The Evolution of Minds: 325 million years of intelligence studied with neuroscience, cognitive zoology and palaeontology

"The Evolution of Minds: 325 million years of intelligence studied with neuroscience, cognitive zoology and palaeontology," is a multidisciplinary research project that aims to investigate the deep-time origins and transformations of animal intelligence. The project examines anatomical, neurobiological and behavioral evidence across taxa and geologic time to trace how brains and cognitive capacities evolved over roughly 325 million years. 

The initiative synthesizes high-resolution morphological approaches such as micro-CT imaging with comparative studies of living animals to reconstruct neuroanatomy, brain size, and inferred cognitive capacities in extinct lineages. Published outputs associated with the project include collaborative articles that bridge disciplines, for example a Trends in Cognitive Sciences piece on hypotheses linking endothermy and brain energetics, and a Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society article using micro-CT data to reveal new craniomandibular and neuroanatomical information from late Permian therapsids. These outputs illustrate the project’s dual emphasis on generating and integrating avaiable fossil neuroanatomical data and on developing explanatory frameworks about the evolutionary drivers of enlarged or reorganized brains. The research touches topics across biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology, metabolic pathways, life history, coevolution and cladistics, while also engaging with Earth and planetary sciences through Permian-focused paleobiology.

By combining reconstruction methods with modern neurobiological insight, the team aims to identify patterns and mechanisms by which ecological shifts, metabolic constraints, developmental pathways and phylogenetic history produced the diversity of cognitive forms seen in vertebrate lineages. The project’s fingerprint terms reflect a strong orientation toward metabolic and life-history explanations, reconstruction of anatomical features, and cladistic evaluation of evolutionary relationships. The project’s outputs are openly accessible and illustrate how collaborative teams leverage advanced imaging, comparative anatomy, and theoretical perspectives to assess hypotheses about the costs and benefits of brain evolution, including energetic trade-offs and the potential role of endothermy in supporting larger, more active brains.