Like a chicken or a baboon – just how smart was T. rex?

If the long-extinct giant wasn’t scary enough, imagine if it was as clever as a primate – but not every zoologist is on board with the idea.

Will Dunham

May 3, 2024 – 10.20am

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Surmising even the physical appearance of a dinosaur – or any extinct animal – based on its fossils is a tricky proposition, with so many uncertainties involved. Assessing a dinosaur’s intelligence, considering the innumerable factors contributing to that trait, is exponentially more difficult.

A study published last year by Vanderbilt University neuroscientist Suzana Herculano-Houzel that evaluated the intelligence of Tyrannosaurus rex, focusing upon estimated brain size and the number of brain neurons, as comparable to that of primates – specifically a baboon – caused a stir in scientific circles.

Reuters