In “Dinosaur cold-blood theory in doubt” (BBC News , 27 June 2012), Jason Palmer reports,
One of the strongest lines of evidence that dinosaurs were cold-blooded, like modern reptiles, has been knocked down.
Prior studies of dinosaur bones uncovered what are known as “lines of arrested growth”.
The creatures were presumed to be cold-blooded [exothermic] because modern cold-blooded animals show these same lines.
But scientists reporting in Nature have studied the bones of 41 modern mammal species from around the world, finding every one had these lines as well.
Reader, the big question is, why did no one do this study before? It has been argued for fifty years that dinosaurs might have been warm-blooded [endothermic].
If birds are indeed descended from dinosaurs, as the current prevailing theory holds, how birds came to be warm-blooded, like mammals, would not be a puzzle.
Was it not possible to round up 41 mammal species for the LAG test during the entire period the technology was available?
It’s more like this: The dinosaurs were assumed to be slow, cold-blooded, and stupid because that narrative fits the legacy of mid-twentieth century Darwinist preaching about the history of life. Why look when we already believe?
Lead author Meike Koehler cautions,
“I don’t think that this debate is really settled,” she said. “But this is the first time that you can say that Lags do not say anything about warm- or cold-bloodedness.
True, but it is getting a bit harder to preach the old time Charlie.
See also: Jury’s still out on dino to bird transition?