Emily Chan
They discovered that theropods and ornithischians inhabited areas with wide-ranging climates. During the early Jurassic period, these two species relocated to colder regions, indicating that they could produce their own body heat.
On the other hand, long-necked sauropods were found to stay in areas with higher temperatures, which suggested that they were cold-blooded.
When volcanic eruptions led to global warming and caused some plant species to become extinct, the event triggered the evolution of warm-bloodedness in the two groups of dinosaurs.
“The adoption of endothermy, perhaps a result of this environmental crisis, may have enabled theropods and ornithischians to thrive in colder environments, allowing them to be highly active and sustain activity over longer periods, to develop and grow faster, and produce more offspring,” said Alfio Allesandro Chiarenza, a co-author of the study.
