News6-Researcher from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America (USA), named Suzana Herculano-Houzel, revealed that the T-Rex Dinosaur had a brain that was sufficient to make tools, solve problems, and build culture.
This would have happened if the asteroid had not hit Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs. Launch Iflscience, according to Herculano-Houzel, this ability was formed because the brain of the T-Rex had a very large number of neurons in the cerebrum or cerebrum. Herculano-Houzel estimated that the number of neurons in the theropod cerebrum was the same as the number of neurons in the monkey cerebrum.
Theropods such as Alioramus are estimated to have as many as one billion neurons in the cerebrum. The T-Rex actually has a very large number with a total of three billion neurons in the cerebrum.
According to Herculano-Houzel, if the number of neurons reflects intelligence, then these prehistoric animals not only had gigantic sizes, but also lived long lives and had flexible cognition. This means that the T-Rex will become a more formidable predator than previously thought.
“An elephant-sized but agile carnivore endowed with cognition like an ape or a baboon must have been a very competent predator,” explained Herculano-Houzel. ** Also read: Tricks to Avoid Blocked Broadcasts, Male Models in China Selling Lingerie Online Go Viral
The calculation of the number of neurons in the cerebrum, according to Herculano-Houzel, was done by counting neurons in birds. According to him, the birds that exist today are the last descendants of the dinosaurs.
“Birds are descended from dinosaurs that lived much longer. Birds can still be considered dinosaurs,” explains Herculano-Houzel.
Continuing, currently the concept of counting brain neurons tends to be misguided because many consider all dinosaurs to be the same. Though dinosaurs are different from each other.
“Just as mammals are not all the same. T-Rex and several other dinosaurs apparently had the same brain size as birds. This means that it can be counted, “said Herculano-Houzel.
From there, Herculano-Houzel made the calculation, namely by using the size of the bird. As a result, the number of brain neurons possessed by T-Rex is the same as the number of brain neurons in primates.
“A carnivore the size of an elephant but agile on two legs endowed with cognition like an ape or a baboon must have been a very competent predator,” explained Herculano-Houzel.(ilj/bbs)
