Portal:Advanced General Studies/Image/5

From Wikiversity
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The image is of a sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus.

"Sperm whales have the largest brain of any animal (on average 17 pounds (7.8 kg) in mature males)".[1]

These sentient whales have the largest brains that have ever existed on Earth.

"Absolute size is the most general of all brain properties [...], and ranges in mammals from brains of small bats and insectivores (weighing less than 0.1 g) to those of large cetaceans (up to 9000 g)."[2]

Credit: Tim Cole, NMFS (NOAA).

References[edit | edit source]

  1. WF Perrin; B Wursig; JGM Thewissen (13 November 2013). Sperm Whales (Physeter macrocephalus). NOAA. http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/cetaceans/spermwhale.htm. Retrieved 2014-09-23. 
  2. Gerhard Roth; Ursula Dicke (May 2005). "Evolution of the brain and intelligence". Trends in Cognitive Sciences 9 (5): 250-7. http://www.subjectpool.com/ed_teach/y3project/Roth2005_TICS_brain_size_and_intelligence.pdf. Retrieved 2014-09-23.