The Brain

1. Here is a picture of the kangaroo rat brain. As you can see it is about 1 cm wide and 1.5 cm long.

2. The brain of the kangaroo rat recieves messages from the middle ear when listening which causes it hear lower frequencies.

3. Kangaroo rats are prone to epilepsy, a form of brain damage.


4. The development of a neurological system is noticed in days 19-22 of the pregnancy.
http://php.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php?title=Rat_Timeline

5.  Because the rats run on little to no water, their brains are able to perform with less oxygen. 
6. The rats brain function causes it to walk on its hind legs instead of all fours like a regular rat.

7. As you can see in this picture, the adorable kangaroo rat is standing on its hindlegs showing a supperior brain, which is very interesting considering the brain size.

8. This chart shows the difference in brain sizes between different mamals. As you can see, the brain of the rat is the smallest on this chart.

9. There are about 20 different types of kangaroo rats, and the hippocampal breed has the largest of the 20.

10. The brain is so advanced for its size, that the kangaroo rat is capable of expressing emotions with their over 1,000 facial muscles.