ᎶuᏒᎥ jᎪsᎳᎪᏞ
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There was a dinosaur called the Troodon that had primate features:
The discovery of a complete Troodon skeleton in the 1980s added to speculation in the scientific community that dinosaurs had the capacity to evolve into human-like reptilians. A paper from paleontologist Dale Russell titled "Dinosauroid" discussed the possibility of dinosaurs evolving human-like traits. Without the massive extinction even that wiped out the dinosaurs, the dinosaurs could have continued to evolve to fulfill the role later taken by mammals.
Not long after this paper was published, the Troodon skeleton lent further credibility to the idea. Troodon had a much larger brain than other dinosaurs. Its EQ (encephalization quotient: a ratio of an animal's brain size compared to the average brain size of an animal with the same weight) was 6 times higher than the average dinosaur's. That fit in with the observed trend that over time, dinosaurs were getting bigger and bigger brains. Troodon's forelimbs also had the ability to grasp, much like a primate's, and it had stereoscopic vision, more typical of mammals than of reptiles. It's possible that if Troodon hadn't been wiped out, its descendants could be running the world now, instead of us.
This is all purely speculative (it's based on a thought experiment after all!). Many scientists have taken issue with the Dinosauroid theory. Still, it's an interesting idea.
The discovery of a complete Troodon skeleton in the 1980s added to speculation in the scientific community that dinosaurs had the capacity to evolve into human-like reptilians. A paper from paleontologist Dale Russell titled "Dinosauroid" discussed the possibility of dinosaurs evolving human-like traits. Without the massive extinction even that wiped out the dinosaurs, the dinosaurs could have continued to evolve to fulfill the role later taken by mammals.
Not long after this paper was published, the Troodon skeleton lent further credibility to the idea. Troodon had a much larger brain than other dinosaurs. Its EQ (encephalization quotient: a ratio of an animal's brain size compared to the average brain size of an animal with the same weight) was 6 times higher than the average dinosaur's. That fit in with the observed trend that over time, dinosaurs were getting bigger and bigger brains. Troodon's forelimbs also had the ability to grasp, much like a primate's, and it had stereoscopic vision, more typical of mammals than of reptiles. It's possible that if Troodon hadn't been wiped out, its descendants could be running the world now, instead of us.
This is all purely speculative (it's based on a thought experiment after all!). Many scientists have taken issue with the Dinosauroid theory. Still, it's an interesting idea.
