New research on sauropod gigantism

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Sauropods, the largest land animals in Earth's history, are still mightily puzzling the scientists. These plant-eating dinosaurs with their long necks and small heads could reach a height of 10 meters or more and dominated all other land vertebrates in terms of size. They could weigh up to 80 tons, more than any other known land vertebrate. One question that has been intensely debated is how these giants of the animal kingdom regulated their own body temperature. Dr. Eva Maria Griebeler of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz has now shown that the hypothesis is inaccurate that their body size was limited only because the associated rise in body temperature could have resulted in potential overheating.

 

http://www.uni-mainz.de/presse/16974_ENG_HTML.php