A new, groundbreaking discovery has been made in the world of paleontology. Scientists have managed to find the elusive fossil of a dinosaur brain. This marks the first time that a brain has been discovered and it could help scientists learn more about the still mysterious dinosaurs.
To the untrained eye, the fossilized dinosaur brain doesn’t look any different from a regular rock. However, Jamie Hiscock, an amateur fossil hunter, knew that what he found back in 2004 in Sussex, England, was something more than ordinary. Only until now scientists have been able to confirm is long-held suspicion.
Jamie took his fossil to Martin Brasier, who is a paleobiologist at Oxford University From there the fossil ended up being extensively analyzed by a team of researchers from the University of Western Australia and Cambridge University, who were able to confirm that the object was a preserved dinosaur brain.
Scientists believe that the fossilized brain belonged to an Iguanodon, which was a 30-foot dinosaur that lived around 133 million years ago. According to the scientists, the existence of such a fossil is extremely unlikely as the brain is the first part of the body that begins to decay after death. In order for the brain to be preserved, scientists think that the animal must have died near a body of water with certain conditions such as low oxygen levels and high acidity while being partially buried in sediments.
The discovery of a fossilized dinosaur brain marks an important step in learning more about the giants that ruled the planet before us. It can help scientists understand how the brains of dinosaurs have evolved over the course of millions of years. Additionally, researchers will also have a more precise idea of what and where to look for when trying to discover more similar fossils. As such, they think that it’s only a matter time before more dinosaur brains will be discovered to further improve our understanding of various species.
Scientists require more fossils to draw any final conclusions about dinosaurs. Using one fossil may lead to fallacies and as such, experts are hesitant to make their discovery and speculations public. However, they have stated that the brain is very similar to the ones found in dinosaurs and birds.