Thursday, July 15, 2010

Mammals with larger brains in relation to body size tend to live longer

A larger brain size permits animals to live longer and thus have more chances to reproduce, which is beneficial to each individual member. This is the compensation for a longer embryonic development needed to generate a larger brain. Species with larger brains have also shown to take longer in reaching sexual maturity, which is in part compensated by a longer reproductive life.

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