Anatomical Features Linked To Ventilation and Metabolic Rates Of Fossil Birds and Dinosaurs

9420290 William J.Hillenius Endmthermy，或称“温血”，是动物进化史上的一项重大创新。由于大多数与吸热相关的生理适应发生在软组织中，不会石化，因此吸温的早期进化，包括它可能在恐龙中的存在，在很大程度上仍然是推测的。新的证据表明，哺乳动物的高代谢率和与吸热相关的肺通气率需要鼻子(呼吸鼻甲)中复杂的骨骼结构，以湿化吸入的空气，减少呼吸水分的损失。这项研究将测试活着的鸟类是否也存在同样的联系，并研究鸟类化石及其祖先恐龙，以寻找呼吸性鼻甲存在的证据。它将使用非侵入性、高分辨率的计算机X射线断层扫描来检查鸟类化石和各种恐龙群体的代表的鼻部内部解剖。结果将显示吸热在鸟类进化过程中何时出现，以及吸热是否以及何时在恐龙中进化。这项研究将使人们更好地了解恐龙的生理学，可能还会了解它们灭绝的原因。

9420290 William J. Hillenius Endmthermy, or "warm-bloodedness" was a significant innovation in animal evolution. Because most physiological adaptations associated with endothermy occur in soft tissue and do not fossilize, the early evolution of endothermy, including its possible presence among dinosaurs, remains largely speculative. New evidence suggests that the high metabolic rates and lung ventilation rates associated with endothermy in mammals require complex bony structures in the nose (respiratory turbinals) that humidify inhaled air and decrease respiratory water loss. This research will test to see whether the same association holds for living birds, and examine fossil birds and their ancestors, the dinosaurs, for evidence of the presence of respiratory turbinals. It will use non-invasive, high-resolution computed X-ray tomography scans to examine the nasal internal anatomy of fossils of birds and representatives of a variety of dinosaur groups. The results will show when endothermy arose during the evolution of birds, and whether and when endothermy evolved in dinosaurs. The research will lead to a greater understanding of the physiology of the dinosaurs, and possibly of the reasons for their extinction.