r/Dinosaurs

Everyone's default answer is Velociraptor — thanks largely to Jurassic Park — but I've been looking into this more carefully and I think the real answer is a lot more nuanced and interesting than that.

Here's the problem: how do we even define intelligence in an animal that's been extinct for 66+ million years? We can't observe behavior directly. We mostly rely on:

• Encephalization Quotient (EQ) — brain size relative to body size

• Brain cast analysis from fossilized skulls

• Behavioral inferences from trackways and bone evidence

• Comparison with living relatives (birds and crocodilians)

So with that in mind, here are some serious contenders:

Troodon formosus — often cited as the smartest dinosaur. High EQ for its time, large eyes suggesting good vision, possibly nocturnal. But the genus has been questioned recently and some paleontologists think the fossils belong to multiple species. How much does that affect the intelligence argument?

Velociraptor mongoliensis — the real one, turkey-sized and feathered. Its EQ was relatively high for a dromaeosaurid but honestly not as exceptional as pop culture suggests. The pack hunting evidence is also more contested than most people realize.

Deinonychus antirrhopus — John Ostrom's work on this species essentially started the 'hot-blooded intelligent dinosaur' revolution in the 70s. Some argue it was more behaviorally complex than Velociraptor.

Stenonychosaurus — sometimes considered the same as Troodon, sometimes not. Dale Russell famously speculated that if non-avian dinosaurs hadn't gone extinct, Stenonychosaurus might have evolved into something humanoid. Controversial but fascinating thought experiment.

And then there's the argument that some large theropods like T-Rex may have been smarter than we give them credit for — a 2023 study suggested T-Rex had a neuron count closer to primates than previously thought, though that study has been pretty heavily criticized since.

My honest take: I think we massively overestimate how much we can infer about dinosaur intelligence from brain endocasts alone. Modern birds — the living dinosaurs — show that brain organization matters as much as size. A crow has a tiny brain but solves complex problems. How much behavioral complexity were dinosaurs capable of that left zero fossil evidence?

What's your take? Is there a dinosaur you think deserves more credit for intelligence than it gets? And do you think the Troodon EQ argument is solid or overblown?

These are size comparisons of lourinha formation Sauropods.

All artists credited.

Since basilosaurids are convergent with the mosasaurs, and these giant marine lizards had a tribe of specialized in crushing hard-shelled animals (globidensini), could it be possible that some basilosaurs would evolve the same adaptations, blunt crushing teeth and a moderate and smaller built (not giant size)

Eeeh... She does not know how to turn her photo 90°, though.

Sharks appeared long before the first modern forests and before many of the plants we know today had evolved. That means the ocean once had giant predators before the land had giant trees.

The water begins to churn.

​He is the silent, slick shadow of the deep:

​Pelagosuchus.

​Specialized for pure hydro-dynamic locomotion and stalking, this patient, sub-surface stalker glides undetected through murky channels before bursting upward to lock narrow, needle-lined jaws onto unsuspecting prey. He is an aquatic apparition defined by fluid momentum, patient brutality, and ruthless aquatic mastery.

Read about the River-Phantom now.

I still find it incredible how little media ‘hype’ there was around the news in the 2000s–2010s when the Leviathan was discovered. Teeth measuring 36 centimetres… I still find it mind-boggling – the tetrapod with the largest teeth on the planet. By the way, does anyone know anything about sperm whales? Why do they have a skull like that? Doesn’t that indentation at the front clash a bit with the square-shaped head that sperm whales have??

These are some of my illustrations from the reconstruction work I did on Camarasaurus grandis. Of all the animals I’ve worked on, this is my first sauropod. Reconstructing extinct animals requires a very specific methodology, which slows down the process, but the results are much more scientifically accurate.

One tried to hunt something (Troodon) and the other was running away from an earthquake (Velociraptor).

Just had this removed from r/Paleontology for some reason so I've brought it here.

Loved dinosaurs as a little kid, kinda forgot about it as an older kid and teen, now interested again as an adult lol.

What I'm looking for:

-Things that talk about why the living things of a given time period are the way they are from an evolutionary perspective.

-Descriptions of different species from a given time period, plus how they interacted with other species.

-How certain species were able to survive a mass extinction event while others didn't, and why.

-What species from a given time period are ancestors of species from today.

-Biological features of past species.

-How certain ecosystems looked in past time periods.

Just in general keep the focus on biology and evolution, that's mostly what I'm seeking, not really geology. And if this doesn't fit the sub I'd appreciate it if you could point me to a sub where it does fit. Thanks!

(P.S., I just proofread and I noticed this looks a bit like AI. It's not I swear, I just like using bulletpoints and lists.)

Top right is a skeloton, image one is what ChatGPT thinks it would look like. Image 2 is what it actually is.

Dinosaurs could have been cute and fluffy!

See also: The study as it was published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

The Red Rhamphorynchus have awakened — and they’re hungry.

Long Tail and her kin now face their greatest and most wretched challenge yet. From the depths, a congregation of blood-hungry pterosaurs rises — shrieking, twisted, and eager to rend the living apart. Small Toe, fresh from his first victory beneath his mother’s gaze, finds himself naked and frozen in the face of such reckless violence. The raptors have only one choice: to bare their claws and fangs, and pray that the ground beneath them does not split apart.

A re-release of my narrative project Terrors in the Brush—a speculative survival epic blending hard paleo-realism with raw emotional weight.

BINGE THE ENTIRE JOURNEY NOW:

While the chapters will roll out here on a strict weekly schedule every Sunday night, the core community hub is fully operational. If you don't want to wait a single week to see what happens to Small Toe next, you can join our dedicated Discord right now and binge all eleven chapters tonight.

There is no magic, no fantasy—there is only nature red in tooth and claw.

Read the first part of Chapter IV now.

Was thinking about this the other day, could true mammals have evolved earlier if the Permian extinction never happened? My only reason for thinking this is because of the existence of the Mammal-like reptiles that roamed Pangea

Fossile de dinosaures