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Thermal Physiology of the Dinosauria: Evidence from Oxygen Isotopes in Bone Phosphate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2017

Reese E. Barrick
Reese E. Barrick*
Affiliation:
Department of Marine, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-8208
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Extract

Dinosaurs were an abundant group of reptiles that originated in the mid-Triassic. They rapidly diversified, filling all of the ecological niches for large-bodied terrestrial vertebrates by the Late Triassic and dominated this landscape for 163 m.y. Yet due to the lack of direct evidence little is known about their metabolism. The question as to whether dinosaurs were “warm-blooded” or “cold-blooded” has been debated for over 25 years. Knowledge of dinosaur thermal physiology is critical if we are to understand how they lived and functioned. This knowledge can then be used to help answer questions regarding to their origin, diversification, and their eventual extinction. The question that is being resolved here is, “How do you stick a thermometer into dinosaur bone?”.

Type
Adaptations and Behavior
Information
The Paleontological Society Special Publications , Volume 7: Dino Fest , 1994 , pp. 243 - 254
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 Paleontological Society 

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