Were dinosaurs warm-blooded or cold?
The diagram above shows energy usage in a number of animal groups, including birds, mammals, dinosaurs and modern reptiles. Dinosaurs were “mesotherms,” neither warm- nor cold-blooded, a new study finds.
Why do some scientists believe that dinosaurs were warm-blooded?
Some paleontologists think that all dinosaurs were ‘warm-blooded’ in the same sense that modern birds and mammals are: that is, they had rapid metabolic rates. Some scientists think that very big dinosaurs could have had warm bodies because of their large body size, just as some sea turtles do today.
Were all dinosaurs warm-blooded?
Scientists have conflicting opinions on this subject. Some paleontologists think that all dinosaurs were ‘warm-blooded’ in the same sense that modern birds and mammals are: that is, they had rapid metabolic rates. Other scientists think it unlikely that any dinosaur could have had a rapid metabolic rate.
What kind of Physiology did dinosaurs have?
Small, feathery dinosaurs may have had physiologies like modern birds, while giant dinosaurs may have relied on the physics of heat gain and loss to modulate their warmth. The trick is to understand dinosaurs on their own terms, and paleontology is still in the process of doing so.
What does it mean to be warm-blooded or cold-blooded?
It doesn’t really have much to do with temperature alone. The phrases “warm-blooded” and “cold-blooded” are often used to distinguish animals that can regulate their own body temperatures internally (endothermic), and those whose body temperatures change with their environment (ectothermic).
Did dinosaurs live on all the continents?
Dinosaurs lived on all of the continents. At the beginning of the age of dinosaurs (during the Triassic Period, about 230 million years ago), the continents were arranged together as a single supercontinent called Pangea. During the 165 million years of dinosaur existence this supercontinent slowly broke apart.