Brain organization and the origin of insects: An assessment

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

112 Scopus citations

Abstract

Within the Arthropoda, morphologies of neurons, the organization of neurons within neuropils and the occurrence of neuropils can be highly conserved and provide robust characters for phylogenetic analyses. The present paper reviews some features of insect and crustacean brains that speak against an entomostracan origin of the insects, contrary to received opinion. Neural organization in brain centres, comprising olfactory pathways, optic lobes and a central neuropil that is thought to play a cardinal role in multi-joint movement, support affinities between insects and malacostracan crustaceans.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1929-1937
Number of pages9
JournalProceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Volume276
Issue number1664
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 7 2009

Keywords

  • Brain organization
  • Evolution
  • Insect
  • Malacostracan
  • Olfactory lobe

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Immunology and Microbiology
  • General Environmental Science
  • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

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