VOA科学技术2024--Scientists Argue over Intelligence of T. Rex

A group of scientists has disputed a study published last year that estimated the intelligence of the dinosaur¹ Tyrannosaurus rex to be similar to a baboon²'s.

The group disputed last year's report from Suzana Herculano-Houzel at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. It said the study did not use studies of reptiles⁴ like crocodiles and alligators⁵ to explain dinosaur brains.

Zoologist⁶ Kai Caspar is with the Heinrich Heine University in Germany. Caspar was the lead author of the new study published in The Anatomical Record.

Speaking of dinosaurs⁷ like T. rex, he said "their neuron numbers were likely not exceptional, especially for animals of their body mass."

But Herculano-Houzel stands by her research.

She said her work studied the "brain to body-size relationship" of modern-day theropod relatives such as ostriches⁸ and chickens. The brain size and number of neurons of those animals, she said, support her theory.

A theropod is a group of dinosaurs that includes T. rex.

She said only one issue is being disputed: "What was actually the size of dinosaur brains. Even then, we're talking about the difference between a T. rex brain being baboon or monkey sized."

Caspar said his research group also considered modern birds.

"Reptiles are certainly not as dim-witted as is commonly believed," he said. Speaking of T. rex, he noted⁹: "it was certainly a behaviorally sophisticated animal."

Caspar said he had additional concerns about Herculano-Houzel's research. One issue, he said, is that while humans, baboons¹⁰, other mammals and even birds have brains that fill the space protected by the skull¹¹, "this is not the case for reptile³ species." He noted the brain of reptiles fills only about 30 to 50 percent of the space.

He also said it is not known how many neurons, or brain cells, were present in dinosaur brains.

"Looking at living animals, we see that neuron counts are actually not a good indicator¹² of intelligence in the first place," Caspar added.

Caspar noted the study from 2023 assumed the brain filled the whole skull, which, he said, "was certainly not the case."

Scientists have been learning about dinosaurs for about 200 years. But much remains¹³ to be discovered.

Thomas Holtz is the co-author of the new study. He studies dinosaurs at the University of Maryland. He said estimating the intelligence of animals that lived over 60 million years ago is difficult.

"It would be nice if we could just estimate one number and unravel¹⁴ the whole complexity¹⁵ of an animal's biology and lifestyle, but nature isn't like that," Holtz said.

He said T. rex probably had an intelligence level somewhere between that of birds and reptiles.

"Many of our common assumptions don't really hold up when you...examine what real animals do in the real world," he said.

I'm Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by Reuters.

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Words in This Story

reptile -n. a class of animals with backbones¹⁶ which lays eggs, is covered with scaly¹⁷ skin, and has a low body temperature

neuron -n. a special cell of the nervous system of many animals

stand by -v. (phrasal) to support or to continue to support although there is opposition¹⁸

dim-witted -adj. not intelligent

sophisticated -adj. extremely smart or complex

species -n. a group of animals or plants that can have young with one another and is a group smaller than a genus

skull -n. the bones of the head

indicator -n. something that shows the presence of something else

assume -v. to think that something is true without knowing or confirming it completely

unravel -v. to come apart or to take something apart in an effort to understand it

1 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

2 baboon   

n.狒狒

参考例句：

• A baboon is a large monkey that lives in Africa.狒狒是一种生活在非洲的大猴子。
• As long as the baboon holds on to what it wants,it's trapped.只要狒狒紧抓住想要的东西不放手，它就会被牢牢困住。

3 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。

4 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 alligators   

n.短吻鳄( alligator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Two alligators rest their snouts on the water's surface. 两只鳄鱼的大嘴栖息在水面上。 来自辞典例句
• In the movement of logs by water the lumber industry was greatly helped by alligators. 木材工业过去在水上运输木料时所十分倚重的就是鳄鱼。 来自辞典例句

6 zoologist   

n.动物学家

参考例句：

• Charles darwin was a famous zoologist.查尔斯达尔文是一位著名的动物学家。
• The zoologist had spent a long time living with monkeys.这位动物学家与猴子一起生活了很长时间。

7 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 ostriches   

n.鸵鸟( ostrich的名词复数 )；逃避现实的人，不愿正视现实者

参考例句：

• They are the silliest lot of old ostriches I ever heard of. 他们真是我闻所未闻的一群最傻的老鸵鸟。 来自辞典例句
• How ostriches could bear to run so hard in this heat I never succeed in understanding. 驼鸟在这样干燥炎热的地带为什么能疾速长跑，我永远也理解不了。 来自辞典例句

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 baboons   

n.狒狒( baboon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Baboons could break branches and leaders. 狒狒会折断侧枝和顶梢。 来自辞典例句
• And as nonprimates, they provoke fewer ethical and safety-related concerns than chimps or baboons. 而且作为非灵长类，就不会产生像用黑猩猩或狒狒那样的伦理和安全方面的顾虑。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命

11 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

12 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

14 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

15 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

16 backbones   

n.骨干( backbone的名词复数 )；脊骨；骨气；脊骨状物

参考例句：

• Why do hummingbirds and gorillas both have backbones? 为什么蜂鸟和大猩猩都有脊骨？ 来自辞典例句
• Simply adding bandwidth to the Internet backbones is not an answer. 只是简单的在互联网骨架上增加带宽是应付不了的。 来自互联网

17 scaly   

adj.鱼鳞状的；干燥粗糙的

参考例句：

• Reptiles possess a scaly,dry skin.爬行类具有覆盖着鳞片的干燥皮肤。
• The iron pipe is scaly with rust.铁管子因为生锈一片片剥落了。

18 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。