CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 89Insect and Arachnid Ecology and BehaviorNeurobiology and Insect Physiology ResearchPhysiological and biochemical adaptations

On Being Small: Brain Allometry in Ants

Open access
Wehner, Rüdiger, Fukushi, Tsukasa, Isler, Karin·2007·Brain, Behavior and Evolution
DOI 10.1159/000097057
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Comparative neurobiologists have provided ample evidence that in vertebrates small animals have proportionally larger brains: in a double-logarithmic plot of brain weight versus body weight all data points conform quite closely to a straight line with a slope of less than one. Hence vertebrate brains scale allometrically, rather than isometrically, with body size. Here we extend the phylogenetic scope of such studies and the size range of the brains under investigation to the insects, especially ants. We show that the principle of (negative) allometry applies as well, but that ants have considerably smaller brains than any ant-sized vertebrate would have, and that this result holds even if the relatively higher exoskeleton weights of ants (as compared to endoskeleton weights of mammals) are taken into account. Finally, interspecific comparisons within one genus of ants, Cataglyphis, show that species exhibiting small colony sizes (of a few hundred individuals) have significantly smaller brains than species in which colonies are composed of several thousand individuals.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1159/000097057

Cites

69 of 69 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Workers of ant species characterized by larger colony size have larger brains, suggesting greater social interaction selects for increased brain size.

    “Workers of ant species characterized by larger colony size have larger brains, suggesting greater social interaction selects for increased brain size (Wehner et al., 2007).”

    From When and Why Did Human Brains Decrease in Size? A New Change-Point Analysis and Insights From Brain Evolution in Ants (2021) · cites this paper as Wehner et al., 2007

  • Insect colony organization may involve selection for either smaller, neurally differentiated worker brains or larger brains able to metabolically offset increased production and operation costs.

    “insect colony organization may involve selection for either smaller, neurally differentiated worker brains (Lihoreau et al., 2012;Riveros et al., 2012;O'Donnell et al., 2015;Feinerman and Traniello, 2016) or larger brains (Wehner et al., 2007) able to metabolically offset increased production and operation costs (Kamhi et al., 2016).”

    From When and Why Did Human Brains Decrease in Size? A New Change-Point Analysis and Insights From Brain Evolution in Ants (2021) · cites this paper as Wehner et al., 2007

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Wehner, R., Fukushi, T., & Isler, K.
Affiliations
  • University of Zurich (CH)
  • Miyagi University of Education (JP)
ORCID
Venue
Brain, Behavior and Evolution
Publisher
S. Karger AG
Published
2006-11-14
Volume
69
Issue
3
Pages
220-228
ISSN
  • 0006-8977 (ISSN-L)
  • 1421-9743
DOI
10.1159/000097057
OpenAlex
W1966088234
Cited by
89
References
69
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 3
FWCI
1.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Brain Behavior and Evolution (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (61844)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Physiological and biochemical adaptations
Keywords
brain allometry, ants, negative allometry, brain size, body size, Cataglyphis, colony size, insect neurobiology, cross-species comparison
MeSH terms
Animals, Ants, Brain, Phylogeny, Species Specificity

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review