Cetacean Brain, Cognition, and Social Complexity

Abstract

CetaceanCetacea/cetaceans minds have been the topic of intense scientific interest for decades, and our continued study of them takes us on a complicated journey that requires us to regard cetacean brainsBrain and behavior as simultaneously very different and very familiar to us. Cetacean brains have undergone one of the most dramatic transformations during their evolutionEvolution from terrestrial animals to the highly acoustic and socially sophisticated animals we know today. Their brains are a challenging combination of highly conserved mammalian characteristics along with a unique neocortical organization that suggests that it processes information through alternative neural strategies to those of the primate brain. Their sensorium and perceptual capacities, especially in the realm of communicationCommunication, are unusual even for a fully aquatic mammal. Their cognitive and social capacities make it clear that there are striking convergences in psychology between cetaceansCetacea/cetaceans and many terrestrial carnivores as well as primates such as we are, including the reliance on strong social bondsSocial bonds and, in many cases, culturalCultural traditions.