Skip to content

SciTech

Toothy-thermometers take dino's temperature for the first time

by Martin Leggett 23 Jun 2011
Toothy-thermometers take dino's temperature for the first time

Dinosaur teeth turn out to be excellent thermometers, claim scientists in an upcoming paper in the latest Science, just published today. And they may hold the key to settling a decades-old controversy over the giants of the Jurassic. Were they slaves to the sun, needing heat from their surrounds to power up - like lizards and snakes? Or were they nimble and warm-blooded, like mammals and birds, living fast on energy from a high metabolism? The answer implies very different lifestyles choices for these most-famous of our prehistoric inhabitants.

Turning to dino-dentures, and specifically the enamel of their teeth, for help on the hot vs cold debate, came about because of previous work done at the California Institute of Technology. A technique pioneered there, by John Eiler and Robert Eagle, looked to the isotopic composition of oxygen and carbon in a mineral found in enamel ---– bio-apatite ---– for temperature clues. This enabled them to pin-down the body temperatures of 30,000 year-old mammoths and 12-million year old rhinoceroses.

The carbonate found in apatite contains very small numbers of 'heavy' versions (isotopes) of the atoms that form it ---– the isotopes carbon-13 and oxygen-18. Critically, the clumping of these two rare isotopes, into a common bond, depends on the temperature when the mineral was formed. So measuring these isotopes can give you the temperature in the mouth of the creature being sampled.

Amazingly, traces of original bio-apatite are still to be found in well-preserved dinosaur teeth hundreds of millions years-old. With careful selection and preparation, the team was able to isolate and test the teeth of two dinosaurs species ---– massive plant-eating sauropods, Brachiosaurus, and Camarasaurus, which stomped across the Jurassic plains 150 million years ago. Sixteen teeth were tested in all, dug up in Wyoming, Oklahoma and in Tanzania, in Africa.

The team found that the toothy-thermometers read 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 °C) for the monstrous Brachiosaurus, and a cooler 96°F (36 °C) for the smaller Camarasaurus. That's much warmer than for modern reptiles, though a shade cooler than the typical body temperature of birds. So does this mean prove conclusively that dinosaurs are warm-blooded? Unfortunately not.

That's because the two dinosaur species tested are so huge, that they'd be able to maintain a relatively warm temperature, even without burning energy, as warm-blooded mammals and birds do. "If you're an animal that you can approximate as a sphere of meat the size of a room, you can't be cold unless you're dead," said Eiler. But now that the technique has been proven, the next step is to move onto the more challenging smaller and younger dinosaurs.

If these still show a relatively high body-temperature, the case for warm-blooded dinosaurs would be considerably strengthened. 'The consensus was that no one would ever measure dinosaur body temperatures, that it's impossible to do,' said John Eiler. 'Nobody has used this approach to look at dinosaur body temperatures before, so our study provides a completely different angle on the longstanding debate about dinosaur physiology.' The story of the dinosaurs may just be about to be rewritten.

Top Image: Caption: This is a Jurassic sauropod. Credit: Illustrated by Russell Hawley, Tate Geological Museum


Trending Eco-Friendly Clothing

Love My Planet Women's Relaxed Fit Hoodie
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Love My Planet Women's Relaxed Fit Hoodie
Love My Planet women's eco-friendly relaxed fit hoodieSize Guide Centimeters 8 10 12 14 16 18 Bust 84 88 92 97 103 108 Waist 66 70 75 80 85 91 Hips 91 95 99 104 109 116 Bust: Measure around the fullest part of...
£38.00
£38.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Penguins Hate Push-Ups Men's Pullover Hoodie
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Penguins Hate Push-Ups Men's Pullover Hoodie
Penguins Hate Push-Ups men's eco-friendly pullover HoodieSize Guide Centimeters XS S M L XL XXL Height 171 175 179 183 189 195 Chest 86 93 99 104 116 129 Waist 71 76 81 89 99 112 Chest: Measure all round your chest just below...
£38.00
£38.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Lightning Bolt Kids Long Sleeve T-Shirt
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Notify me
Lightning Bolt Kids Long Sleeve T-Shirt
Lightning Bolt kids eco-friendly long sleeve t-shirtSize Guide Centimeters 3-4yrs 5-6yrs 7-8yrs 9-10yrs 11-12yrs Height 98 112 125 136 147 Chest 60 66 70 75 84 Chest: Measure all around your chest just below your armpits. Height: Your natural height If you fall between...
£18.00
£18.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Notify me
Union Jack Tote Bag
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Union Jack Tote Bag
Union Jack eco-friendly colour tote bagProduct Specification Organic Cotton Tote Bag. Twill Weave (170gsm). 37 x 42 cm (7cm gusset.) Made in India / Designed on the Isle of Wight. Wash Cool, Hang Dry.
£16.00
£16.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Prev Post
Next Post

Eco-Friendly Shop

Women's Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothing for Women Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable women’s clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies, vests, sweaters, shorts, and...
Shop Now

Men's Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothing for Men Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable men’s clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies, vests, sweaters, shorts, and...
Shop Now

Kids Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothes for Kids Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable kids clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies and jumpers. Our garments...
Shop Now
Someone recently bought a
[time] ago, from [location]

Thanks for subscribing!

This email has been registered!

Shop the look

Choose Options

Earth Times
Sign up for exclusive updates, new arrivals & insider only discounts

Recently Viewed

Edit Option
Back In Stock Notification
this is just a warning
Login
Shopping Cart
0 items

Before you leave...

Take 20% off your first order

20% off

Enter the code below at checkout to get 20% off your first order

CODESALE20

Continue Shopping