Almost all parts of the dinosaur's body has been found its fossils. Start of bones, teeth, claws, skulls, until feathers fossil. Later from various parts of the body could describe a dinosaur type in their entirety.
But there is one mystery that remains from dinosaurs. Until now not much is known about dinosaur brains. Actually, what form the Jurassic era animal brain was?
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| Though the plant-eating dinosaur Ampelosaurus was among the largest to walk the Earth, it was equipped with a puny brain. (Picture from: http://www.livescience.com/) |
This mystery began to unfold after scientists at Duke University in Durham, United States, examined the brain structures of crocodiles and birds. Depiction from the results of the both animals brain provide some clues about the dinosaur brain structure.
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| Despite being the fruit of a long evolution, the brain of the plant-eating dinosaur called Ampelosaurus sported was tiny, shown here in a 3D reconstruction. (Picture from: http://www.livescience.com/) |
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| Photo of the Berlin Archaeopteryx specimen, showing leg feathers that were subsequently removed during preparation. (Picture from: http://www.examiner.com/) |
"No one has ever found fossilized brain of dinosaur," said Erich Jarvis, a neurobiology expert on the last Thursday, November 14, 2013 and present the results of their research in the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
The only evidence which describes fossilized of dinosaur brain is a dinosaur brain mold (endocast) from some types of dinosaurs, including one of Tyrannosaurus rex. But the mold can not reflect accurately the internal structure of the dinosaur brain.
That's why Jarvis and his team chose the brain of crocodile and bird as the key to unravel the mysteries of dinosaur brain. "Both are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs are still alive today," he said as quoted by LiveScience.
Birds was the evolution result from the group of predatory dinosaurs. The bird brain has the cortex such as the mammalian brain in general. The outer layer of the brain which help develop mammalian intelligence. Crocodile brain also holds millions of mystery. Crocodiles are animals older than the dinosaurs. Crocodiles first appeared on Earth before the dinosaurs.
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| The brain cast of Archaeopteryx lithographica partitioned into neuroanatomical regions. The endocast is partitioned into the following neuroanatomical regions: brain stem (yellow), cerebellum (blue), optic lobes (red), cerebrum (green), and olfactory bulbs (orange). (Picture from: http://www.livescience.com/) |
Although mysterious, Jarvis and his team did not give up and tried to map the structures of crocodile brain. They took the fresh brain of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) whose recently dead and compare it with the brain of zebra finch bird (Taeniopygia guttata).
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| The transparent skull and opaque brain cast of Citipati osmolskae, an oviraptor dinosaur, is shown in this CT scan. The endocast is partitioned into the following neuroanatomical regions: brain stem (yellow), cerebellum (blue), optic lobes (red), cerebrum (green), and olfactory bulbs (orange). (Picture from: http://www.livescience.com/) |
"The crocodile brain proven 85 percent similiar with the bird brain," said Jarvis. In addition, the crocodile brain contains six of the seven major parts such as the bird brain. In birds, the two parts of the brain has function in the vocal learning process. And like the bird brain, the crocodile's brain have genes that become activated in response to the sound from the same species crocodile.
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| This CT scan shows a modern woodpecker (Melanerpes aurifrons) with its brain cast rendered opaque and the skull transparent. The endocast is partitioned into the following neuroanatomical regions: brain stem (yellow), cerebellum (blue), optic lobes (red), cerebrum (green), and olfactory bulbs (orange). (Picture from: http://www.livescience.com/) |
Based on the study results, Jarvis and his team concluded that the brain structure of dinosaur-like the brains of crocodile and bird. The dinosaur brain also has one cortex and six main sections. The brain structure as it is, makes dinosaurs could develop intelligent behavior. "During this the dinosaurs had been underestimated in terms of the complexity of the brain," he said. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | LIVESCIENCE | MAHARDIKA SATRIA HADI | KORAN TEMPO 4404]
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