A striking research has been carried out about the T-Rex, one of the dinosaur species that ruled the world millions of years ago, running from hunt to prey and spreading fear. The research, published in the Journal of Comparative Neurology, revealed that T-Rex dinosaurs may have been intelligent enough to use tools.
According to the study, T-Rex’s have neurons similar to those found in modern baboons. This indicates that these creatures are so intelligent that they can form cultures among themselves and therefore be open to development from generation to generation.
So what is this ‘culture’?
Culture among animals represents knowledge passed down from generation to generation. The more cognitively gifted a creature is and the longer it lives, the greater the opportunity to build a culture. Longevity and cognitive ability also improve, especially depending on neurons.
The number of neurons in T-Rexes was also calculated:
The sole name behind the study, Dr. Herculano-Houzel also took action to find out the number of neurons in T-Rexes. Leveraging data from modern-day birds, Houzel calculated the number of neurons connected to brain mass.
According to this calculation, T-Rex had about 3 billion neurons. Moreover, since T-Rex can even live for 40 years or more, they can also create a culture and develop from generation to generation.
Of course, this study also caused a small-scale debate in the scientific world. Some scientists have exaggerated the claim that T-Rex are especially intelligent as their tool-wielding capacity.