Brains! Braiiiins!

From John Hawks Anthropology Weblog comes this. Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that is commonly carried by cats. Pregnant women know about it because it can cause birth defects if it infects a developing fetus. It looks like it may also have an effect on human behavior. This was new to me, so I did a quick search and found this article suggesting that it may play a role in some cases of schizophrenia (it mentions bipolar disorder too). I've never been fond of cats--this doesn't help. (For more information on T. gondii and toxoplasmosis see here and here.)

Carl Zimmer has a post on the evolution of brain size in bats and its connection to the current controversy over Homo floresiensis. Apparently bat brains vary in size, as related to total mass, depending on their niche. Zimmer suggests that maybe it should not suprise us if some hominids decreased in brain size.