Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

How Did Dinosaurs Sleep?
Smithsonian Magazine (blog) ^ | 10-9-2012 | Brian Switek

Posted on 10/11/2012 1:09:07 AM PDT by Renfield

Bone by bone and study by study, paleontologists are learning more than ever before about dinosaurs. But there are still many aspects about prehistoric biology that we know little about. In fact, some of the simplest facets of dinosaur lives remain elusive.

For one thing, we don’t know much at all about how dinosaurs slept. Did Apatosaurus doze standing up or kneel down to rest? Did tyrannosaurs use their tiny, muscular arms to push themselves off the ground after a nap? And, given the discovery of so many enfluffled dinosaurs, did fuzzy dinosaurs ever cuddle up together to stay warm on chilly Mesozoic nights?

Since we can’t observe living non-avian dinosaurs directly, some of these questions have to remain in the realm of speculation. But a handful of fossils have shown us that at least some dinosaurs curled up just like birds. In 2004, Xing Xu and Mark Norell described the tiny, early Cretaceous dinosaur Mei long–a feathery troodontid dinosaur with big eyes and a little switchblade claw on each foot. What made Mei special, though, was the way the dinosaur was preserved....

(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.smithsonianmag.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science
KEYWORDS: dinosaur; dinosaurs; godsgravesglyphs; paleontology
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-34 last
To: Ezekiel

LOL!

It’s 65 in my house this morning. How nice if all the byos were curled up unconscious until it warmed up ...


21 posted on 10/11/2012 5:41:54 AM PDT by Tax-chick (Una bruja.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Daffynition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAYDiPizDIs


22 posted on 10/11/2012 5:43:42 AM PDT by Ezekiel (The Obama-nation began with the Inauguration of Desolation.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Tax-chick
How nice if all the byos were curled up unconscious until it warmed up ...

You mean like in the Spring? ;-)

23 posted on 10/11/2012 5:45:07 AM PDT by Ezekiel (The Obama-nation began with the Inauguration of Desolation.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Ezekiel

I did suggest to Tom, the extremely large son, that if he crawled in a hole this month and came out in March, he’d find himself thin!


24 posted on 10/11/2012 5:59:15 AM PDT by Tax-chick (Una bruja.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Renfield
How Did Dinosaurs Sleep?
Uh... Any way they wanted too!
(bada-bing, rim-shot)


25 posted on 10/11/2012 5:59:15 AM PDT by Condor51 (Si vis pacem, para bellum.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ezekiel
Miss Anne Elk, I'll have ya know! :)
26 posted on 10/11/2012 6:14:27 AM PDT by Daffynition (Self-respect: the secure feeling that no one, as yet, is suspicious. ~ HLM)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Tax-chick
if he crawled in a hole this month and came out in March, he’d find himself thin

'cause you know what they say... you snooze, you lose. :-)

27 posted on 10/11/2012 6:15:21 AM PDT by Ezekiel (The Obama-nation began with the Inauguration of Desolation.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Ezekiel

LOL!

I’d be thin if I could sleep all I want!


28 posted on 10/11/2012 6:20:17 AM PDT by Tax-chick (Una bruja.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Renfield

29 posted on 10/11/2012 6:27:23 AM PDT by TruthWillWin (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Renfield
How Did Dinosaurs Sleep?

Fitfully.

They kept having nightmares of Helen Thomas...

30 posted on 10/11/2012 8:46:38 AM PDT by null and void (Day 1360 of our ObamaVacation from reality - Obama, a queer and present danger)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ezekiel
*GROAN*!!!

shame on you!

31 posted on 10/11/2012 8:51:28 AM PDT by null and void (Day 1360 of our ObamaVacation from reality - Obama, a queer and present danger)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Renfield

Sleep Number Beds, of course!


32 posted on 10/11/2012 3:28:10 PM PDT by Hegemony Cricket (The emperor has no pedigree.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Renfield

I’ll bet they didn’t sleep long but when they did it was deep !


33 posted on 10/12/2012 9:52:20 AM PDT by ATOMIC_PUNK (Any man may make a mistake ; none but a fool will persist in it . { Latin proverb })
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Renfield

I’ve always wondered how dinosaurs drank. Did they dip/siphon like hoofed animals, did they drink like birds (fill beak, lift head), or did they simply eat diets of succulents, while carnivores got their water requirements met by the body fluids and blood of their prey? Inquiring minds want to know...


34 posted on 10/12/2012 1:38:22 PM PDT by redhead (Guns don't kill people...Planned Parenthood kills people.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-34 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson