Re: Hot-blooded marine reptiles

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

On Fri, Jun 11th, 2010 at 9:20 PM, Jocelyn Falconnet <j.falconnet@gmail.com> 
wrote:

> An interesting paper by Bernard and a handful of colleagues dealing with 
> body temperature in Mesozoic marine reptiles, with a brief 
> summary/comment by the ichthyopterygian expert Ryosuke Motani, in the
>  last release of Science magazine

The idea of high body temperatures in extinct marine reptiles isn't a complete 
surprise. Tuna and 
some sharks managed to maintain high internal temperatures by piping blood past 
their muscles 
like a biological central heating system. 'Waste' heat from muscle activity is 
thus used to heat the 
blood rather than actually being wasted. 

Bluefin tuna have a particularly efficient thermoregulatory system that keeps 
their internal 
temperature between 24 and 35 degrees celcius (depending on the temperature of 
the surrounding 
water). Who needs endothermy when you've got your own built-in central heating?

-- 
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Dann Pigdon
GIS Specialist                         Australian Dinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia               http://home.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
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