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First-Ever Dinosaur Brain Tissue Found Preserved In a Pebble (sciencemag.org)

sciencehabit quotes a report from Science Magazine: A decade ago, a fossil hunter was combing the beach in southeastern England when he found a strange, brown pebble. The surface of it caught his eye: It was smooth and strangely undulating, and also slightly crinkly in some places. That oddly textured pebble, scientists report today, is actually an endocast -- an impression preserved in the rock -- that represents the first known evidence of fossilized brain tissue of a dinosaur (likely a close relative of Iguanodon, a large, herbivorous type of dinosaur that lived about 133 million years ago). Human brains and bird brains are packed tightly into the brain case, so that their convolutions leave an impression of the inside of the case. But dinosaur (and reptile) brains are more loosely fitted; they are surrounded within the brain case by membranes called meninges, tough sheaths that protect and support the brain. So an endocast of a dinosaur brain might be expected to show those structures -- and it did. But beneath them, remineralized in calcium phosphate, the researchers also spied a pattern of tiny capillaries and other cortical tissues -- the sort of fabric you'd expect for the cortex of a brain. That those textures were pressed up against the brain case doesn't necessarily mean that dinosaurs were bigger-brained and smarter than we thought, however: Instead, the dinosaur had likely simply toppled over and been preserved upside down, its brain tissue preserved by surrounding acidic, low-oxygen waters that pickled and hardened the membranes and tissues, providing a template for mineralization. The structure of the brain, studied with scanning electron microscopes, reveal similarities to both birds and crocodiles. The researchers reported their findings in a Special Publication of the Geological Society of London.

43 comments

  1. size by sucko · · Score: 0, Troll

    it was larger than any slashdot editor's brain.

    1. Re:size by ozduo · · Score: 1

      Hey It's not polite to mock the afflicted

      --
      I got to the chocolate box before you, that's why the hard ones have teeth marks.
    2. Re:size by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No "Brain Tissue" was found preserved. It's a fossil dammit, a mineralized record of the shape of a brain.
      This is Second Grade Stuff, and frankly I was expecting a lot better of BeauHD.
      I'm not mocking BeauHD, I'm calling him out. This was a really inept Title.
      Resign.

    3. Re:size by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      Upon reading the title, I was wondering how dinosaur brains got inside a pebble.

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    4. Re:size by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      I clicked on his name and saw the photo. He's still wet behind the ears...clearly qualified to be a /. editor.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    5. Re: size by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's either a photo from some geek's 1980s year book that he used, or the kid some hipster that's ironically retro 80s and thinks Reagan was our greatest President.

    6. Re:size by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it was larger than any slashdot editor's brain.

      What did that dinosaur ever do to you?

    7. Re: size by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      He got stoned. (sunglasses)

    8. Re: size by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      The question is if there were any indentations in the outside of the skull from a mullet...

    9. Re: size by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Can't be. Kids in the 80s didn't dress like that. And they certainly weren't as dumb as this.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    10. Re:size by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Around here, bird brains are common and run the show most of the time.

    11. Re:size by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please stop insulting the birds.

  2. movie? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    que another Jurrassic Park sequel

    1. Re: movie? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Âque? Another Jurassic Park sequel?"

      Fixed that for you.

  3. doc en pic's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
  4. Quote of Day by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

    "I have five dollars for each of you." -- Bernhard Goetz

    Best comeback line ever.

    --
    If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
  5. Chicken or the Egg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Was a dino's brain in a pebble or was it a pebble inside the dino's brain?! Inquiring minds want to know!

    1. Re:Chicken or the Egg? by RavenLrD20k · · Score: 1

      Neither. It's the remnant piece of a brain of a dino that looked at Medusa.

  6. That's cool, Pebble by kav2k · · Score: 2

    So those smartwatches are useful for something.

