Biology 3601A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Notothenioidei, Robert T. Bakker, Homeothermy
Document Summary
Infer from closely related species: only works if familiar species still around. Ancient dna (and proteins: extraction from fossils and bones. Big question: bob bakker famous paleontologist, first person to alter the idea of how dinosaurs behaved. Ectotherm most of the time unless it elevates its thorax temperature so it can fly. All these organisms are weird exceptions/cases: birds are dinosaurs! Birds are homeothermic endotherms, so we know some dinosaurs were as well. Some point where some common mammalian ancestor became a homeothermic endotherm. And we know that (some) dinosaurs had feathers: feathers = insulation, this implies homeothermic endothermy was possible. The main arguments in favor of homeothermic endothermy in (non-avian) dinosaurs: looking at 3 different kinds of evidence, 1) circumstantial evidence having something that infers what happens. Biomechanics of running: 2) morphological evidence. Haversian canal size: 3) evidence of body temperature. Models of heat loss and body size (gigantothermy)