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Were Dinosaurs Warm or Cold Blooded?
Discovery News ^ | Friday, December 4, 2009 | Jennifer Viegas

Posted on 12/04/2009 1:44:34 PM PST by SunkenCiv

New research has heated up the debate over whether dinosaurs were ectothermic (cold-blooded) or endothermic (warm-blooded like us). The topic is addressed in this week's Johns Hopkins News-Letter and a recent PLoS One paper.

The prevailing view for decades was that dinosaurs were cold-blooded, as reptiles, fish and amphibians are today. Now support is leaning toward the warm-blooded dinosaur theory, which opens up a slew of intriguing questions: Did dinosaurs sweat? Were they able to live in very cold regions? Did they have to eat a lot to fuel their lifestyle? and more.

Herman Pontzer at Washington University in St. Louis and his team used a combination of computer modeling techniques and physiology know-how to predict the energy cost of dinosaur movement. They did this, reasoning that if walking and running would have burnt more energy than a cold-blooded creature could have put out, dinosaurs were probably warm-blooded.

Keep in mind that lizards and other cold-blooded animals do not use internally-generated energy to regulate their body temperature. As a result, they require far less energy than warm-blooded animals do. That's one reason why you often see them lounging motionless in the sun. And, conversely, why warm-blooded species like humans are usually hungry.

Prior research conducted by Pontzer's group showed that the energy cost of walking and running is strongly associated with leg length, so the distance from the hip joint to the ground can predict the observed cost of locomotion. After calculating these measurements and studying anatomical models of 14 dinosaurs, they determined that walking and running dinosaurs would indeed have used more energy than a cold-blooded animal would've been capable of producing. Conclusion: many dinosaurs were probably athletic, warm-blooded animals.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.discovery.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: dinosaurs; godsgravesglyphs; paleontology
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To: American Constitutionalist

Nah you’d have to slow smoke them with mesquite and oak wood.


21 posted on 12/04/2009 2:13:56 PM PST by BJClinton (http://www.williamsfortexas.com/)
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To: C19fan

They could have been warm blooded but not at 98.7F degrees.

Each degree you drop it the less food the animal needs.


22 posted on 12/04/2009 2:15:39 PM PST by GraceG
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To: American Constitutionalist
Be careful.

They've been know to tip over stone aged vehicles...


23 posted on 12/04/2009 2:18:34 PM PST by green pastures
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To: freedumb2003

24 posted on 12/04/2009 2:18:35 PM PST by GraceG
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To: SunkenCiv

Where are the feathers - latest reconstructions have them?

Sort of very old news - dinos were confirmed - or as close as it gets - to be warm blooded years ago based on distance of fosilized prints or running dinos.


25 posted on 12/04/2009 2:20:05 PM PST by PIF
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To: American Constitutionalist

Asimov dealt with this issue in one of his short stories.

Guy invents time machine. Brings back Dino Eggs. Eggs hatch. Dino gets electrocuted. Taste better than chicken. Guy starts a chain of Dino restaurants.

Bakker wrote about this in the 1980s also.


26 posted on 12/04/2009 2:22:34 PM PST by Conan the Librarian (The Best in Life is to crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and the Dewey Decimal System)
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To: American Constitutionalist
Mmmmmmm yummy, Barbecued Chicken... all the more better.... One T-Rex would last a family for how long ? might have to share it with friends and family or the whole block.

Finally, enough breast meat to go around!

27 posted on 12/04/2009 2:24:56 PM PST by calex59
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To: SunkenCiv

its interesting theory. How did cold blooded dinosaurs become modern time warm-blooded animals. Maybe they weren’t cold blooded


28 posted on 12/04/2009 2:28:44 PM PST by 4rcane
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To: GraceG
Rather eat Brontosaurus as eating Carnivores the meat can be gamey.

Nahh, you just have to know how to handle the meat. You hang the T-rex for 4 days before skinning it and cooking. Velociraptors you only have to hang for 3 days.

29 posted on 12/04/2009 2:34:36 PM PST by calex59
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To: Conan the Librarian

A pretty good story,A Statue to Father

In one book I`ve got,Buy Jupiter,love that pun


30 posted on 12/04/2009 2:36:04 PM PST by Harold Shea (RVN `70 - `71)
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To: dfwgator

Unfortunately yes. I don’t expect to see any difference with Bobby gone. I’m not impressed with Jimbo at all. Bobby hasn’t really “coached” since Jimbo got there.


31 posted on 12/04/2009 2:57:46 PM PST by goseminoles
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To: GraceG

You’re welcome..

;-)


32 posted on 12/04/2009 3:06:59 PM PST by xcamel (The urge to save humanity is always a false front for the urge to rule it. - H. L. Mencken)
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To: SunkenCiv

33 posted on 12/04/2009 3:39:24 PM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: SunkenCiv

Yes.


34 posted on 12/04/2009 4:29:43 PM PST by BenLurkin
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To: American Constitutionalist; GraceG

You’d need a really big paper bucket... and a lot, and I mean a *lot*, of cole slaw.


35 posted on 12/04/2009 4:54:26 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: goseminoles

That’s one of those ideas that has been suggested; some of the fossils suggest hot-bloodedness, some don’t, and of course, there’s also been a bit of a change in the understanding of such states, i.e., that there are a few other options. :’)


36 posted on 12/04/2009 4:57:05 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: Amadeo

Back when he was the young up and coming. :’)


37 posted on 12/04/2009 4:57:23 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: C19fan

There was plenty for them to eat, but they couldn’t be fussy, kinda like any old wild animal today. :’)


38 posted on 12/04/2009 4:58:14 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: Question Liberal Authority

Yeah, really. Kinda cold blooded of the writer, to, oh no! I’ve done it again...


39 posted on 12/04/2009 4:58:45 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: JoeProBono

Sure, but just *try* to explain the skin of *that* nailed up in the trophy room.


40 posted on 12/04/2009 5:00:54 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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