Dinosaurs, contrary to what some recent research had suggested, were not as smart as was believed, and although their intelligence could be comparable to that of large reptiles, in no case can it be compared to that of apes.
This has now been pointed out by an international team of researchers, thus contradicting a previous study, published last year, according to which Tyrannosaurus rex It had an exceptionally high number of neurons, which would be directly related to its intelligence, and they compared some of its habits with those of apes.
An international team made up of researchers in paleontology, behavioral sciences and neurology, re-examined the size and structure of the brain in different dinosaurs and concluded that they behaved in a similar way to how crocodiles or lizards do.
Researchers from the British universities of Bristol and Southampton participated in the new work, whose conclusions are published today in the journal The Anatomical Record; that of Heinrich Heine (Germany); from the University of Alberta and the Royal Ontario Museum -both in Canada-; and the Miquel Crusafont Catalan Institute of Paleontology (ICP).
In the study published last year, the researchers maintained that the high number of neurons was directly related to the intelligence of dinosaurs, and also cited the cultural transmission of knowledge or the use of tools as examples of cognitive traits that this species could have presented. , reports the press release from the University of Bristol.
However, The researchers closely examined the techniques they used to estimate dinosaur brain size and neuron number, and concluded that their deductions about dinosaur brain size and neuron number were unreliable.
Over the past few decades, paleontologists and biologists have examined the size and anatomy of dinosaur brains and used this data to infer their behavior and lifestyle.
The research team deduced that brain size, especially the anterior part, had been overestimated in previous studies, and therefore neuron counts as well, and concluded that neuron number estimates are not a reliable indicator. of the intelligence of these animals.
The research team defends in the new article that appears today that to solidly reconstruct the biology of extinct species, different aspects must be analyzed, such as the anatomy of their skeleton, bone histology, the behavior of current relatives or fossilized traces. .
“To determine the intelligence of dinosaurs and other extinct animals, it is necessary to incorporate different evidence, ranging from general anatomy to fossil footprints, and not focus solely on estimates of the number of neurons”explained Hady George, from the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol.
Neuron counts “are not good predictors of cognitive performance, and using them to predict intelligence in extinct species can lead to very misleading interpretations”according to researcher Ornella Bertrand, from the Miquel Crusafont Catalan Institute of Paleontology.
“The possibility that Tyrannosaurus rex could have been as intelligent as a baboon is both fascinating and terrifying and means reformulating our view of the past,” concluded Darren Naish (University of Southampton), and assured that the new data “goes in against this idea; “They were more like intelligent giant crocodiles, and that's just as fascinating.”