A new study looks at the distribution of dinosaurs in different climate zones on Earth during the Mesozoic.
Scientists analyzed more than a thousand dinosaur fossils and found that these animals became warm-blooded about 180 million years ago. This was reported by ScienceDaily.
Scientists from University College London studied the distribution of dinosaurs in different climates on Earth during the Mesozoic era (the age of dinosaurs lasted from 230 to 66 million years ago).
They concluded that two of the three main groups of dinosaurs—theropods (such as T. rex and Velociraptor) and ornithosaurs (including the herbivorous relatives Stegosaurus and Triceratops)—moved into colder climates early in time. of the Jurassic, suggesting that during this period. they can develop endothermy (the ability to create internal heat). In contrast, sauropods, the other major group that includes brontosaurus and diplodocus, stayed in warmer areas of the planet.
“Many new groups of dinosaurs appeared during this period. The adoption of endothermy, perhaps as a result of this ecological crisis, may have allowed theropods and ornithis to thrive in colder environments. faster and do more.” offspring,” said the study’s first author, Dr. Alfio Alessandro Chiarenza.
Co-author Dr Sara Varela from the University of Vigo in Spain added that sauropods remaining in warmer climates grew to enormous sizes during this period. This is another possible adaptation due to environmental pressure.
“Their smaller surface area to volume ratio means that these large creatures lose heat at a lower rate, allowing them to stay active for longer,” the scientist explained.
In the paper, the researchers also explored whether sauropods could have migrated to warm climates to feed on richer leaves unavailable in cold polar regions. However, these dinosaurs loved the heat, so they lived even in dry climates, such as the savanna, supporting the idea that their limitation to warm climates had more to do with warmer temperatures. and then a cooler physiology.
It was previously reported that researchers created a special dinosaur robot to understand exactly how this species used its proto-wings.
Source: korrespondent
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