BBC
Published: 11th September, 2022
One thing that sets humans apart from other animals – as far as we know – is that we are sentient.
Not only do we have large brains and keen intelligence, but we are self-aware.
We are conscious: we sense the world around us in an advanced way, and know that we exist, and that others exist.
Our species has been around for just a few hundred thousand years, a newcomer on the geological scene. So why didn’t dinosaurs develop sentience during their evolutionary run that exceeded 150 million years?
First off, we assume they didn’t, because they didn’t leave records of things like writing, language and other sentient thought processes in the fossil record. But we do know from CT scanning of fossil skulls that many dinosaurs had very large brains.
Could these large brains have eventually become sentient? Maybe, if the end-Cretaceous asteroid impact didn’t knock out dinosaurs in their prime and pave the way for our mammalian ancestors.
Published: 11th September, 2022
One thing that sets humans apart from other animals – as far as we know – is that we are sentient.
Not only do we have large brains and keen intelligence, but we are self-aware.
We are conscious: we sense the world around us in an advanced way, and know that we exist, and that others exist.
Our species has been around for just a few hundred thousand years, a newcomer on the geological scene. So why didn’t dinosaurs develop sentience during their evolutionary run that exceeded 150 million years?
First off, we assume they didn’t, because they didn’t leave records of things like writing, language and other sentient thought processes in the fossil record. But we do know from CT scanning of fossil skulls that many dinosaurs had very large brains.
Could these large brains have eventually become sentient? Maybe, if the end-Cretaceous asteroid impact didn’t knock out dinosaurs in their prime and pave the way for our mammalian ancestors.
IF THEY HAD THEY WOULD HAVE LOOKED LIKE THIS
Authors: Darren Naish eotyrannus@gmail.com and Will Tattersdill
Publication: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
17 May 2021
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2020-0172
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
Volume 58, Number 9
September 2021
References
Abstract
It takes a bold, innovative mind to publish an exercise in speculative evolution pertaining to an alternative timeline. Dale Russell’s studies of the troodontid Stenonychosaurus and of ornithomimid theropods, published in 1969 and 1972, inspired him to consider the possibility that some theropod dinosaur lineages might have given rise to big-brained species had they never died out. By late 1980, Russell had considered the invention of a hypothetical descendant of Stenonychosaurus dubbed the “dinosauroid”. There is likely no specific inspiration for the dinosauroid given Russell’s overlapping areas of interest, but his correspondence with Carl Sagan and his involvement in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence program were likely of special influence. The early-1980s creation of a life-size Stenonychosaurus model with Ron Séguin gave Russell the impetus to bring the dinosauroid to life. Authors have disagreed on whether the dinosauroid’s creation was an exercise in scientific extrapolation or one of speculative fiction, and on whether its form reflects bias or an honest experiment: Russell justified his decisions on the basis of the dinosauroid’s anatomy being adaptive and linked to efficiency, but he also stated or implied that the human form may be considered a predictable evolutionary outcome among big-brained organisms, and expressed a preference for directionist views that posit humans as close to the pinnacle of evolution. Both derided and praised at the time of its construction, the dinosauroid is undergoing a resurgence of interest. Given that its aim was to spark discussion and invite alternative solutions, it can only be considered an extraordinary success.
Authors: Stephen L. Cumbaa, Philip J. Currie, Peter Dodson, and Jordan C. Mallon jmallon@nature.ca
Publication: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
7 December 2020
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2020-0163
11,296
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
Volume 58, Number 9
September 2021
Abstract
We review the distinguished and varied career of our friend and colleague, palaeontologist Dr. Dale A. Russell, following the recent news of his death. Dale relished his work and approached his research — whether it be on mosasaur systematics, dinosaur extinction, or the evolution of animal intelligence — with great gusto. A deep and contextual thinker, Dale had a penchant for metanarrative rarely equaled in these times of increased research specialization. This quality, combined with his outgoing and collaborative nature, allowed Dale to make friends and colleagues with highly varied research interests throughout the world. We remember Dale fondly and cherish the opportunity to share the stories of his adventures (and misadventures) across the globe.
Introduction
Dale Alan Russell (Fig. 1) died on 21 December 2019, six days short of his 82nd birthday. Dale was the first modern student of Canadian dinosaurs, revitalizing their study following the fabled decades of collection by Charles M. Sternberg and his contemporaries. During his 30-year tenure at the Canadian Museum of Nature (previously the National Museum of Canada, and the National Museum of Natural Sciences), he described dinosaurs from Canada, China, North Africa, and elsewhere (Appendix A, Table A1). He sought to understand both the dinosaurs themselves and the environments in which they lived. His restless energy drove him to explore remote regions of the world, from the Canadian High Arctic, to the New Caledonian cloud forest, from the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco and the Rift Valley of the Lake Turkana region of northern Kenya, to the deserts of Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia in China. He endeavoured to understand dinosaur habitats by exploring modern analogues to Cretaceous lowland habitats in Florida, Louisiana, and North Carolina, where he documented swamp cypresses, magnolias, turtles, and alligators in their natural habitats. He was among the first palaeontologists to give serious consideration to an extraterrestrial cause of dinosaur extinction (Russell and Tucker 1971), nearly a decade before the Alvarez hypothesis gained traction. Dale is remembered not only for his fertile imagination, his becoming modesty, and his nearly manic sense of humour, but also for his enthusiasm on matters botanical. Not only did he learn about his fungi and plants of interest (figs, ferns, etc.), but he cultivated them both at home and in the office, consumed them, and induced his friends and co-workers to consume them (fiddlehead fern soup, anybody?). He is remembered with great affection by all who knew and admired him.
Some reflections and cherished memories of Dale are available at http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4895631.
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