A research team led by a University of Alabama have taken a new look at the
inside of a dinosaur fossil. This dinosaur fossil is part of the head of a Euoplocephalus,
which is a six meter plant eater. They estimate that the fossil is up to 72
million years old.

Tetsuto Miyashita, who is a U of A master’s student in paleontology, had taken a look
at the armored skull of the Euoplocephalus. The skull has been sitting in the U
of A’s paleontology collection was broke, which then enabled Miyashita and his
fellow paleontologists to get a closer look at the skull. They got a great look
at the interior nasal cavities and a good look at the details of the blood
vessels.

The team of researchers had gotten CT scans of the unbroken Euoplocephalus skulls.
They had been able to reconstruct the looping, twisted nasal passages and the
brain chamber. They had come to the conclusion, after studying the skull and
the CT scans for weeks, maybe months on end, that they had a great sense of
smell and also a good sense of hearing.

The researchers have concluded that the brain could easily fit into a coffee mug,
or something of the same proportion. But it’s no different from many of the
other dinosaurs that had lived during their long life. The researchers are
assuming that the Euoplocephalus generated sound through their naval passages.

 So far, the scientists have learned a lot about the Euoplocephalus. So far, they
had learned about the interior nasal cavities and the details of the blood
vessels of this plant eater. The scientists can also reconstruct the looping
twisted nasal passages and the brain chamber. They decided that the Euoplocephalus
had a great sense of smell and could hear very well.

1.)  What kind of predators hunted the Euoplocephalus?

2.)  How long did they live?

3.)  What kind of defenses did they have against attackers?