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I was looking at the book…Black Opal Fossils of Lightning Ridge… and
started thinking about those supposedly ‘furry’ hypsilophodonts. The hypsilophodontids
are used as an indacator for long dark cold nights and being able to survive
them. But what about the other animals? Snails (don’t know if they die out in the cold and have their eggs hatch
in the warmth). I think they are marine snails. What about the other marine
inverts? Maybe they can withstand a cold ocean more than other animals? Sharks, fish, plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs? Lungfish (hibernate?) Turtles (hibernate?) Crocodiles (hibernate?) Pterosaurs (Insulation?, Migration?) Large theropods? They couldn’t hibernate and weren’t covered in ‘fur’. They
have some possible skin impressions of a large theropod. Large sauropods? They couldn’t hibernate and weren’t covered in ‘fur’. Dromaeosaurids? (Insulation?) Birds? (Insulation? Migration?) Mammals (hibernate? Insulation?) So how did the larger animals survive the cold? Tracy |