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This is a list of animals by number of neurons in their whole nervous system and the number of neurons in their brain (for those which have a brain). These numbers are estimations derived by multiplying the density of neurons in a particular animal by the average weight or mass of the animal's brain.

Overview

Neurons are the cells which transmit information in the nervous system of an animal so that it can sense stimuli coming from its environment and behave accordingly. Not all animals have neurons; Trichoplax and sponges lack nerve cells altogether.

Neurons may be packed to form structures such as the brain of vertebrates or the neural ganglions of insects.

The number of neurons and their relative abundance in different parts of the brain is a determinant of neural function and, consequently, of behavior.

Sortable list

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Name	Neurons in the brain/whole nervous system	Details	Image	Source
Ant	10,000	Varies per species, in reality:10,000-100,000		[1]
Caenorhabditis elegans (worm fish)	302			[1]
Cat	300,000,000 (cerebral cortex)			[2]
Cockroach	1,000,000			[3]
Chimpanzee	6,200,000,000 (cerebral cortex)			[2]
Dog	160,000,000 (cerebral cortex)			[2]
Elephants	200,000,000,000			[4]
Frog	16,000,000			[5]
Fruit fly	100,000			[6]
Honey Bee	850,000			[7]
Human	100,000,000,000 total 11,000,000,000 (cerebral cortex)	For average adult		[8]
Mouse	4,000,000 (cerebral cortex)			[2]
Octopus	300,000,000			[9]
Pond snail	11,000			[2]
Rat	15,000,000 (cerebral cortex)			[10]
Sea slug	7,000			[11]
Sponge	0
Trichoplax (worm sponge)	0			[12]
Whales	200,000,000,000			[4]
Zebrafish (embryonic)	10,000			[13]

See also

• Lists of animals
• Connectome
• Connectomics

References