Key Earth Science Links
Jurassic/Cretaceous—Cold- vs. hot-blooded dinosaurs
Hot-Blooded or Cold-Blooded? University of California, Berkeley. Good summary of the warm- vs. hot-blooded dinosaur debate. There are definitions of key terms, summaries of evidence for endothermy (warm-blooded), summaries of evidence for ectothermy (cold-blooded), and summaries of current hypotheses.
Were Dinosaurs Warm-Blooded? University of California, Davis. Online lecture notes listing several types of evidence that suggest some dinosaurs may have been warm-blooded, with links to more information.
What’s the current state of debate on dinosaur metabolism? Mike Taylor. Dinosaur FAQ. Good general discussion of metabolism in modern animal groups followed by evidence for and against warm-blooded dinosaurs and variable-metabolism dinosaurs.
Lecture 23--Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs--Tracking Dinosaurs. Columbia University. Part of an online lecture series for Dinosaurs and the History of Life. Presents data from tracks to interpret dinosaur speeds and social patterns, which could be used to infer that at least some dinosaurs were warm-blooded.
Spirits of the Ice Forest. British Broadcasting Company. Part of the "Walking with Dinosaurs" series. Provides background information on the Cretaceous of Australia, including general overviews of climate, landscapes, plate positions, and various dinosaurs. The dinosaur Leallynosaura is summarized in terms of what appear to be adaptions to living in cold climate. A short online video is also provided.
Hot-Blooded or Warm-Blooded? Enchanted Learning. Short nontechnical discussion of endothermy and ectothermy, and evidence that suggests some dinosaurs may have been warm-blooded.