  7. ooops by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    First recognised..
    I have also found lumps that have looked very similar to this one,but have been told that they were nothing of interest.
    I thought they looked like brain also,but was told they were just natural minerslisation and normal geological formations.
    I lived in Hythe bay area for 15+ years,used to explore beaches all the way down to Dorset,stuff from Hezbollah will eventually arrive in Hythe bay and its beaches because long shore drift is mostly from west to east in the English channel.
    There is a very high chance that this type of material has Bern found on multiple occasions,and possibly already exists in collections,now that it's accepted it does happen and others know what I look for,many many examples will rapidly turn up...
    Pity I don't have my collections still,I put mine back on the beach at low tide one night when I knew I was leaving the area...

  8. Donald is it You? by dcw3 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Was there an orange toupee with it?

    --
    Just another day in Paradise
    1. Re:Donald is it You? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Herp. Derp. You're a funny guy.

    2. Re:Donald is it You? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There was evidently brain tissue present, so no.

    3. Re:Donald is it You? by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Must be a common thought, first thing that came to my mind was "would anyone notice the pebble if it contained Trump's brain or would it be too small".

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    4. Re:Donald is it You? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Was there an orange toupee with it?

      Do you have a poster of Hillary on your wall? Do you kiss it?

  9. Somehow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think the authors of the Bible would strongly disagree.

    1. Re:Somehow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Ignorant much? i suggest you read St Augustine's exegesis on book of Genesis ( written in 3rd century AD) to realize why you are called ignorant.
      But i suppose born idiots like you prefer to stay ignorant in order to display their ignorance through silly attacks.

    2. Re:Somehow by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Wow, I didn't know the history of people noticing the bible is wrong and trying to excuse it so their favorite fairy tale stays relevant is that old! I always thought it's a more recent development when we actually could prove that it's bunk.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  10. Meninges by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But dinosaur (and reptile) brains are more loosely fitted; they are surrounded within the brain case by membranes called meninges, tough sheaths that protect and support the brain.

    So humans do not have meninges? TFA is a complete disaster

  11. How about a fucking picture? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    n/t

    1. Re: How about a fucking picture? by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Those are at pornhub.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    2. Re: How about a fucking picture? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      #mindfuck?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  12. Life Finds A Way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's no dino brain. Two decades ago I had a hobby of breeding pet rocks. I got a little carried away and one thing lead to another, and the rocks eventually got smarter. Once I realized my mistake, I pulverized all of them and tossed their powered remains into the ocean. It appears I hadn't dusted them as much as I thought.

    Please everyone, make sure the next beach you visit is still sandy. We must not let them gain a single beachhead. People were afraid of a super intelligent AI taking over the world, but it's the stupid rocks who have had enough of everyone walking all over them!

    1. Re:Life Finds A Way by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Rocks having sex? You're obviously on drugs.

      All we need is "Roll" for the "Sex, drugs, rock and Roll" to be complete.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  13. Brain tissue was NOT FOUND preserved. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Misleading title.
    "Fossilized" does not mean tissue was preserved, it means it was replaced.

    Dumbing down science is stupid.

  14. i know this article was dumbed down, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    but check the meninges wiki and you can find information concerning the human variety.

  15. Small wonder by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    Small wonder that they died out with a pebble-sized brain.

  16. Meninges! by EvilSS · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Human brains and bird brains are packed tightly into the brain case, so that their convolutions leave an impression of the inside of the case. But dinosaur (and reptile) brains are more loosely fitted; they are surrounded within the brain case by membranes called meninges, tough sheaths that protect and support the brain.

    Good thing human brains don't have a meninges, otherwise we could get meningitis! Oh, wait.....

    --
    I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    1. Re:Meninges! by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Must be a typo. Dinosaurs had ménage-et-trois.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  17. What's not mentioned in the story... by arpad1 · · Score: 1

    is the bite taken out of the brain thus proving the long-dismissed hypothesis of dinosaur zombies.

    --
    Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
  18. Can we stop with the Trump news already? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "First-Ever Dinosaur Brain Tissue Found Preserved In a Pebble". I mean, really.