Can endocranial volume be used as an estimate of brain size in birds?
Can endocranial volume be used as an estimate of brain size in birds?
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DOI：
10.1139/z01-204
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发表时间：
2002-01-01
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影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Nelson, JE
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文献类型：
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作者：
Iwaniuk, AN;Nelson, JE
在大脑大小的比较分析中，脊椎动物头骨的颅内体积和脑质量通常可以互换使用。我们通过使用绝对值和相对于身体大小比较 82 个物种的颅内体积与脑质量，测试颅内体积是否可以用作鸟类大脑大小的可靠估计。对所有 82 个物种以及雀形目和鹦鹉形目两个目内的配对测试结果表明，两种测量结果之间没有显着差异。这些结果得到了相关分析的支持，相关分析显示颅内体积和脑质量之间存在显着的正相关关系。短尾海鸥（Puffinus tenuirostris）的不配对测试和虎皮鹦鹉（Melopsittacus undulatus）的配对测试也没有发现颅内体积和脑质量之间存在显着差异。因此，种间和种内比较的结合表明，颅内体积确实提供了大脑大小的可靠估计。尽管这可能能够更快速地收集鸟类大脑大小数据，但应谨慎使用颅内体积，因为它无法解释季节和年龄相关的变化，也不能用于测量大脑结构的差异。
Endocranial volumes of vertebrate skulls and brain masses are often used interchangeably in comparative analyses of brain size. We test whether endocranial volume can be used as a reliable estimate of brain size in birds by comparing endocranial volumes with brain masses across 82 species using absolute values and with respect to body size. The results of paired tests across all 82 species and within two orders, Passeriformes and Psittaciformes, did not yield a significant difference between the two measures. These results were supported by correlational analyses that showed a significant positive relationship between endocranial volume and brain mass. Unpaired tests within short-tailed shearwaters (Puffinus tenuirostris) and paired tests within budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) also yielded no significant differences between endocranial volume and brain mass. Thus, a combination of interspecific and intraspecific comparisons indicates that endocranial volume does provide a reliable estimate of brain size. Although this may enable more rapid collection of avian brain size data, endocranial volume should be used with caution because it cannot account for seasonal and age-related variation and cannot be used to measure differences in brain structure.