Were dinosaurs warm blooded or cold blooded:
Before beginning the argument we have to understand the term endothermy (homeotherms) and ectothermy (poikilotherms) : Endotherms: (endo, “inside”) , animals exhibit endothermy ,when they warm their tissues by the production of metabolic heat. Homeothermy : animals that thermoregulate by physiological means (rather than just by behaviour)
Were dinosaurs warm or cold blooded ?
Ectotherms : (ecto , “outside”) , animals exhibit ectothermy when thermal conditions outside the bodies of these animals determine their body temperature. Poikilothermy : body temperature of the animal is determined by equilibration with the thermal conditions of the environment and varies as environmental conditions vary.
Now the current school of thoughts believe that the dinosaur behaved like salt water crocodiles – that can achieve body…show more content… So here are some arguments against warm blooded dinosaur :
1. Some dinosaur were too large to be endotherms, according to some scientist a 100 - ton sauropod with a warm-blooded metabolism would likely have overheated and died. At that weight, a cold blooded dinosaur could have developed as “inertial homeotherm” - that is they warmed up slowly and cooled off slowly allowing to maintain a considerable constant body temperature.
2. The Jurassic and Cretaceous periods were hot and muggy. It’s is true that many dinosaur fossils have been found at high altitudes , but 100 million years ago even a 10,000 foot high mountain peak might have been relatively balmy. If the climate was hot throughout the year that would have favoured cold blooded dinosaur as they relied on outside temperatures to maintain their body