SOFT TISSUE, DINOSAUR, FOSSILS, COLD BLOODED, WARM BLOODED, TURBINATES, SCIPIONYX, MESOTHERM,

Are dinosaurs warm blooded?

Hello all my fine friends out there! And has this week brought peace to you and your families? I hope and pray so! As for me, the weather is getting warmer and I would like nothing better to sit outside with a good book warming in the sun. But…the Lord has called me to work! Lol! So I do.

This salamander, and mammals as well were
found in a massive dino
grave were it and many dinos have been
found with soft tissue

Speaking of warming in the sun, some scientists believe dinosaurs were cold-blooded while other believe they were warm-blooded. What exactly is the difference and how can we know for sure which one were the dinosaurs. Tim Clarey, PhD., of the Institute for Creation Research wrote an article in the magazine Acts & Facts in which he describes, “Endothermic (warm-blooded) simply means that an animal generates its own internal body heat using its metabolism, independent of its surroundings. Ectothermic (cold-blooded) means that an animal needs an external source of heat, like sunlight, to warm its body, like snakes and lizards do. 

So if you found a partial skeleton out in the wilderness would you be able to determine if the animal, when it was alive,

was cold or warm-blooded? In some cases you might. Well then, what about from the soft tissue found in so many dinosaurs? 

“Many scientists have noticed that dinosaur bone is highly vascularized, with lots of blood vessel openings, similar to mammals. They claim this demonstrates that dinosaurs were warm-blooded. However, the presence of vascularized bone cannot be used as proof of an animal’s metabolic rate. A study by Tomasz Owerkowicz showed that the possession of highly vascularized bone merely means the animal was active and not necessarily warm-blooded.

“Studies of nasal passage size may make a far better test.

Ninety-nine percent of all warm-blooded animals have turbinates, coils of membrane-covered cartilage or bone in their nasal passages that reduce water and heat loss during

breathing.

“Dr. John Ruben performed CT scans on four different dinosaur skulls, including two predatory dinosaurs. All scans revealed narrow nasal cavities similar to those of modern cold-blooded animals like crocodiles rather than to those of birds.

“Scientists also found some soft-tissue and skeletal evidence to support cold-bloodedness—just the opposite of

A patch of mummified (not fossilized) dino skin

what dino-to-bird proponents hoped. A study of the abdominal cavity of the meat-eating dinosaur Scipionyx—a small dinosaur some paleontologists claim to be the precursor of today’s birds—revealed the presence of a lung ventilation system similar to that of modern crocodiles. The attachment style of the intestines also indicated that the flow-through air sac lung system typically found in birds was not present in Scipionyx.

“Recently, it was suggested that some dinosaurs were mesotherms, similar to tuna and the leatherback turtle. Mesotherms can raise their body temperatures by their activity level but are unable to internally maintain the

temperature like true endotherms. In this regard, the dinosaurs were still closer to cold-blooded ectotherms than warm-blooded endotherms. 

“In conclusion, there is no compelling scientific reason to claim dinosaurs were warm-blooded animals. The evidence instead backs the case that dinosaurs were created as cold-blooded reptiles, and their cold-blooded nature may have played a big part in their post-Flood extinction.”¹

My personal thoughts are that it is still inconclusive. The test sample size was small. I also think it is quite possible that some dinosaurs were warm-blooded, others were

mesotherms and still others were cold-blooded. A variety just like we see today in our wildlife. But in no way do I believe that if some dinosaurs are determined beyond any doubt that they were warm-blooded, leads to “evolution” into birds. That is something that I am 100% sure will never be discovered. Why? Because it never existed!

Until next week, God bless and take care!

Willow Dressel

References:

¹http://www.icr.org/article/dinosaurs-designed-cold-blooded/