How Sweet! Dinosaurs May Have Been Warm-Blooded After All
[LiveScience 2012-06-27] [Photo] Reconstruction of a dinosaur
from the Catalan pre-Pyrenees, about 70 milion years ago.
CREDIT: Oscar Sanisidro. Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel
Crusafont Dinosaurs may not have been the slow, sunbathing
reptiles researchers used to think. In fact, they may have been
warm-blooded, new research suggests. The researchers studied the
"growth lines" on animal bones, which are similar to the growth
rings in tree trunks. During slow-growing times like during the
winter, they are darker and narrower, while in fast-growing
times the bones have lighter, wider bands. Figuring out if
dinosaurs were warm-blooded endotherms (made their own body
heat) or were "cold-blooded" ectotherms that relied on outside
sources of warmth could illuminate a lot about how they lived,
grew and evolved. How warm an animal is has an impact on their
metabolism, and therefore how quickly they can grow and have
babies. Of bones and blood Previousl