Body Temperatures of Dinosaurs Measured for First Time: Some Dinosaurs Were as Warm as Most Modern Mammals

[Moontanman]

Body Temperatures of Dinosaurs Measured for First Time: Some Dinosaurs Were as Warm as Most Modern Mammals

 

Caltech geochemists Rob Eagle (left) and John Eiler adjust equipment used to analyze the isotopic concentrations in dinosaur teeth and reveal the body temperature of the extinct creatures. (Credit: Caltech / Lance Hayashida)

 

ScienceDaily (June 23, 2011) Were dinosaurs slow and lumbering, or quick and agile? It depends largely on whether they were cold or warm blooded. When dinosaurs were first discovered in the mid-19th century, paleontologists thought they were plodding beasts that had to rely on their environments to keep warm, like modern-day reptiles. But research during the last few decades suggests that they were faster creatures, nimble like the velociraptors or T. rex depicted in the movie Jurassic Park, requiring warmer, regulated body temperatures like in mammals.

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110623141312.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+News+--+Top+Science%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail

Edited June 24, 2011 by Moontanman

[ajb]

I remember hearing something about the tyrannosaurus rex muscle structure that also suggested that they were warm blooded. I cannot recall a reference on this.