Research team reveals new method for studying dinosaur metabolic rates

Thai Rath Edition

  • lifestyle

  • live

31 May 2022 10:01 a.m.

share

Facebook

Twitter

Line

Copy link

record

For decades paleontologists debated whether dinosaurs were warm-blooded like modern-day mammals and birds.

or as cold-blooded as modern reptiles

Knowing whether dinosaurs were warm-blooded or cold-blooded will help you know how alert they are.

how is daily life

but how to determine their warm-blooded or cold-blooded

or how quickly the metabolism can turn oxygen into energy

It is still an inconclusive matter.

Most recently, a research team from the California Institute of Technology.

and the Field Museum in the United States.

Revealed a new method for studying the metabolic rate of dinosaurs.

using clues in

A bone indicating how much each animal breathed in the last hours of its life.

The team examined Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy on the dark femur bones of 55 different groups of animals, including dinosaurs.

Because those dark colors indicate that a large amount of organic matter has been preserved.

And by using a newly developed application system it is possible to directly predict the metabolism in extinct species.

And now the research team is unanimous that most dinosaurs are warm-blooded.

The team found that dinosaurs' metabolic rates were generally high.

The dinosaurs are divided into 2 large groups: Saoristians are those that have hip bones similar to reptiles.

and the Ornithisians were those that had a hip bone resembling a bird.

Reptile-like hip dinosaurs such as Triceratops and Stegosaurus.

They have a low metabolic rate compared to modern cold-blooded animals.

While humpback dinosaurs such as theropods and sauropods were warm-blooded, some were not just warm-blooded but had metabolic rates comparable to modern birds.

which is much higher than that of mammals.

(Image credit: J. Wiemann)

Read more...