Endocast
![A natural endocast of the brain of the Taung Child, a young Australopithecus africanus, with the facial portion of the skull attached](/Images/godic/202501/11/Australopithecus_africanus_-_Cast_of_taung_child4924.jpg")
![Digital cranial endocast of Acrocanthosaurus, an early Cretaceous theropod](/Images/godic/202501/11/Acrocanthosaurus_brain4924.jpg")
![Natural (fossil) endocast of a Tyrannosaurus cranial vault, showing extensive olfactory bulb (left)](/Images/godic/202501/11/Tyrannosaurus_brain_aus4925.jpg")
![Endocast of the shell of an Ordovician straight-shelled cephalopod, showing the internal shell structure](/Images/godic/202501/11/OrdNautiloidInternalMold4925.jpg")
An endocast is the internal cast of a hollow object, often referring to the cranial vault in the study of brain development in humans and other organisms. Endocasts can be artificially made for examining the properties of a hollow, inaccessible space, or they may occur naturally through fossilization.