The ray-finned fish blackbox: unprecedented morphological diversity and the interplay between brain and endocast

Abstract Vertebrates are unique among animals as they bear a neurocranium, which almost completely encapsulates the brain. Thus, within vertebrates, the evolution of neuroanatomical features might be tightly correlated with the evolution of their surrounding neurocranial ossifications, as these pose spatial constraints to brain size and shape. The endocranial cast, or surrounding neurocranial ossifications, poses spatial constraints to brain size and shape. The endocranial cast, or ‘endocast’, r