Troodon: Intelligent Cretaceous Predator

Troodon is a genus of small, carnivorous dinosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous Period. It was first discovered in 1855 and since then fossils have been found in Montana, Wyoming, and Alberta. Preserved troodon eggs have been unearthed in fossil beds in Montana, which have given scientists insight into their reproduction. In fact, in one of the fossilized eggs, a preserved embryo of a baby troodon was discovered.

Troodon was small and birdlike, with light bones and long legs built for swift running. It reached between six and ten feet in length and about four feet tall, weighing only 100 pounds or so. This dinosaur resembled other lightweight therapods of the Cretaceous Period, possessing a small head, long straightened tail, long legs, and an elongated sickle-like claw on each foot. Unlike large therapods, it had three fingers on a pair of long arms that were useful in holding and slashing prey. In addition to an elongated jaw full of sharp, serrated teeth, Troodon was likely a fast runner and a very effective hunter of small animals during the Late Cretaceous.

Troodon belongs to a family of dinosaurs which represent the top tier of intelligence among these archosaurs. Its brain-to-body ratio is quite large and scientists estimate that they were as smart as modern-day birds. Some scientists believe that Troodon is a close relative of birds and may have been covered in feathers (although no fossil evidence has thus revealed this to be so). One can wonder what the course of dinosaur evolution might have looked like if this brainy troodon was able to survive up until the present day. Their intelligence could very well have increased to such a degree that they would be on par with some of the smarter animals of the animal kingdom today. Also, troodon had partially opposable thumbs on its hands, which if given a few more million years might have evolved to a degree to allow troodon to manipulate objects. This, coupled with a large brain size could have made troodon a potential candidate for intelligent life, much like us. Paleontologist Dale Russell created a sculpture in 1982 of a possible "dinosauroid" that depicts what the troodonts might have looked like if they lived through to today. The sculpture is of a bipedal, human-like dinosaur with long fingers, no tail, a round head, and very large eyes.

Unfortunately, troodon with the rest of the dinosaurs went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous, when the Earth was ravaged by a mass extinction event. These smart dinosaurs met the same end as comparatively stupid ones in a catastrophe that could not be survived.