Neglected Dinosaur Willo Had Advanced Olfactory Bulbs, Could Smell a Drop of Blood From Miles Away [Study]

A neglected dinosaur kept in a museum in the United States surprised paleontologists. In a recent study, they learned that Willo, overlooked at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, had a sense of smell and outstanding balance.

Willo The Neglected Dinosaur With Super Sense of Smell, Balance

In a new study, researchers conducted CT scans of Willo's skull and used them to reconstruct the soft tissues lost during fossilization. They wanted to reproduce the dinosaur's brain and inner ear.

The researchers were able to establish the relative size of Willo's brain and what its perceptions of smell, hearing, and balance might have been by comparing their findings to those of other dinosaurs and their extant relatives. They also learned that although the dinosaur may not have been very "brainy," it does seem to have possessed a special set of abilities, such as a highly developed sense of smell and balance.

Ironically, these species are often regarded as being somewhat uninteresting by paleontologists. Upon initially viewing the findings, the researchers concluded that Willo was as simple as toast. But after taking a step back, Lindsay Zanno, head of paleontology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and co-author of the report, noted in a press statement that there was something special about the mix of Willo's sensory strengths and weaknesses.

Thescelosaurus neglectus had very well-developed olfactory bulbs, or the parts of the brain that process scent, implying that its sense of smell was very good. Author David Button, a research associate at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, noted that its "olfactory bulbs were similar to those of living alligators, which can smell a drop of blood from miles away." Additionally, it was reportedly larger than those of any dinosaurs they knew so far. Thescelosaurus might have used their keen sense of smell to find hidden plant nutrients like roots and tubers.

They also possessed an exceptionally keen sense of balance, enabling them to determine their exact location in three dimensions-a characteristic common to burrowing creatures.

Unfortunately, while it had a good sense of smell, its hearing range was limited. The dinosaur could only hear 15% of the frequencies humans can detect and 4%-7% of the frequencies that dogs and cats can pick up. T. neglectus reportedly had trouble hearing high-pitched noises in particular.

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What Are Thescelosaurus Neglectus?

Thescelosaurus neglectus was a two-legged, upright runner dinosaur that balanced itself with a lengthy tail. They were small, herbivorous dinos that measured 12 feet in length and weighed roughly 750 pounds.

They stayed low to the ground, feeding on understory plants. Due to the belief that the animal shows an evolutionary link between crocodilians and birds has been at the center of a discussion about prehistoric times. Willo is the first dinosaur ever discovered with a fossilized heart.

Willo represents a species known as Thescelosaurus neglectus, whose scientific name roughly translates to "wonderful, overlooked lizard." The name referenced that it took decades after the first remains were discovered in the late 19th century before the dinosaur was acknowledged as a distinct species. Although there are still bones of the neglectus species, it is frequently disregarded in literature and museums in favor of its well-known counterparts, such as Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex.