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

[Sam Horus <sam.horus@gmail.com>]

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
> 
>