Facts about Dinosaur Brains

When scientists wanted to discover how clever a dinosaur was  they would compare the size of it’s brain to its body size.

They figured that if the dinosaur had a small brain in comparison to a large body the creature was probably less intelligent to a dinosaur with a comparatively large brain and body size.

Here are some examples of who were the clever dinosaurs and who struggled a little bit when it came to brainpower.

Apatosaurus

This was one of the largest dinosaurs we know about, standing at 27 metres long, yet it’s brain was no bigger than a man’s fist.

Gallimimus

This dinosaur was one of the smaller ones discovered standing around 4 metres long.  It’s brain was the size of a ping pong ball, which although tiny, was the correct size compared to his body size, making him one of the brighter ones in the class.

Giganotosaurus

Although this dinosaur was an enormous meat eating predator, standing at 14 metres long, he was a true banana brain as that  fruit was the equivalent size of his brain.

Stegosaurus

Scientists believe that this dinosaur may have been one of the dumbest dinosaurs to have existed.  It’s brain was so small, around the size of a walnut that compared to it bus size body, it may have had a second brain or nerve centre in its hips to help it move around.

T-Rex

It’s brain was slightly bigger than a human brain, but the cerebrum, which is the part of the brain that we use for thinking, was relatively small, making the T-Rex a bit of a dinosaur dunce.

Troodon

This dinosaur is thought to have been one of the brainiest ones.  As although he was a small dinosaur, his brain was about the size of an avocado stone which was relative to his body size.  The Troodon is known to have had sharp hearing and keen eye sight, making it a formidable hunter.

Therefore, it was obvious that some good things actually do come in small packages just not a dinosaur brain when you are the size of a bus or house.