Dear MEL Topic Readers,
A long-standing and fundamental question about dinosaurs may finally have an answer
Warm-blooded animals are animals that can regulate and maintain constant internal body temperature. They can survive in any livable temperature range as they can adapt to it easily. They have a high metabolic rate and take in lots of oxygen and need many calories to maintain their body temperature. Mammals and birds are warm-blooded. On the contrary, cold-blooded animals cannot regulate their internal body temperature with changes in the environment. They cannot survive in extreme temperature conditions as much as warm-blooded animals can. Reptiles, fish, amphibians, and insects are all cold-blooded animals.
What about dinosaurs? They had been thought cold-blooded because of their appearance and lifestyle until the 1990s when new discoveries indicated that birds were directly descended from dinosaurs. Recently, researchers analyzed the metabolism from the thigh bones of 55 different creatures, including 30 extinct and 25 living animals, and confirmed that dinosaurs were warm-blooded creatures. How did they find that out?
Enjoy reading the article and learn how the biological nature of dinosaurs was determined.
A long-standing and fundamental question about dinosaurs may finally have an answer
Warm-blooded animals are animals that can regulate and maintain constant internal body temperature. They can survive in any livable temperature range as they can adapt to it easily. They have a high metabolic rate and take in lots of oxygen and need many calories to maintain their body temperature. Mammals and birds are warm-blooded. On the contrary, cold-blooded animals cannot regulate their internal body temperature with changes in the environment. They cannot survive in extreme temperature conditions as much as warm-blooded animals can. Reptiles, fish, amphibians, and insects are all cold-blooded animals.
What about dinosaurs? They had been thought cold-blooded because of their appearance and lifestyle until the 1990s when new discoveries indicated that birds were directly descended from dinosaurs. Recently, researchers analyzed the metabolism from the thigh bones of 55 different creatures, including 30 extinct and 25 living animals, and confirmed that dinosaurs were warm-blooded creatures. How did they find that out?
Enjoy reading the article and learn how the biological nature of dinosaurs was determined.
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/25/world/dinosaur-blood-warm-cold-scn/index.html
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