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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: BenLurkin

I’m just glad that you were here.


41 posted on 12/04/2009 5:01:09 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: 4rcane

That’s the sauce for the goose, or whatever.


42 posted on 12/04/2009 5:01:30 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: PIF

Not quite, but the supposed avian ancestry being among the dinos remains popular with both sides of this issue.


43 posted on 12/04/2009 5:02:11 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: freedumb2003; GraceG

:’D


44 posted on 12/04/2009 5:02:22 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: SunkenCiv

SC - that was GraceG’s post... must be late where you are... :)


45 posted on 12/04/2009 5:05:25 PM PST by PIF
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To: SunkenCiv
" You’d need a really big paper bucket... and a lot, and I mean a *lot*, of cole slaw. "

T Nuggets, or T-REX NUGGETS...

You think one T-REX could feed about 30-40 people ?

Cole slaw is ok, as long as it's not the crappy store made cole slaw.
46 posted on 12/04/2009 5:35:49 PM PST by American Constitutionalist (There is no civility in the way the Communist/Marxist want to destroy the USA)
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To: PIF

Yeah, well, the waitress should have taken it back...


47 posted on 12/04/2009 5:50:42 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: American Constitutionalist

Even more than that I think. :’)


48 posted on 12/04/2009 5:59:16 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: GraceG

Brontosaurus tastes a lot like Apatosaurus, or so I understand.


49 posted on 12/04/2009 7:10:43 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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