Question:

Physical anthropology question?

by  |  earlier

0 LIKES UnLike

In the article “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of the Dinosaurs,” Stephen Jay Gould puts forth three explanations that have been given for the demise of the dinosaurs: s*x, drugs, and disaster.

s*x: In the 1940’s a study was conducted on alligators to determine their tolerance for changes in the temperature. It was found that small alligators heated up and cooled down quickly and larger alligators heated up and cooled down more slowly (this is a function of size to surface area). The researchers speculated that dinosaurs lived in a time period where they lived close to their optimal temperature range. It is known that a slight warming trend occurred around the time the dinosaurs died off. The hypothesis is that the dinosaurs warmed up, not enough to kill them outright, but enough to sterilize them. The testicles of male mammals often function within a narrow temperature range.

 Tags:

   Report

2 ANSWERS


  1. Not testable, as dinosaurs are not alligators. Pure speculation.

    So, can not be considered likely.


  2. Interesting theory, and more information is need to make it more sound.  

    Since we are using alligators as a model, do we have any evidence that sterilization would occur in correlation with change in temperatures?  

    Alligators are the only species considered as a model, is there a similar pattern in other species like the crocodile or other cold blooded species?

    If we are to say that the increase in temperature cause sterilization there would be a decrease of immature dinosaurs as well as fertilized eggs in the fossil record.  I am not confident that the fossil record supports this theory.

Question Stats

Latest activity: earlier.
This question has 2 answers.

BECOME A GUIDE

Share your knowledge and help people by answering questions.
Unanswered Questions