Pallium (anatomy)

In the anatomy of animals, the pallium is a part of the brain that is the evolutionary precedent of the cerebrum.

The human pallium (cloak in Latin) envelops the brain stem. The cerebrum has been described as having three parts: the archipallium, the paleopallium and the neopallium.

In fish, the archipallium is the largest part of the cerebrum. Some researchers suggest the early archipallium gave rise to the human hippocampus. In amphibians, the cerebrum includes archipallium, paleopallium and some of the basal nuclei.

Reptiles first developed a neopallium, which continued to develop in the brains of more recent species to become the neocortex of humans and Old World monkeys.