A divisive topic in studying dinosaurs has long been whether they were warm- or cold-blooded and a new study seems to favor the former.
According to the Washington Post, a paleontologist at Stony Brook University published a "re-analysis" of a past study that appeared in the journal Science last year. In his new paper, also published in Science, Michael D'Emic suggested dinosaurs were warm-blooded like modern animals are today.
"The study that I re-analyzed was remarkable for its breadth - the authors compiled an unprecedented dataset on growth and metabolism from studies of hundreds of living animals," Dr. D'Emic said in a press release. "Upon re-analysis, it was apparent that dinosaurs weren't just somewhat like living mammals in their physiology - they fit right within our understanding of what it means to be a 'warm-blooded' mammal."
The past study called dinosaurs cold-blooded, but noted they likely had the capacity to heat up in order to perform certain tasks. D'Emic told the Post he does not think his work diminishes the study he took a second look at.
"The 2014 paper is still really important," he said. "It's the largest study of its kind so far, and they compiled tons of data from living animals to compare them to the dinosaur species that have been analyzed."
Regardless, he had to point out what he believed to be flaws in research to prove what he was trying to reveal about dinosaurs. For instance, he examined growth rates, which were not always consistent on a yearly basis.
"Because many animals do not grow continuously throughout the year, generally slowing or pausing growth during colder, drier, or otherwise more stressful seasons," D'Emic said in the release. "Therefore, the previous study underestimated dinosaur growth rates by failing to account for their uneven growth. Like most animals, dinosaurs slowed or paused their growth annually, as shown by rings in their bones analogous to tree rings."
