The Significance of the Increased Size of the Cerebrum in Recent as Compared with Extinct Animals

In his 1899 work, "The Significance of the Increased Size of the Cerebrum in Recent as Compared with Extinct Animals," Sir Edwin Ray Lankester proposed that an inherited capacity for learning, enabling cultural transmission across generations, was a crucial element in human evolution. This concept is linked to the increasing brain size observed in hominins throughout evolution. While early hominins like Australopithecus had brain sizes comparable to chimpanzees, Homo sapiens possess an average brain mass of 1,350 grams. This expansion of the cerebrum, particularly the neopallium, is associated with higher cognitive functions, learning, and complex behaviors in mammals.1234