Table 3

Evolution of brain size during the evolution of H. floresiensis under two phylogenetic scenarios¹.

Ancestor

H. floresiensis body mass (kg)

Ratio of change in

log(absolute brain mass) & log(body mass)²

Change in

log(brain mass)

Change in

log(relative brain mass)

Argue Tree 1

16

0.400*

-0.171*

0.121*

24

0.639*

-0.171*

0.012*

32

1.116

-0.171*

-0.066

Argue Tree 2

16

0.428*

-0.173*

0.104*

24

0.709*

-0.173*

-0.006*

32

1.336

-0.173*

-0.084

Both trees

16

0.418*

-0.176*

0.110*

24

0.679*

-0.176*

-0.001*

32

1.225

-0.176*

-0.076

¹ These are the two most parsimonious topologies obtained by Argue et al. [43] and are shown in Figure 1 b (tree 1) & c (tree 2)

² computed as: [(brain descendant - brain ancestor)/(body descendant-body ancestor)]

* indicates a result which falls within the range of decreases in brain size for Primates estimated in this study.

Montgomery et al. BMC Biology 2010 8:9   doi:10.1186/1741-7007-8-9