A new study suggests that the Tyrannosaurus rex may have been much smarter than experts believed. Suzana Herculano-Houzel of Vanderbilt University in Tennessee compared a T. rex skull to the skulls of its modern bird relatives, such as ostriches and emus. She found that the T. rex could have had as many as 3 billion neurons (nerve cells that send signals around the brain).
This quantity of neurons is similar to that of a baboon, which experts consider an intelligent animal. Herculano-Houzel believes T. rexes may have been able to solve problems, use tools, and pass knowledge down through generations. The dinosaurs were “even more magnificent predators than previously thought,” she said.
Not all scientists are convinced, however, that skull and brain size determine intelligence. For example, crows have much…
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The Week Junior US (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 148