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New Research Revises Conventions for Deciphering Color in Dinosaurs While Suggesting Connection between Color and Physiology

By Guest PostFebruary 14, 2014Nature, Scienceanchiornis, ancient maniraptoran dinosaurs, austin, chang fu zhou, change, china university, cold blooded, color in dinosaurs, crocodiles, deciphering, dinosaur physiology, diverse melanosomes, diversity, ectothermic, endothermic, evolutionary emergence, evolutionary role, julia clarke, ke qin gao, lizards, matthew shawkey, microraptor, paravians, protofeathers, pycnofibers, quanguo li, sinosauropteryx, turtles, university of akron, university of texas, warm blooded

AUSTIN, Texas — New research that revises recently established conventions allowing scientists to decipher color in dinosaurs may also provide a tool for understanding the evolutionary emergence of flight and changes in dinosaur physiology prior to the origin of flight.

In a survey comparing the hair, skin, fuzz and feathers of living terrestrial vertebrates and fossil specimens, a research team from The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Akron, the China University of Geosciences and four other Chinese institutions found evidence for evolutionary shifts in the relationship between color and the shape of pigment-containing organelles known as melanosomes, as reported in the Feb. 13 edition of Nature. (more…)

Caltech-led Researchers Measure Body Temperatures of Dinosaurs for the First Time

Some Dinosaurs Were as Warm as Most Modern Mammals

PASADENA, Calif.—Were dinosaurs slow and lumbering, or quick and agile? It depends largely on whether they were cold or warm blooded. When dinosaurs were first discovered in the mid-19th century, paleontologists thought the y were plodding beasts that had to rely on their environments to keep warm, like modern-day reptiles. But research during the last few decades suggests that they were faster creatures, nimble like the velociraptors or T. rex depicted in the movie Jurassic Park, requiring warmer, regulated body temperatures like in mammals. (more…)

Tag Archives: dinosaur physiology

New Research Revises Conventions for Deciphering Color in Dinosaurs While Suggesting Connection between Color and Physiology

Caltech-led Researchers Measure Body Temperatures of Dinosaurs for the First Time