<p>   u00a0</p>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   A team of researchers from Spain and Norway studied bone &quot;growth lines&quot; of more than 100 wild ruminants (warm-blooded mammals like sheep and cows that have multiple stomachs) which are similar to the growth rings in tree trunks.u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   Called lines of arrested growth or LAGs, the markers show fast, yet interrupted yearly growth that depended on how long the &quot;unfavourable&quot; season lasted.u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   These growth lines were similar to those seen in dinosaur bones previously studied, indicating that both ruminants and dinosaurs have periods of high growth marred by &quot;unfavourable&quot; seasons with limited resources and little growth.u00a0</div>  <div>   u00a0</div>  <div>   <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2012/jun/dinosaur.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 400px; " /></div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   This means that dinosaurs were likely warm-blooded like the ruminants, the researchers said. &quot;The argument we are giving in our paper, rather in favor of endothermy in dinosaurs, is that between the growth and rest lines, there&#39;s always a big region of highly vascularised (infiltrated with blood vessels) tissue that indicates very high growth rates,&quot; study author Meike Kohler of Autonomous University of Barcelona told LiveScience.u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   &quot;This is typical in dinosaurs and very different from reptiles, which have slow growth between the rest lines.&quot; Lags have also been found in the bones of reptiles and amphibians and have until now been assumed to be limited to ectotherms -- cold-blooded animals -- that are more subject to the whims of harsh environments. And Lags on dinosaur bones has so far been taken as evidence of their cold-bloodedness.u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   According to the researchers, who published their work in the journal Nature, sauropods were the only dinosaurs where they haven&#39;t seen growth lines similar to those of ruminants.u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   Past studies of their teeth indicate they would have had high body temperatures as well, though they might have been big enough for their mass to generate that heat -- what the researchers call a &quot;gigantotherm.&quot;u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   Researchers don&#39;t know what their growth lines would have looked like, since no animals alive today are gigantotherms. This indicates that &quot;dinosaursalso had very fast growth rates and needed to eat a lot and maintain high generation of heat internally,&quot; Kohler said, so they were most likely warm-blooded.</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   The theory that dinosaurs were warm has been gaining traction in the last few years in multiple fields, but the researchers admit that other, non-bone-based arguments for cold-bloodedness still stand.u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   Endotherms should have the physical ability to move quickly, and lung volume to pump oxygen to muscles needed for running, which researchers can&#39;t be sure dinosaurs had. &quot;There are a lot of arguments in favour and against endothermy in dinosaurs,&quot; Kohler said.u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   u00a0</div>  <div id="cke_pastebin">   &quot;It could be that they have some traits that are clearly endothermic,&quot; but others may be muddled.u00a0</div>  

A closer investigation into the bones of modern-day mammals has shown that dinosaurs may have been warm-blooded, scientists have claimed, in a finding that debunks the common belief that the extinct giants were slow, sunbathing reptiles.

Dinosaurs may have been warm-blooded: Scientists

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Dinosaurs may have been warm-blooded: Scientists

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