Fossil proves dinosaur was as clever as a croc

BEXHILL- ON- SEA, Sussex: Although they were the largest creatures ever to walk the Earth, we’ve looked down on dinosaurs for having tiny brains.

But a fossil hunter’s find on a Sussex beach may mean the extinct giants had more grey matter than we thought.

A pebble measuring 10cm long has been confirmed as the first fossilised dinosaur brain, thought to have come from the plant-eating 9m Iguanodon.

Scientists believe it died in a swamp about 133 million years ago and its brain was “pickled” in mud at the bottom.

Fossil hunter Jamie Hiscocks picked up the specimen in 2004 but scientists have only now confirmed what it is.

Dr Alex Liu, from Cambridge University’s Department of Earth Sciences, said: “The chances of preserving brain tissue are incredibly small, so the discovery of this specimen is astonishing.”

Experts now think the Iguanodon could have been as clever as a crocodile and ranked among the “intelligent” dinosaurs such as the bird-like theropods. – Daily Mail