Dinosaurs: Warm-Blooded? There Is Presently Much Controversy

Dinosaurs: Warm-Blooded?

There is presently much controversy regarding the issue of dinosaurs, as the fact that experts have access to a limited amount of resources concerning this matter makes it difficult for them to express certainties concerning this particular animal reign. Even with the fact that there are presently no living dinosaurs to be dissected, scientists have come up with a series of theories based on how dinosaurs behaved. In spite of their physiology, most dinosaurs put across behavior characteristic to mammals and birds. One of the oldest debates in the history of dinosaur studies is related to the blood temperatures of these creatures, as some experts insist that they were cold-blooded while others maintain that they were warm-blooded. The presence of dinosaur fossils at high altitudes makes it possible for one to consider that dinosaurs were warm-blooded, taking into account that cold-blooded creatures typically evolve in warm areas.

All living bodies on earth depend on a series of chemical reactions in order to survive and each particular reaction is most effective when it is presented with an optimal temperature. Living mammals and many other animals have internal apparatuses that control temperature levels and that provide the best temperature needed in order for certain chemical reactions to occur. Chemical processes usually need temperatures that are higher than those in the external environment and thus make it possible for living things that need them to be warm-blooded. In contrast, cold-blooded living bodies control their body temperatures by exploiting external factors, such as the sun and shade. Even with this, it would be wrong to assume that these creatures are 'cold-blooded', especially considering that body temperature is sometimes greater than temperatures found in warm-blooded animals.

Although it is difficult to determine whether or not all dinosaurs were warm-blooded, it is only safe to assume that bird dinosaurs were warm-blooded. "Birds have a high activity level, along with a steady and internally regulated temperature" (Norell, Gaffney & Dingus 52). To a certain degree, one can consider birds to be living dinosaurs and the fact that present-day birds are endothermic can be perceived as proof that dinosaurs were actually warm-blooded. Considering their bone structure, dinosaurs were most probably animals with a very high activity level, thus meaning that they also needed high metabolic levels. This enables one to understand that warm blood was an essential aspect in the dinosaur world, as these creatures were accustomed to consuming a lot of energy and as this respective energy could only be produced by an increased metabolism. Dinosaurs were thus very similar to modern-day mammals, taking into account their highly active behavior.

Many paleontologists today believe that it would have been impossible for dinosaurs to be cold-blooded. Their thinking is based on the fact that they found a great deal of similarities between contemporary mammals and dinosaurs. These people believe that the size of some dinosaurs makes it impossible for them to have been able to live without having a self-reliant temperature-control source. Blood temperature is especially important when considering dinosaurs, as "if dinosaurs were warm-blooded, then they were probably active, social animals. They would have been quick, alert, and intelligent. They would have spent much of their time actively grazing, like the modern antelope, or hunting in packs, like the lion" (Misiroglu).

It is surely difficult to think of agile and energetic dinosaurs as being cold-blooded, as lower blood temperatures make it difficult for living things to put across such behavior. When regarding the lifestyle lead by dinosaurs, one can consider that they were very similar to mammals and that they were thus warm-blooded. Their eating habits also contributes to this assumption, considering that experts have determined that they ate very often -- this being characteristic to warm-blooded animals (they need to have a lot of energy).