Re: Warm-Blooded debate

[utahraptor40@juno.com (Eric A Campbell)]

>Me, too. I can't see the old "slow and sluggish in the morning"
>metabolism powering the built-for-speed theropods we  both admire.
>One indicator is the high number of vascular canals found in dinosaur
>bones, suggesting an abundant blood supply, like in modern  warm-blooded
animals. This information is by John >Horner in THE COMPLETE T-REX.  BTW,
are these REAL diggers or just "armchair paleontologists"?

I agree completely. I just finished reading part one of "Predatory
Dinosaurs of the World" which explains why dinosaurs (theropods, at
least) had to be warm-blooded to do what they do! These dinosaurs needed
to pursue and kill dinosaurs that were as heavy as a herd of elephants.
They couldn't do this as ecotherms! Take the Komodo Dragon, for example.
It can run fast, as it has to, but it will sometimes pause in the middle
of a chase to catch it's breath. I severely doubt that a T. Rex would
have survived as a predator if it stopped in the middle of a chase. I
don't think that the 15-inch claw found on the _Utahraptor_'s foot would
be of much use if it was a scavenger. A slow ecothermic scavenger.
Ploding along with it's tail dragging. 
Not to mention that the up-right position is found mainly in
*warm-blooded* animals. 
Just my Humble Opinion as an "Armchair Paleontologist", as Gertrude would
put it!
Thanks 
UtahRaptor
----
Eric Campbell 
UtahRaptor40@juno.com
"Dinosaurs were warm-blooded, birds are dinosaurs, and T. Rex is a
fearsome 
predator...It just wouldn't be _cool_ any other way."