The brains of cetaceans—dolphins and whales—differ from those of other mammals in a number of ways, but one of the most striking differences is the size of the hippocampus. As a general rule, the larger the size of a mammal’s brain, the smaller the fraction of it that the hippocampus occupies, so dolphins and whales would be expected to have a small hippocampus in any case. But the cetacean hippocampus isn’t just small; it is so tiny that it barely exists.
To read the original article: Can Whales and Dolphins Make Mental Maps? | Guest Blog, Scientific American Blog Network
