Dinosaur fossils predict body temperatures |
| |
Authors: | Gillooly James F Allen Andrew P Charnov Eric L |
| |
Institution: | 1 Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America, 2 National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Santa Barbara, California, United States of America, 3 Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America, 4 Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America |
| |
Abstract: | Perhaps the greatest mystery surrounding dinosaurs concerns whether they were endotherms, ectotherms, or some unique intermediate form. Here we present a model that yields estimates of dinosaur body temperature based on ontogenetic growth trajectories obtained from fossil bones. The model predicts that dinosaur body temperatures increased with body mass from approximately 25 °C at 12 kg to approximately 41 °C at 13,000 kg. The model also successfully predicts observed increases in body temperature with body mass for extant crocodiles. These results provide direct evidence that dinosaurs were reptiles that exhibited inertial homeothermy. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 PubMed 等数据库收录! |
| 点击此处可从《PLoS Biology》浏览原始摘要信息 |
| 点击此处可从《PLoS Biology》下载免费的PDF全文 |
|