How smart was T. rex? Testing claims of exceptional cognition in dinosaurs and the application of neuron count estimates in palaeontological research
Caspar, Kai R. (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf)
Gutiérrez-Ibáñez, Cristián (University of Alberta. Department of Biological Sciences)
Bertrand, Ornella C. (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Carr, Thomas (Carthage College. Department of Biology)
Colbourne, Jennifer A. D. (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna)
Erb, Arthur (University of Edinburgh)
George, Hady (University of Bristol)
Holtz Jr, Thomas R. (University of Maryland Department of Geology)
Naish, Darren (University of Southampton)
Wylie, Douglas R. (University of Alberta. Department of Biological Sciences)
Hurlburt, Grant R. (Royal Ontario Museum. Department of Natural History)

Data:	2024
Resum:	Recent years have seen increasing scientific interest in whether neuron counts can act as correlates of diverse biological phenomena. Lately, Herculano-Houzel (2023) argued that fossil endocasts and comparative neurological data from extant sauropsids allow to reconstruct telencephalic neuron counts in Mesozoic dinosaurs and pterosaurs, which might act as proxies for behaviors and life history traits in these animals. According to this analysis, large theropods such as Tyrannosaurus rex were long-lived, exceptionally intelligent animals equipped with "macaque- or baboon-like cognition", whereas sauropods and most ornithischian dinosaurs would have displayed significantly smaller brains and an ectothermic physiology. Besides challenging established views on Mesozoic dinosaur biology, these claims raise questions on whether neuron count estimates could benefit research on fossil animals in general. Here, we address these findings by revisiting Herculano-Houzel's (2023) work, identifying several crucial shortcomings regarding analysis and interpretation. We present revised estimates of encephalization and telencephalic neuron counts in dinosaurs, which we derive from phylogenetically informed modeling and an amended dataset of endocranial measurements. For large-bodied theropods in particular, we recover significantly lower neuron counts than previously proposed. Furthermore, we review the suitability of neurological variables such as neuron numbers and relative brain size to predict cognitive complexity, metabolic rate and life history traits in dinosaurs, coming to the conclusion that they are flawed proxies for these biological phenomena. Instead of relying on such neurological estimates when reconstructing Mesozoic dinosaur biology, we argue that integrative studies are needed to approach this complex subject.
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Publicat a:	The anatomical record (Hoboken), (April 2024) , ISSN 1932-8494

DOI: 10.1002/ar.25459

32 p, 5.1 MB

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