A recent study looked at the size and structure of dinosaur brains. Scientists say that dinosaurs were as intelligent as reptiles.
Tyrannosaurus rex was not as intelligent as previous research has suggested, a new study claims. From the new international from the research to inform, among other things University of Bristol in Britain.
The study looked at the size and structure of dinosaur brains. Based on this, researchers conclude that dinosaurs behaved like crocodiles and lizards. This is how they refute the US Vanderbilt University published last year research the claim that Tyrannosaurus rex was more like a baboon in terms of intelligence.
Vanderbilt’s according to the university’s research, Tyrannosaurus rex would have had an exceptionally large number of neurons, i.e. nerve cells, and they would have been significantly smarter than assumed. The study claimed that the number of neurons is directly related to intelligence.
A new study published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal The Anatomical Record at the end of April examined the claims of the previous study in more detail. According to it, previous assumptions about the size of dinosaur brains and the number of neurons were unreliable.
The research team found that the size of dinosaur brains and the number of neurons have been overestimated. In addition, the group claims that the number of neurons is not a reliable measure of intelligence.
Extinction When looking at the biology of long-dead species, several elements must be considered, such as skeletal anatomy and the behavior of living relatives, the researchers say.
Therefore, other evidence than the number of neurons is also needed to determine the intelligence of dinosaurs, says the researcher Snakes George from the University of Bristol in a press release.
In fact, relying only on the number of neurons as a measure of cognitive performance can lead to misleading interpretations, the research team states.
“The possibility that Tyrannosaurus rex was as intelligent as a baboon is fascinating and horrifying, and could change our view of the past. But our research shows that all the data we have is against this idea. Tyrannosaurs were more like intelligent giant crocodiles, and that’s just as fascinating,” says the researcher Darren Naish from the University of Southampton.