Giant Sea Reptiles Were Warm-Blooded?

nationalgeographic ^ | June 10, 2010 | Charles Q. Choi

[ZULU]

Brooding pythons can raise their body temperature above ambient by shivering - making muscular contractions. Leatherback turtles also have body temperatures above ambient.

They are reptiles.

I think the problem in dealing with extinct forms is they don’t fit the same mold as contemporary reptiles do.

[null and void]

ok...you win

I disagree. Didn't stick to the topic of warm blooded.

[DollyCali]

sent you friend invite

[Scythian]

Love it, I miss those old movies. I think this coming winter (assuming we’re all still civilized) I’ll have a Godzilla weekend and the kids will love it.

[AdmSmith]

Warm-blooded creatures, like mammals and birds, try to keep the inside of their bodies at a constant temperature. They do this by generating their own heat when they are in a cooler environment, and by cooling themselves when they are in a hotter environment. To generate heat, warm-blooded animals convert the food that they eat into energy. They have to eat a lot of food, compared with cold-blooded animals, to maintain a constant body temperature. Only a small amount of the food that a warm-blooded animal eats is converted into body mass. The rest is used to fuel a constant body temperature.

http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/image_galleries/ir_zoo/coldwarm.html

more infrared pictures via the link above.

[domeika]

I disagree. Didn't stick to the topic of warm blooded.

Hmmm....technically, Bawney Fwank is a cold-blooded reprobate reptile, but to go further, assigning him reptile status is probably way above his true classification of insect.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks!