Sheppey and Bernard (1984, https://www.ajol.info/index.php/az/article/view/152830 and https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/02541858.1984.11447899?needAccess=true)
The following is arranged in decreasing order of EQ (encephalisation quotient). I have assumed that the volume if the brain in millilitres is equivalent to brain mass in grams. An asterisk* indicates Herpestidae.
My commentary:
This study is valuable for its original data on brain size.
One of the most noteworthy findings is the great difference in braininess between Panthera leo (EQ=0.8) and Lycaon pictus (EQ=1.9).
These two carnivores have coexisted widely in Africa, despite the brawny 'top-carnivore' killing the 'underdog' at every opportunity. Lycaon pictus survives partly by virtue of its far greater braininess.
The authors failed to proofread an error in the body mass of Panthera pardus. The value stated is 26.1 kg, whereas what they meant was presumably 62.1 kg. This led to a great exaggeration of the encephalisation quotient of P. pardus, which is instead likely to be about 1.0 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5043137/ and https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229958542_Brain_size_of_the_lion_Panthera_leo_and_the_tiger_P_tigris_Implications_for_intrageneric_phylogeny_intraspecific_differences_and_the_effects_of_captivity).
It is puzzling that all the *Herpestidae in the study have encephalisation quotients <1. Suricata suricatta is well-known for its intelligent behaviour (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2187573/Meerkats-intelligent-humans-thought.html and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3414518/ and https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130204220845.htm and https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/sep/25/psychologists-investigate-meerkats-response-to-human-emotions and https://www.britannica.com/animal/meerkat).
Helogale parvula, like S. suricatta (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5043137/), probably should have an encephalisation quotient >1, instead of the value of 0.16 reported by Sheppey and Bernard (1984).
I suspect that this underestimation of the braininess of small carnivores reflects a problem in the mathematics of allometry across such a large range in body masses.
Comments
https://www.iucnosgbull.org/Volume35/Rowe_Rowe_2018.html
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2461329
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Relation-between-encephalization-quotient-EQ-and-supraoccipital-ossification-timing_fig6_261407553
https://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-11-06/article/31551?headline=Wild-Neighbors-How-Brainy-Should-a-Raccoon-Be---By-Joe-Eaton
https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/Zeitschrift-Saeugetierkunde_54_0031-0039.pdf
https://wildfact.com/forum/topic-are-tigers-brainier-than-lions?page=10
https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/1008564
https://karger.com/bbe/article-abstract/65/2/73/46634/On-the-Evolutionary-Significance-of?redirectedFrom=fulltext
https://www.fondationfyssen.fr/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ASM2021_MargotMichaud.pdf
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2007.00131.x
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315674344_The_Brain_of_the_Giraffe_Giraffa_Camelopardalis_Surface_Configuration_Encephalization_Quotient_and_Analysis_of_the_Existing_Literature
https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jzo.12030
SEE TABLE 1 in https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/4050/Gittleman1986a.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1
https://arpi.unipi.it/bitstream/11568/995744/1/RFM%20suricati.pdf
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1439-0310.1963.tb01175.x
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Cross-species-comparison-of-relative-brain-and-cortical-field-size-Bar-graphs-of-mean_fig5_51245948
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3182045/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-021-01887-8
https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/poq0ks/oc_brain_size_vs_body_weight_of_various_animals/#lightbox
https://bionumbers.hms.harvard.edu/files/Brain%20weight,%20encephalization%20quotient%20and%20number%20of%20cortical%20neurons%20in%20selected%20mammals.pdf
Remarkably, Panthera tigris is considerably brainier than expected for its genus:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229958542_Brain_size_of_the_lion_Panthera_leo_and_the_tiger_P_tigris_Implications_for_intrageneric_phylogeny_intraspecific_differences_and_the_effects_of_captivity
See figure in https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.0901780106
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2707091/
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology/article/abs/testing-hypotheses-of-the-evolution-of-encephalization-in-the-canidae-carnivora-mammalia/58CDA368A04A378D9C7981CAF2A48219
https://karger.com/bbe/article/96/1/1/819629/A-Farewell-to-the-Encephalization-Quotient-A-New
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Brain-body-size-estimates-and-encephalization-quotients-EQ-of-fossil-and-modern_tbl1_263144336
https://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~charley/papers/ConvergenceIntelligence10.pdf
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2741455
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3207484/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5043137/
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