- November 10, 2009
- 11:25 PM
- 278 views
High Octane Dinosaurs
by Anne-Marie Hodge in Endless Forms
The question of whether dinosaurs were endothermic has been a rich source of controversy for decades. Although they were originally portrayed as sluggish reptiles that crept their “cold-blooded” way through the Mesozoic, over time evidence has suggested that they may have actually had active and athletic lifestyles, with fast-running metabolisms to match. Everything from growth rates to diet to integument has been used as evidence that dinosaurs, if not as fully “war........ Read more »
Pontzer, H., Allen, V., & Hutchinson, J. (2009) Biomechanics of Running Indicates Endothermy in Bipedal Dinosaurs. PLoS ONE, 4(11). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007783
- November 10, 2009
- 04:56 PM
- 498 views
Measuring dino fitness - more evidence that two-legged dinosaurs were warm-blooded
by Ed Yong in Not Exactly Rocket Science
The question of whether dinosaurs were warm-blooded or cold-blooded is one of the most enduring in palaeontology. Did they generate their own body heat like today's mammals; was their temperature more influenced by their environment like today's reptiles; or did they use a mixture of both strategies? Scientists have put forward a slew of arguments for all of these alternatives, but Herman Pontzer from Washington University has a new take on things which suggests that many dinosaurs were indeed w........ Read more »
Pontzer, H., Allen, V., & Hutchinson, J. (2009) Biomechanics of Running Indicates Endothermy in Bipedal Dinosaurs. PLoS ONE, 4(11). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007783
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