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Cold-blooded Achaeopteryx?
Dear all
I can remember reading something with an idea like the following some time ago.
Does anyone have more info on this, or was I just dreaming?
John Ruben has said that his hypothesis of a cold-blooded Archaeopteryx would
make sense, because, according to him, ectotherms have stronger muscles than
warm-blooded critters. The sternum of Archaeopteryx was pretty small, and thus
the flight muscles as well. But because Archaeopteryx was an ectotherm and its
muscles so strong, even though modest with respect to the pectoralis majors, it
could have still flown.
I find this stuff pretty weird for several reasons, but I really remember
having read something like above. Why would endotherms have weaker muscles than
ectotherms? And could a cold-blooded vertebrate with primitive lungs and
circulatory system really release enough energy to fly actively? Few people
think so.
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