Visitors look at a skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex at the French National Museum of Natural History in Paris in 2018.Philippe Wojazer/Reuters
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.
Now, an interdisciplinary scientific team has published a study in rebuttal, questioning Herculano-Houzel’s methodology and challenging her appraisal of the smarts of T. rex and other big dinosaur predators in the dinosaur clade called theropods.
They instead suggested a more holistic approach to assess the braininess of Tyrannosaurus or any extinct animal, with brain size and neuronal count considered alongside other factors such as an animal’s anatomy and ecology, data from living relatives, and fossil evidence about how it moved about and fed that offer insight into its life.
“Our key findings are that the brains of most dinosaurs, including T. rex, were comparable in relative size to those of living reptiles, such as crocodiles and alligators. Furthermore, their neuron numbers were likely not exceptional, especially for animals of their body mass,” said zoologist Kai Caspar of Heinrich Heine University in Germany, who studies the behaviour of living animals and was the lead author of the study published this week in The Anatomical Record journal.
“What needs to be emphasized is that reptiles are certainly not as dim-witted as is commonly believed,” Caspar added. “Their behaviours can be very complex, and the experimental data we have point to many cognitive similarities between them, mammals and birds. So whereas there is no reason to assume that T. rex had primate-like habits, it was certainly a behaviourally sophisticated animal.”
Herculano-Houzel said she stands by her findings and called the new analysis flawed.
“The only thing that is under dispute is what already was at the time of my study: what was actually the size of dinosaur brains. Even then, we’re talking about the difference between a T. rex brain being baboon- or monkey-sized,” Herculano-Houzel said.
“Their conclusion hinges on a single extremely important point: whether theropods like T. rex shared their (brain-to-body size) relationship with their extant warm-blooded ostrich and chicken cousins, or with their more distant living relatives, crocodiles. I said the former, because I compared theropods to ostriches and chickens; they now say the latter,” Herculano-Houzel added.
Caspar said the comparison to modern birds also was an integral part of the new study.
There are problems in trying to gauge intelligence from brain neuron count, Caspar said.
“The first obstacle is to estimate the actual size of the brain of the extinct animal in question. This is not a trivial question in dinosaurs. While the brain fills almost the entire skull cavity in birds and us mammals, this is not the case for reptile species, the brain of which fills only about 30-50% of the skull cavity,” Caspar said.
“The 2023 study assumed a 100% fill in dinosaurs such as T. rex, and that was certainly not the case,” Caspar added.
It is unknown how densely packed the neurons were in dinosaur brains, Caspar said.
“However, looking at living animals, we see that neuron counts are actually not a good indicator of intelligence in the first place, although that might appear intuitive at first glance,” Caspar added.
The dinosaurs, aside from their bird descendants, disappeared 66 million years ago after an asteroid struck Earth. In two centuries of scientific study, dinosaurs are coming into better focus, though plenty of uncertainties remain about Tyrannosaurus and the others.
“Given the brain size we found for it, Tyrannosaurus probably occupied a level of intelligence we don’t see in the modern world: more intelligent than crocodilians, but less intelligent than typical living birds and mammals,” said University of Maryland paleontologist Thomas Holtz, a co-author of the new study.
“Intelligence is one of the most difficult things to measure even in modern animals, and many of our common assumptions don’t really hold up when you actually examine what real animals do in the real world,” Holtz said.
“So when we try to estimate the intelligence and cognition of ancient animals, we are going to have some difficulties. It would be nice if we could just estimate one number and unravel the whole complexity of an animal’s biology and lifestyle, but nature isn’t like that.”
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
