Dinosaurs aren’t really known for being smart (or as kids call it these days, BIG BRAIN). However, today we’re looking at the world’s smartest dinosaurs, called Troodon. These are some unique (and fluffy dinosaurs) that were pretty common in North America. Troodon lived alongside ferocious dinosaurs like Therizinosaurus, T-rex and Triceratops (The triple T’s), but what it didn’t have in size, it made up for in intelligence.
Troodon lived in Montana and Alaska and was split into two species. Something interesting here that paleontologsits have noted is that there is a huge size difference between these two species that greatly exceeds other differences in size between species of the same genus. Alaskan Troodon were as tall as humans, while Troodon from Montana were very small and about the size of a turkey. This was caused by the fact that large predators like T-rex and Albertosaurus were very common in Montana, but the largest predator in the Arctic was the smaller Gorgosaurus. This resulted in Troodon having an evolutionary chance to become the big boss where there was no one currently holding it in check.
Troodon was nocturnal as evidenced by its large brain, huge eyesockets, and developed senses of hearing and smell. It was by far one of the smartest dinosaur and was probably as intelligent as a modern day crow. Which, by animal standards, is pretty smart. Crows, ravens, and magpies have been known to solve problems, communicate, use tools, and remember faces (scientists had a painful time discovering this since the birds viciously attack faces that they think are threats or are mysterious). It has even been speculated that if the Cretaceous extinction that killed off the dinosaurs had never happened, Troodon would have evolved to become a humanlike intelligent civilization, able to do things that today only humans are capable of. These animals are informally called ‘Dinosauroids’.
Troodon lived in North America, but most of its relatives lived in Central Asia, such as Saurornithoides, Borogovia, and Byronosaurus. This is seen in tyrannosaurs, ceratopsians, and the closely related raptors. However, these dinos would all die out and against an asteroid, Troodon’s intelligence was no match.
Anay Ganesh 