After many years of debate between paleontologists, a study has shown that large dinosaurs had body temperatures between 36 and 38 degrees Celsius, similar to that of mammals. The results obtained by a team of researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) seems to have been terminated, together with extinction, has been one of the major issues of conflict in the scientific community for decades.
The head of research, Robert A. Eagle recognizes that "until now, no one thought were possible to measure the temperature of the dinosaurs." However, he and his team have managed to do.
This fossil remains have used two types of sauropods (Brachiosaurus and Camarasaurus), giant dinosaurs recognized for having the neck and tail extremely long. Eagle's team has focused its research on the measurement of a compound consisting of oxygen and carbon isotopes found in the enamel of the teeth of fossilized dinosaurs. The study, published today in the journal Science , the cumulative amounts of this compound "are directly related to the temperature of the environment in which it was formed, in this case, the inside of the dinosaurs." The researcher says that the data obtained by this method are "very accurate" and have an error not exceeding one degree centigrade.
Although the data collected by Eagle and his team are correct, there is still room for debate. While many paleontologists that dinosaurs were assumed to have higher body temperatures, not all agree on whether these had thermoregulatory mechanisms internally, such as mammals, or dependent on external changes, such as lizards. "Having a high body temperature does not necessarily mean that dinosaurs could regulate its temperature as humans," said José Luis Sanz, a professor of paleontology at the Autonomous University of Madrid.
To those who defend the lack of internal control mechanisms, the fact that the temperature of the dinosaurs is high due to its enormous size. "The sheer volume of sauropods in relation to their body surface to take a long time ago to lose heat, "says Sanz," so that its temperature could be maintained high and approximately constant over long periods of time. "
Based on this phenomenon, called gigantotermia, earlier studies had determined that the temperature of the dinosaurs must have been above 42 degrees Celsius . According to Eagle, the difference between temperatures measured by his team "could indicate that sauropods had mechanisms to prevent your body from reaching the high temperatures typical of their giant size." The study presents several examples of these mechanisms, such as the provision of internal air sacs that help to cool or heat dissipation through a neck and a particularly long tail.
A new view
Nevertheless, Eagle concluded that their results fail to respond to the question of whether dinosaurs had only internal regulatory mechanisms or guidelines needed to help them regulate their temperature , as happens with modern reptiles.
In any case, Eagle says that "no one has ever made a similar measurement of body temperature of dinosaurs ", which this study offers a" new view on the old debate about the physiology of dinosaurs. "
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