New evidence that dinosaurs self-regulated their body temperature

Dinosaurs and pterosaurs had high metabolic rates, which suggests they were endothermic – capable of self-regulating body temperature – according to an international study published in Natureled by Yale University and in which the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) participates.

“This work shows that dinosaurs were real endothermsrejecting previous ideas as that they had an intermediate condition – mesothermic – between ectotherms and endotherms or that they could maintain their body temperature constant thanks to their large body size, since there are small dinosaurs with high metabolic rates”, highlights Jasmina Wiemann, researcher at the University. of Yale leading this work.

This research uses for the first time an index that allows the direct assessment of the metabolic capacities of amniotes – mammals, birds, reptiles and extinct groups such as dinosaurs or pterosaurs – both current and extinct, as it uses metabolic markers that can be found fossilized.

The production of heat in endotherms is due to metabolism, which burn fat and sugar. In this process, energy (heat) is released, but also other products.

“Some of the molecules that are produced can fossilize, and this is opening up a new field in paleontology where geochemists like Jasmina can get information from the original tissues. In this case, the molecular signals left by the high rates of metabolism are measured”, explains the methodology Iris Menéndez, paleontologist at UCM and co-author of the work.

Time-calibrated consensus phylogeny of fossil and modern amniotes showing the evolution of metabolic rates and thermal strategies

Read Also:  This is how you have to place the speakers to get ideal sound

Dismantled extinction hypothesis

Currently, mammals and birds are considered endothermic, while reptiles do not have this ability to metabolically self-regulate their temperature.

For many years, the belief that dinosaurs were ectothermic was given as an explanation for their extinction in end of the Cretaceoussince they did not have the ability to regulate their body temperature in the face of temperature fluctuations in their environment.

“According to the results of this research, being endothermic is not an advantage in the face of mass extinctions and causes other than the metabolism they had would have to be sought, which was similar to that of mammals and birds that survived,” adds Menéndez.

In addition to the usefulness of this work in discovering the possible causes of the extinction or survival of species, Menéndez points out another:

“This study gives us insight into what the extinct species. Sometimes we have the idea that there are few discoveries to be made, but the reality is that much work from the last few decades continues to change the perspective we had of what some species were like, helping us to better understand what life was like in the world. past.