I believe it's certainly possible that they could have, but it's also possible that they wouldn't have. I think it's a matter of probability more than anything.

I believe it's certainly possible that they could have, but it's also possible that they wouldn't have. I think it's a matter of probability more than anything. It's a common misconception that humans are the pinnacle of evolution -- that we're somehow that most advanced in the lineage of evolution. People often misinterpret "survival of the fittest" to imply that we, humans, are the fittest because of our intelligence. In the context of what's on Earth today, we're no more the fittest than modern day ants. "Fittest" should be thought of "fittest for [X] environment". If the dinosaurs hadn't died out, it's quite possible that one or more species would have evolved intelligence that made them fit for their niche, but it's quite possible that intelligence would never have made any of them the fittest for their niche, and thus not evolved into something more.