Representational specializations of the hippocampus in phylogenetic perspective

•A homologue of the hippocampus emerged in early vertebrates.•It provided these mobile ancestors with representations that supported navigation.•These representations also enabled non-navigational functions, e.g., serial order.•Among primates, anthropoids came to use foveal vision for foraging at a distance.•This trait favored representations for perceiving and remembering visual scenes.