Was T. rex really as smart as primates? A new study argues the dino's intellect has been overstated

Despite films like "Jurassic Park" depicting Tyrannosaurus rex as nothing more than a stupid killing machine, Dr. Suzana Herculano-Houzel believes the mighty dinosaur "deserves better." "This is a smear job on T. rex." Herculano-Houzel is no passive dinosaur observer. The Vanderbilt University neuroscientist is an expert in comparative neuroanatomy, as well as editor-in-chief of The Journal of Comparative Neurology. In 2023 that journal published a paper she authored about the intelligence of theropods, a clade of dinosaurs which includes Allosauruses, …