WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, DMITRY BOGDANOV
A technique called clumped-isotope thermometry, usually used for reconstructing ancient climates, is shedding light on the age old debate over whether dinosaurs were warm- or cold-blooded. Computer models of heat loss and energy use, oxygen isotope measures, and other techniques have all yielded conflicting results. While evidence of energetic behaviors and high growth rates have suggested that the extinct reptiles’ veins may have carried warm blood throughout the body, some paleontologists have argued that an endothermic animal of that size would quickly overheat.
Comparing levels of various chemical isotopes in the enamel of fossilized dinosaur teeth, which form at different rates depending on the temperatures at the time of the chemical decomposition, evolutionary biologist Robert Eagle of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena estimated ...
