Nathaniel Berman

16
Current Event

3/ 15/

Tyrannosaur Fossil Indicates Dinosaur Got Smart First, Then

Grew Big

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/15/science/tyrannosaur-fossil-indicates-dinosaurgot-smart-firstthengrewbig.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection
%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=packag
e&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

While most people picture the tyrant lizard, the Tyrannosaurus

Rex, as a hulking behemoth sitting comfortably atop the Cretaceous
food chain, fossil studies have shown that the first T-rexes were
actually quite small, closer to the size of a human or a horse than a
school bus. A recent fossil discovery in Uzbekistan has filled a missing
link in the T-rexs lineage. The new fossil shares many of its
characteristics with the giant dinosaur, but not its immense size.
Scientists now think that the tyrannosaur got smart before it got big.
The first tyrannosaurs lived in the same world as larger carnivores and
may not have been able to compete with them and grow larger.
Instead, tyrannosaurs developed ear structures that allowed for
enhanced hearing, and larger brains.