of whales and dolphins that are adapted for heat production.
Whales and dolphins have the largest brains on the planet, some of them weighing over eight kilogrammes, six times heavier than the average human brain.
These mammals’ huge brains have often been cited as evidence of them being highly intelligent; however, does their large brain size mean they have the same mental – or better – capabilities as humans?
Scientific evidence from a study led by Professor Paul Manger from the School of Anatomical Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa (Wits University), indicate that whales and dolphins’ large brains lack the diversity, flexibility and adaptability in their mental processes and behaviour that humans have, and that their large brains instead evolved to keep these brains warm in icy oceanic temperatures. This research has been publi