Independent Emergence of Large Brains in Cephalopods and Implications for Brain Evolution

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Cephalopods independently evolved large brains, proving that advanced cognition can arise without long lifespans or complex social life, and their brain is organized between the eyes with specialized regions and broad early brain development, informing general principles of how brains evolve.

Evolution of cephalopod nervous systems - PubMed
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Evolution of cephalopod nervous systems - PubMed

Giant brains have independently evolved twice on this planet, in vertebrates and in cephalopods (Figure 1A). Thus, the brains and nervous systems of cephalopods provide an important counterpoint to vertebrates in the search for generalities of brain organization and function. Their mere existence di …