Rex Fan 684
MemberCompsognathusJul-28-2014 7:21 AMSo I've been doing some research(more than usual) about the senses of T.rex. What I found was amazing.
Time to get all technical and stuff...
Vision-
A study published by Kent Stevens of the University of Oregon concluded that Tyrannosaurus had keen vision. By applying modified perimetry to facial reconstructions of several dinosaurs including Tyrannosaurus, the study found that Tyrannosaurs had a binocular range of 55 degrees, surpassing that of modern hawks, and had 13 times the visual acuity of a human, thereby surpassing the visual acuity of an eagle which is only 3.6 times that of a person. This would have allowed Tyrannosaurs to discern objects as far as 6 km away, which is greater than the 1.6 km that a human can see.
Thomas Holtz Jr. would note that high depth perception of Tyrannosaurus may have been due to the prey it had to hunt; noting that it had to hunt horned dinosaurs such as Triceratops, armored dinosaurs such as Ankylosaurus and the duck billed dinosaurs may have had complex social behaviors. He would suggest that this made precision more crucial for Tyrannosaurus enabling it to, "get in, get that blow in and take it down." In contrast, Acrocanthosaurus had limited depth perception because they hunted large sauropods, which were relatively rare during the time of Tyrannosaurus
Smell-
Tyrannosaurus is notable for having very large olfactory bulbs and olfactory nerves relative to their brain size, the organs responsible for a heightened sense of smell. This suggest that the sense of smell was highly developed, and implying that tyrannosaurs could detect carcasses by scent alone across great distances. The sense of smell in tyrannosaurs may have been comparable to modern vultures, which use scent to track carcasses for scavenging. Research on the olfactory bulbs has shown that Tyrannosaurus rex had the most highly developed sense of smell of 21 sampled non-avian dinosaurs species.
Hearing-
Somewhat unusually among theropods, T. rex had very long cochlea of the ear. The length of the cochlea is often related to hearing acuity, or at least the importance of hearing in behavior, implying that hearing was a particularly important sense to tyrannosaurs. Specifically, data suggests thatTyrannosaurus rex heard best in the low-frequency range, and that low-frequency sounds were an important part of tyrannosaur behavior.
Intelligence-
A study by Grant R. Hurlburt, Ryan C. Ridgely and Lawrence Witmer would obtain estimates for Encephalization Quotients (EQs), based on reptiles (REQs) and based on birds (BEQs), as well estimates for the ratio of cerebrum to brain mass. The study would conclude that Tyrannosaurus had the relatively largest brain of all adult non-avian dinosaurs with the exception of certain small maniraptoriforms ( Bambiraptor, Troodon and Ornithomimus).
How about all that. T.rex had quite the array of senses and smarts. Just figured I'd share that with you all.
Rex Fan 684
MemberCompsognathusJul-28-2014 11:44 AMSilver, Tyrannosaurus relative brain size was still within the range of modern reptiles, being at most 2 standard deviations (SDs) above the mean of non-avian reptiles log REQs. The estimates for the ratio of cerebrum mass to brain mass would range from 47.5 to 49.53 percent. According to the study, this is more than the lowest estimates for extant birds (44.6 percent), but still close to the typical ratios of the smallest sexually mature alligators which range from 45.9–47.9 percent. That said, T.rex intelligence is hard to determine without living specimens.
Huge-Ben
MemberTriceratopsJul-28-2014 1:28 PMNow that is awesome, great find. :)
http://hugeben.deviantart.com/ check out my gallery of Godzilla artwork! Follow me on Twitter@thebigbadben90.
Silver_Falcon
MemberCompsognathusJul-28-2014 1:30 PMYeah, I'm just saying that I see many people saying that T. rex was really smart, and although for its time it was certainly above average, I find that compared to modern day animals, it is nothing.
Here, have a waffle (-'.')-#
Rex Fan 684
MemberCompsognathusJul-28-2014 1:30 PMThanks, glad you liked it bigbadben :)
Silver, I agree T.rex was no genius compared to some modern day animals, but for a dinosaur, it was an Einstein. Some birds(the Harris Hawk for example) hunt in family groups and if T.rex was a smart as some birds, then maybe that's more evidence for group behavior in large tyrannosaurs. Kind of random, but you know, that's me.
Huge-Ben
MemberTriceratopsJul-28-2014 1:32 PMNo problem rex fan. :)
Hey by the way if you don't mind please check your scified inbox. :)
http://hugeben.deviantart.com/ check out my gallery of Godzilla artwork! Follow me on Twitter@thebigbadben90.
Rex Fan 684
MemberCompsognathusJul-28-2014 1:33 PMI see the message. I'll go look :)
Allotitan
MemberCompsognathusJul-28-2014 5:08 PMI always heard Rex had great senses but not this good! Either way I still would not to be near this dinosaur
When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Tell life I don't want you're damn lemons, and then squeeze them into life's eyes!
Rex Fan 684
MemberCompsognathusJul-28-2014 5:12 PMAgreed Allotitan ;)
Carnosaur
MemberCompsognathusJul-31-2014 12:00 AMIn contrast, Acrocanthosaurus had limited depth perception because they hunted large sauropods, which were relatively rare during the time of Tyrannosaurus
Not that persay, but they eyes of the Carcharodontosaurs/ allosaurs were situated more to the sides of their heads, where as in tyrannosaurus they are placed more near the front, giving it binocular vision.
had 13 times the visual acuity of a human, thereby surpassing the visual acuity of an eagle which is only 3.6 times that of a person. This would have allowed Tyrannosaurs to discern objects as far as 6 km away, which is greater than the 1.6 km that a human can see
I honestly don't know how this sort of thing is not common knowledge yet. Of cours Tyrannosaurus had better visual acuity then that of humans or raptorial birds. It's substaintially larger, and much taller then even the largest of both species.
Tyrannosaurus has been virtually the only theropod to undergo such scrutiny. Been passed under the miscroscope more then any other. Why? it's infamous. If they did the same studies with Giganotosaurus, hell even Gigantoraptor...the results would probably be different...but still at that level. Doing studies like this on other dinosaur species could and indeed will shine a whole new light on paleoecology i believe...i look forward to the day these studies are conducted.
Good job with this by the way, you presented it quite nicely.
Nature doesn't deceive us; it is we who deceive ourselves.
Jezza
MemberCompsognathusAug-06-2014 12:53 AMNice post Rex Fan.
I agree with everthing but the eye-sight (no offense). I just don't know that you could discern all that optical information with just a fossil. And sure, they have their machines and numbers, but they could be wrong. How would you know that t-rex had binocular vision, let alone better than hawks and eagles, without an actual t-rex eye?
Youre fat, and I'm not sugarcoating it cause you'd probably eat that too.
Rex Fan 684
MemberCompsognathusAug-06-2014 6:39 AMThe position of the eyes give it away. The visual overlap of each eye shows binocular vision...
