A taxonomic group of vertebrate animals characterized by a highly developed brain and advanced nervous system.
From Greek 'arche' (first/chief) plus 'encephala' (brains, from 'en-' meaning in plus 'kephale' meaning head). A 19th-century zoological term for the most 'advanced' animals in terms of neurological development.
Scientists once ranked animals by brain complexity and called the smartest ones 'archencephala'—it reveals how 19th-century biologists thought evolutionary progress was all about getting a bigger, fancier brain!
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