Dinosaurian Biology
Were the dinosaurs cold or warm blooded?????
These pages are maintained by Tamsin Rothery - e-mail tr7401@bris.ac.uk
Before you start
On these pages warm-bloodedness will mean endothermy and cold-bloodedness will mean ectothermy
Any links followed by (gl) will take you to the glossary.
Introduction
The name dinosaurs, given by Richard Owen in 1842, means terrible lizards. This name was give because the bones in dinosaurs' skeletons are more similar to those of lizards than to those of mammals and, indeed, we think dinosaurs are more closely related to lizards than to mammals.
Click here for more information on dinosaur relationships
Because of this relationship it was initially thought that dinosaurs' bodies would work in a very similar way to lizards' bodies - that is, that they would be cold-blooded.
Click here for an early reconstruction of some dinosaurs
However, there are many lines of evidence that seem to indicate that the dinosaurs were warm-blooded and some people think they had a completely different system of temperature control.
Firstly, we should consider what the advantages and disadvantages of being warm or cold-blooded are.
| Warm-blooded animals have to eat large amounts of food in order to provide energy and produce heat. | Cold-blooded animals do not need to generate heat
and so can eat a lot less.
| For example, a cheetah weighing 50-60kg
will eat its own weight every 10 days.
| Whereas a komodo dragon, a large reptile, weighing 50kg
will eat its own body weight every 60 days. | Warm-blooded animals are capable of being active
for long periods of time - this is because a lot of energy is produced by all
the food they eat (as well as heat).
| Cold-blooded animals can only cope with short amounts of activity, they
then have to rest.
| Warm-blooded animals need to drink a lot of water. This is
because they loose water when they sweat or pant (water vapour lost) to keep
cool. As warm-blooded creatures are highly active, they make a lot of heat by
muscle contraction and also produce heat constantly, even when stationary.
This makes cooling
mechanisms are especially important.
| Cold-blooded creatures do not loose
water to keep cool.
They cannot sweat as they have impermeable (gl) skin. However, they do not
really need these additional cooling mechanisms as they are not as active as
warm-blooded creatures and can cool down by moving into the shade. |
The constant temperatures achieved by warm-blooded
creatures means that their enzymes can work at maximum efficiency. This means
it is 'safe' for them to develop more complex functions as the environment is
relatively steady.
| Because of the fluctuating temperatures of cold-blooded creatures, their
enzymes have to cope with extreme conditions and therefore find it harder
to develop.
| |
Opinion is divided on the subject, so read the evidence listed below and make up your own mind!
| Bone Histology
| Birds as Dinosaurs
| Oxygen Isotopes
| Predator/Prey Ratios
| Dinosaur Physiology
| Where Dinosaurs Lived
|
| Gigantothermy - What is it?
|
Dr. Bakker is the main spokesperson for the warm-blooded dinosaur idea. Very easy to follow.
Adrian J. Desmond - The Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs
An easy to read, historical look at how ideas on dinosaurian biology have developed.
Ed.s R.D.K. Thomas and E.C. Olson - A Cold Look at the Warm-Blooded Dinosaurs
This collection of scientific papers (including one by Bakker) provides a more objective overview on the subject. As it was written for a scientific audience, a lot of knowledge is assumed and some of the terminology may be hard to follow.