Were all dinosaurs warm-blooded? Were any of them warm-blooded? The question of endothermy has long been, ahem, a hot topic in paleontology. No doubt a new study, using a recently developed method, will fire up the debate.
Unlike cold-blooded ectotherms, endotherms have the ability to regulate their body temperature internally. They generate, conserve and shed heat in response to their environment, making them generally more adaptable to different climates and ecological niches.
Most animals, including reptiles, are ectotherms. Mammals, birds and a handful of fish are either endotherms or evolved some degree of endothermy. Because warm-blooded birds evolved from dinosaurs, and dinosaurs evolved from cold-blooded reptiles, researchers have long sought clues to just where in the reptile-to-bird story things heated up.
