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 ...
Nah you’d have to slow smoke them with mesquite and oak wood.
They could have been warm blooded but not at 98.7F degrees.
Each degree you drop it the less food the animal needs.
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.
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.
Finally, enough breast meat to go around!
its interesting theory. How did cold blooded dinosaurs become modern time warm-blooded animals. Maybe they weren’t cold blooded
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.
A pretty good story,A Statue to Father
In one book I`ve got,Buy Jupiter,love that pun
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.
You’re welcome..
;-)
Yes.
You’d need a really big paper bucket... and a lot, and I mean a *lot*, of cole slaw.
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. :’)
Back when he was the young up and coming. :’)
There was plenty for them to eat, but they couldn’t be fussy, kinda like any old wild animal today. :’)
Yeah, really. Kinda cold blooded of the writer, to, oh no! I’ve done it again...
Sure, but just *try* to explain the skin of *that* nailed up in the trophy room.
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