Achi news desk-
Recent research suggested a truly terrifying thought — that T. Rex, perhaps the most terrifying predator to walk the earth, was also smart enough to use tools, hunt in packs and transmit information.
But a newspaper is throwing cold water on those dinosaur fever dreams.
A year ago, an American researcher published a peer-reviewed paper that compared fossil Tyrannosaurus brain cases to modern reptiles and birds and concluded that the ancient hunters had brain power comparable to that of modern baboons.
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A new paper questions almost all the assumptions made in that earlier work.
Co-author Cristian Gutierrez, a neuroscientist from the University of Alberta, says the previous paper greatly overestimated the size of T. Rex’s brain.
And besides, he says, more neurons don’t mean more intelligence.
He says that Tyrannosaurs probably had smarts closer to those of a crocodile than a primate, so rest easy – if the thought of a seven-tonne crocodile makes you rest easy.
– More to come…
& copy 2024 The Canadian Press
