A new study published in the “Journal of Comparative Neurology” (Journal of Comparative Neurology) shows that the brain of Tyrannosaurus rex contains enough neurons to have intelligence comparable to that of baboons to solve problems and even build group culture.
The “Washington Post” reported that people have long been under the impression that tyrannosaurs were tall and awkward. The reason they dominated the Cretaceous period was due to their terrifying giant jaws and sharp teeth, not their wisdom.
But the study, published today in the Journal of Comparative Neurology, suggests that tyrannosaurs were the primates of their time.
According to study author Suzana Herculano-Houzel, a neuroscientist and biologist at Vanderbilt University, theropod dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex (small forelimbs, walking mostly on two hind legs, or carnivorous dinosaurs that run) have brain cells similar to those of baboons and should have the ability to solve problems and even build team culture.
“If it weren’t for a small asteroid hitting Earth and causing a cataclysm, Earth would be a very different and horrible world,” he said.
The study builds on growing evidence that Tyrannosaurus was not just a large creature, but a pack animal.
The soft tissue that makes up dinosaur gray matter (a major component of the central nervous system, made up of neurons, glial cells, and microvessels) has decayed and is long gone. Then Hokulano Herzo studied the bony skulls of Tyrannosaurus rex and compared them with the skeletons of birds. The birds are living relatives of Tyrannosaurus rex.
Hokulano Hezo deduced from ostriches and emus (also known as Australian ostriches) that the brain of Tyrannosaurus rex had as many as 3 billion neurons, similar to that of baboons; Alioramus, which belongs to the same family of tyrannosaurids, also had 1 billion neurons Brain neurons, similar to capuchin monkeys.
Hokulano Herzo said that if the cognitive ability is close to that of baboons, it means the T. rex could be able to use tools and pass on knowledge to the next generation.
Studies have upended the image of the T. rex as a scaly, solitary creature. Large graveyard fossils found in Utah, Montana and elsewhere suggest that carnivorous dinosaurs lived in packs like wolves; other male theropod remains have been found guarding a nest of eggs, the same behavior as modern birds.
Paleontologists even think that tyrannosaurus should have feathers and are looking for fossil evidence.
Hokulano Herzo’s analysis is to extract the theropod dinosaurs and classify them as a separate warm-blooded group, so as not to confuse Tyrannosaurus and its close relatives with other types of dinosaurs, and also think that one day Tyrannosaurus will be found using a sort of evidence for social models of hunting in packs.