Re: New findings Support Spinosaurus Sail as thermal regulator (My own theory)

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@umd.edu>]

Ouranosaurus actually overlapped with Suchomimus rather than Spinosaurus,
which came later.

On Sun, September 14, 2014 5:19 pm, Sam Horus wrote:
> Wild speculation disclaimer: if Spinosaurus and Ouranosaurus overlapped in
> the same time & place then Ouranosaurus' sail could be caused by Batesian
> mimicry?
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On 14 Sep 2014, at 21:22, Dan Chure <danchure@easilink.com> wrote:
>
>> No, the observation was just about Alligator being able to
>> thermoregulate to some degree without getting out of the water.  I am
>> agnostic on sail function(s) in anything.  It would not be surprising
>> that after evolving such a structure it  might be adapted to serve
>> several other functions, even to the extent of losing (or downplaying)
>> it's original function.  The trick might be to figure out what the
>> original function was
>>
>> Dan
>>
>> On 9/14/2014 7:40 AM, Michael OSullivan wrote:
>>> The problem here is that you now need to explain the sail in
>>> Ouranosaurus.
>>>
>>> On 14 September 2014 13:46, Dan Chure <danchure@easilink.com
>>> <mailto:danchure@easilink.com>> wrote:
>>>
>>>    I recall reading, many years ago, a paper in a herpetology journal
>>>    reporting that Alligator did flush blood into its dorsal scutes
>>>    (they seem to be heavily vascularized) and by lying in the water
>>>    with just its dorsal surface exposed to the sun could use the
>>>    scutes to thermoregulate.
>>>
>>>    Dan
>>>
>>>    On 9/13/2014 8:14 PM, Vlad Petnicki wrote:
>>>
>>>        I'll throw something out to the professional scientists out
>>>        there that dawned on me today:
>>>
>>>        The sail could not only have been added ballast, it may indeed
>>>        have served a heat regulatory purpose. I think this is doubly
>>>        likely since the new findings establish that it was skin
>>>        covered rather than a hump - the easier to warm the blood that
>>>        courses through the vessels just under the skin.
>>>
>>>        Think about this: Crocs need to get out of the water to sun
>>>        themselves (yes, I KNOW that Spinosaurus was most likely NOT
>>>        (as) cold-blooded as Crocs are), but regardless of how
>>>        "warm-blooded" it was, if the water ever got too cold, the
>>>        swimming/wading Spinosaurus could just turn the sail towards
>>>        the sun - and voila - thermal regulation that does not require
>>>        it to leave the water.
>>>
>>>        Make sense?
>>>
>>>        --- DINOSAUR@usc.edu <mailto:DINOSAUR@usc.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>>        From: DINOSAUR@usc.edu <mailto:DINOSAUR@usc.edu>
>>>        To: Dinosaur Discussion List  <DINOSAUR@usc.edu
>>>        <mailto:DINOSAUR@usc.edu>>
>>>        Subject: DINOSAUR digest 1678
>>>        Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 00:04:05 PDT
>>>
>>>
>>>                                    DINOSAUR Digest 1678
>>>
>>>        Topics covered in this issue include:
>>>
>>>           1) Spinosaurus proportions/limbsize/exploding head quotient
>>>                by "Vlad Petnicki" <bucketfoot-al@justice.com
>>>        <mailto:bucketfoot-al@justice.com>>
>>>           2) RE: Spinosaurus proportions/limbsize/exploding head
>>> quotient
>>>                by "Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@umd.edu
>>>        <mailto:tholtz@umd.edu>>
>>>           3) RE: Spinosaurus proportions/limbsize/exploding head
>>> quotient
>>>                by "Mallison, Heinrich"
>>>        <Heinrich.Mallison@mfn-berlin.de
>>>        <mailto:Heinrich.Mallison@mfn-berlin.de>>
>>>           4)
>>>        =?UTF-8?Q?Australian_dinosaurs_=2B_Ricardo_Mart=C3=ADnez_=28news=29?=
>>>                by Ben Creisler <bcreisler@gmail.com
>>>        <mailto:bcreisler@gmail.com>>
>>>           5) Re: Spinosaurus redescribed as giant semiaquatic theropod
>>>                by Ben Creisler <bcreisler@gmail.com
>>>        <mailto:bcreisler@gmail.com>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>        _____________________________________________________________
>>>        Find a local lawyer and free legal information at FindLaw.com.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Michael O'Sullivan
>>>
>>> Palaeobiology Research Group
>>> Postgraduate Student
>>> School of Earth & Environmental Sciences
>>> Burnaby Building
>>> Burnaby Road
>>> Portsmouth
>>> PO1 3QL
>>>
>>> Email:michael.osullivan@port.ac.uk
>>> <mailto:Email%3Amichael.osullivan@port.ac.uk>
>>> 02392842418
>>
>>
>


Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Email: tholtz@umd.edu   Phone: 301-405-4084
Office: Centreville 1216
Senior Lecturer, Vertebrate Paleontology
Dept. of Geology, University of Maryland
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/
Fax: 301-314-9661

Faculty Director, Science & Global Change Program, College Park Scholars
http://www.geol.umd.edu/sgc
Fax: 301-314-9843

Mailing Address:        Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                        Department of Geology
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                        University of Maryland
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