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Tyrannosaurus was actually really intelligent? (maybe?); I don't know about this....
Topic Started: May 9 2018, 08:54 PM (682 Views)
Talenkauen
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https://www.thedailybeast.com/t-rex-was-smarter-than-we-thought

Evidently this article says that a bunch of paleontologists from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland did some scans on T.rex braincases and/or skulls, and found them to be as intelligent as cetaceans or great apes.

I've looked through this article back and forth, and I'm not sure about it. It seems extremely hyperbolic to me, though I could be wrong. I also didn't find any other articles or papers to back this up. So, what are your thoughts on this, guys?
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Terraraptor411
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Now, as an animal behaviorist and avid spec fan, I normally defend the intelligence of extinct animals, as aside from dromeasaurs they tend to be undervalued.

This seems like hyperbole. Great apes and Cetaceans already have strong arguments for sapience. The website showing the article seems borderline clickbait, and while I found a link to the book I can't find a link to the paper. Based on what I know I'd compare T.rex to some canids or felids at best.
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ZoologicalBotanist
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Terraraptor411
May 9 2018, 09:19 PM
Now, as an animal behaviorist and avid spec fan, I normally defend the intelligence of extinct animals, as aside from dromeasaurs they tend to be undervalued.

This seems like hyperbole. Great apes and Cetaceans already have strong arguments for sapience. The website showing the article seems borderline clickbait, and while I found a link to the book I can't find a link to the paper. Based on what I know I'd compare T.rex to some canids or felids at best.
So not dumb, but not super smart either.


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Terraraptor411
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ZoologicalBotanist
May 9 2018, 09:34 PM
Terraraptor411
May 9 2018, 09:19 PM
Now, as an animal behaviorist and avid spec fan, I normally defend the intelligence of extinct animals, as aside from dromeasaurs they tend to be undervalued.

This seems like hyperbole. Great apes and Cetaceans already have strong arguments for sapience. The website showing the article seems borderline clickbait, and while I found a link to the book I can't find a link to the paper. Based on what I know I'd compare T.rex to some canids or felids at best.
So not dumb, but not super smart either.
Well, yes and no. There's circumstancial evidence supporting them living in groups, raising young for long periods of time, and potentially even pack hunting (though thats very disputable). And they were active pursuit predators, which requires an intelligent at least above that of your prey. From what we know of dinosaurs Tyrannosaurs were fairly brainy, comparable to some modern mammals. But putting them on terms of sapience based on brain scans seems farfetched at best.

Though theorizing about Tyrannosaur culture could be fun.
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LλmbdaExplosion
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We will never know that.But it is a yes because they hunted dangerous prey.

A big brain doesn't equate a very smart either.Look at many birds.
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A large brain is not enough for intelligence. Gnathonemus petersii (a type of elephant-nose fish) has a larger brain to body ratio than any other vertebrate, but they use electricity to navigate which takes up much of their brainpower. It has been suggested before that tyrranosaurus had a quite good sense of smell, so maybe that's the reason for the large brain.
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Yiqi15
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I don't like to think of all tyrannosaurids as social animals, particularly the big ones like T. rex itself. At most their could be siblings or mates teaming up to take on sauropods or any other large prey they normally wouldn't take.
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Troy Troodon
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Well that got a laugh of out me!

While I don't think T.Rex was that dumb, it wasn't all that smart either, especially not as smart as a chimp. Brain size does not mean determine how smart an animal is; sure a bigger brain could store more information and memory as well as more heightened senses, but the ability to maintain that much information, memory, and awareness of your surroundings, as well as more complex emotional traits depend more on how the brain is developed, particularly the cerebrum.

For crying out loud all scientists should know this!
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I really wanted this to be true, but I'm skeptical as well.
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Tartarus
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I think T-rex was a pretty smart creature. But that it was as smart as a chimp sounds more doubtful.
The big problem I see is that this assumption is based on cranial capacity. Its long been shown that cranial capacity alone does not actually tell you much about how intelligent something is. And yes, I realise the article says they also did a brain-mass to body-mass comparison, rather than just looking at brain size alone, but even then one is still overlooking factors other than the brain size. Given that we don't have any actually preserved T-rex brains after all those millions of years means that things like brain structure, neural connections and so on, still remain unknown. Additionally, behaviour is also a useful means of trying to determine a creature's intelligence, but there are always big uncertainties involved when trying to understand the behaviour of fossil animals.
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WaterWitch
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I'd take this with about this much salt
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LλmbdaExplosion
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WaterWitch
May 11 2018, 01:38 AM
I'd take this with about this much salt
What's this,a salt mound for ants?!
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as alt mound for horses or for humans at the very least
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Talenkauen
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LλmbdaExplosion
May 11 2018, 08:26 AM
WaterWitch
May 11 2018, 01:38 AM
I'd take this with about this much salt
What's this,a salt mound for ants?!

More like a salt mound for giants. That thing is as big as a city.
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LλmbdaExplosion
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Vieja Argentea the oscar cichlid
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Talenkauen
May 11 2018, 01:58 PM
LλmbdaExplosion
May 11 2018, 08:26 AM
WaterWitch
May 11 2018, 01:38 AM
I'd take this with about this much salt
What's this,a salt mound for ants?!

More like a salt mound for giants. That thing is as big as a city.
I would swim in that mound for hours or for DAYS
When life give you lemons.............Don't make lemonade!Make life to take the lemons back!Get mad and than.........Yell,demand and burn down their homes.




Prepare for unforeseen consequences,Mr. Freeman!
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