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Scientists Have Found The First Ever Fossilised Dinosaur Brain

Scientists Have Found The First Ever Fossilised Dinosaur Brain

This is cool.

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

The first ever fossilised dinosaur brain has been found on a beach.

Originally mistaken for a small brown pebble, scientists have now confirmed that it's the brain of a large plant-eating dinosaur from around 133 million years ago.

Scientists from Cambridge University believe that the dinosaur, possibly an Iguanodon, is likely to have died near water, which allowed its brain to be 'pickled'.


Credit: Cambridge University

In a statement, Cambridge University said: "The fossil displays distinct similarities to the brains of modern-day crocodiles and birds. Meninges - the tough tissues surrounding the actual brain - as well as tiny capillaries and portions of adjacent cortical tissues have been preserved as mineralised 'ghosts'."

The brain was discovered in 2004, by fossil-finder Jamie Hiscocks, but until now no-one realised how important a discovery it actually was.

Dr Alex Liu, from Cambridge University's Department of Earth Sciences said that the odds of finding a brain in this state are 'incredibly small', because brain tissue doesn't usually survive.

Featured image credit: Jamie Hiscocks/Cambridge University

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Topics: Dinosaur

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