Were Dinosaurs Smarter Compared to Modern Animals?

Most movies and television shows make it seem like dinosaurs were brilliant animals that could go toe-to-toe with people. However, many of the depictions we see in movies are far from accurate; artists make entertainment changes. While dinosaurs were not smarter than people, they may have been more intelligent than other creatures. Below, we’ve detailed whether dinosaurs were smarter than modern animals and how experts measure intelligence.

How We Measure Intelligence

When scientists evaluate how intelligent an animal is, they look at a few key areas, including neuron count, brain structure, and encephalization. We’ve detailed each of these below.

Neuron Count

Neurons are the brain’s processing units, so their quantity and organization directly influence an animal’s intelligence. Typically, animals with a lot of neurons in the forebrain have a higher capacity for problem-solving, memory, and learning.

While we can’t do a brain scan of dinosaurs, paleontologists can estimate the size of the animal’s brain based on its skull. Additionally, experts can look at living descendants (birds and reptiles) and evaluate their level of intelligence.

Brain Structure

Examining fossilized skulls also allows paleontologists to create endocasts of the brain cavity to estimate the approximate size of a dinosaur’s brain and its various regions. Typically, dinosaurs with a larger forebrain were more intelligent, as is true for animals today.

Encephalization Quotient

Encephalization compares how big the brain was to the size of a dinosaur’s body, and a higher number indicates more intelligence. This number varied for every species of dinosaur, just like it does for modern animals. For example, while Velociraptors were fairly intelligent by Mesozoic standards, Stegosauruses were not.

Who Was Smarter?

Although several species were intelligent, when it comes down to whether dinosaurs were smarter than modern animals, prehistoric beasts likely lose the battle. That said, details can vary depending on the type of dinosaur and living creature since intelligence varies. For instance, theropods likely had complex brains and may have been as smart as baboons; however, sauropods were less intelligent than most mammals.

Interestingly, modern birds are descendants of dinosaurs, and many are highly intelligent, even by today’s standards. Crows and ravens possess intelligence comparable to that of a 5-to-7-year-old human child. They demonstrate problem-solving skills, reasoning, and memory. In this sense, birds are the peak of the intelligence seen in the animals that once ruled our planet.

The Smartest Dinosaurs

Some of the most intelligent dinosaurs to ever walk the Earth include:

• Troodon
• Velociraptor
• T. rex
• Ornithomimus

These animals possessed advanced cognitive abilities that likely allowed them to thrive in their environments. The Troodon had a relatively large brain and binocular vision, which may have helped it hunt at night. On the other hand, the Velociraptor had incredible problem-solving skills and pack behaviors.

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