From BBC Science News comes news that dinosaurs, long assumed to be cold-blooded like their modern reptilian kin, could in fact have been warm-blooded.
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 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.
A number of discoveries in recent years have challenged the 40-year-old notion that dinosaurs were cold-blooded.
There's plenty more at the link, but you had me at "lines of arrested growth". Change that to "lines of arrested development" and you've nailed the description of our much-chronicled GOPasaurs.
Those of you who've followed my dino-diaries know that these creepy Cretaceous critters have long exceeed their reasonable time on this planet, evading time and time again the sycthe of the Grim Reaper of politics.
Darwin must be spinning in his grave at the thought that Brontosaurus romneii has emerged at the top of the heap after other GOPasaurs and Baggasaurs fell by the wayside. Who could forget the fossil follies of:
Archeopteryx bachmannii, with that shrieky voice, the bright facial coloration and plumage (courtesy of her mate, the curious Marcasaurus?
Or Gropasaurus hermanii, purveyor of flat baked feedstock items, his trademark "9-9-9" cry echoing across the land.
Or Gaffasaurus perrii, who proved that even during Mesozoic times, mixing pain meds and red wine was not a winning solution.
Or Cerebrasaurus huntsmanii, clearly too smart and too highly evolved to qualify as any sort of reptile.
Last and indeed least by some systems of reckoning, Struthiomimus santorum, whose sweater-vested exterior suggest a very cold-blooded mode of operation indeed.
Libertatiasaurus paulii still roams the Earth, hoping to inflict a mortal wound on B. romneii, but the big money (and we do mean big money) is on the flip-flopping, prevaricating B. romneii in this dino-death-match.
Disillusioned Baggasaurs, dismayed with their choice, dream of a return from well-deserved oblivion by the colorful and witless Griftasaurus palinii. Stranger things have hapened, but none of them have been good.
Follow along below the coprolite for more...
In assesing the cold-bloodedness of these evolutionary dead-enders, we must consider not only their anatomy, but also their behavior.
While their feigned concerned for the unborn might suggest warm-bloodedness, the fact that all young from the recently-born through adolescents are of no concern to these critters whatsoever suggests that they are truly (and remorselessly) cold-blooded.
Similarly, the elderly, who are due a certain respect even in the most primitive cultures, are also thrown under the GOPasaur bus. Sure, they paid into the "system" for their whole lives, but things change. Sounds pretty cold-blooded to me.
Students, facing the twin perils of daunting student debt and a bleak job market, are our future. But to the GOPasaurs, they're just one more population that could be more effectively exploited by the rapacious banks. So I give this one a "cold-blooded" rating.
Women? Screw em'! No; really! That's why they're there! Throughout their reproductive years, women are a problem to the GOPasaurs, a problem best solved by curtailing their options, consigning them to a life of breeding and heartbreak and poverty. No need to worry about pre-natal care, maternal health, early childhood development, day care, or education. Women breed kids; kids work as janitors. If you haven't already voted "cold-blooded" on this one, you may need to take a remedial course or two.
Returning soldiers? GOPasaurs know what to do about them! Slap one of those "I support the troops" magnetic ribbon on a big ol' gas-guzzling SUV and you're done! If these folks return with life-altering wounds (or in a box), that's just collateral damage. War really is the answer for these creatures. That's cold... and cold-blooded.
Workers? They have plenty of options: work for dismal pay in unsafe work conditions, watch their union get torn apart, see their pensions slashed, their jobs outsourced, their workplaces shuttered. GOPasaurs love this sort of sequence of events. Every step in the process is a chance to demonstrate that they really are that cold-blooded.
So as much as I respect these paleontologists, it's clear: these particular dinosaurs are anything but warm-blooded. Further investigation will no doubt reveal that their veins are filled with Freon.