cold-blooded dinos (revisited)

[UNION4884@aol.com]

Hi all,
Sorry to bring this topic up again. I recently asked for  information about 
the current "conventional wisdom"  with regard to the cold- or 
warm-bloodedness of dinosaurs.  I  received some excellent replies (which 
corresponded with my reading).  They  generally expressed the opinion that  
some dinos were probably endothermic, some ectothermic, and some in-between 
(had some ability to regulate temperature). .  
 
However - this week, as I was catching up on my pile of Science News 
magazines -  I read came upon a discussion of an article by John A. Ruben et 
al.( the article was published  in the January issue of Science).

Ruben and his colleagues (who are physiologists)  examined a fossil of 
Scipionyx samniticus,  a small meat-eating theropod.  They think the fossil - 
which has traces of internal organs - shows that the diaphragm was used for 
breathing (like in mammals).   However,  Ruben et al.  state  that dinosaurs 
(S. samniticus included) are cold-blooded.   In addition, James O. Farlow - a 
paleontologist - is  quoted as saying that dinsoaurs were cold-blooded, but 
that theropds were "as active as" warm-blooded animals.  These scientists 
(apparently) categorically state that dinosaurs were cold-blooded; they don't 
even tip their hats (so to speak) in the direction of any other theories.  

Any thoughts?  (I want  to put the most current information into my dinosaur 
book for  kids).  

Thanks,
Barbara Saffer