Compare Brain and Body Sizes

Evaluation of brain and body size is important in studies about intelligence. When comparing animals and their levels of intelligence, one method is to look at respective brain sizes.

On the next couple of pages will be a series of tables designed to help us visualize brain and body sizes and develop questions from them. The table below shows brains approximately proportional to the size of the animal pictured in color. Mouse over each animal picture for a silhouette of its full body. Click on the pictures of the animals to read specific information about the species.

		Brain Length	Brain Weight	Body Length	Body Weight
Human		15 cm	1,400 g	100 cm	62,000 g
Baboon		8 cm	140 g	120 cm	30,000 g
Rhesus Monkey		5 cm	180 g	30 cm	6,800 g
Camel		15 cm	680 g	200 cm	529,000 g
Dolphin		----	1,700 g	300 cm	160,000 g
Kangaroo		5 cm	56 g	150 cm	35,000 g
Cat		5 cm	30 g	60 cm	3,300 g
Raccoon		5.5 cm	39 g	80 cm	4,290 g
Rabbit		5 cm	12 g	30 cm	2,500 g
Squirrel		3 cm	6 g	20 cm	900 g
Northern Leopard Frog		2 cm	0.1 g	10 cm	18 g

(You can look at this chart to see the approximate values for brain/body lengths and weights used above)

Would you rather compare brains when the animal pictures are in proportion, equalize brain size, or equalize body size?