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Dinosaur endothermy: bone growth rings in found in mammals too



From: Ben Creisler
bscreisler@gmail.com

A news story, article, and commentary in Nature:

Dinosaurs warm up: Study of mammalian bones offers clues to dinosaur physiology.

http://www.nature.com/news/dinosaurs-warm-up-1.10897

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Meike Köhler,Nekane Marín-Moratalla, Xavier Jordana & Ronny Aanes (2012)
Seasonal bone growth and physiology in endotherms shed light on
dinosaur physiology.
Nature(2012)
doi:10.1038/nature11264
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11264.html

Cyclical growth leaves marks in bone tissue that are in the forefront
of discussions about physiologies of extinct vertebrates. Ectotherms
show pronounced annual cycles of growth arrest that correlate with a
decrease in body temperature and metabolic rate; endotherms are
assumed to grow continuously until they attain maturity because of…

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Kevin Padian (2012)
Evolutionary physiology: A bone for all seasons
Nature(2012)
doi:10.1038/nature11382
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11382.html


Because mammals have such high metabolic rates, it has long been
thought that their growth is invulnerable to seasonal variation. But
their bones turn out to contain annual lines, just as those of
cold-blooded animals do.