ALT.SF4M

  Dinosaur Thing

   • j********o@***.com
     31/01/1999 00:00:000 UTC

     Read in the most recent Science Times about a uniquely well-preserved
     fossil of

     a baby raptor-type dinosaur. Under polarized light, its internal organs
     can be

     seen. This seems to show an alligator-like internal structure, with the
     colon

     along the backbone and a weirdo breathing apparatus where the liver bobs

     forward and back, unlike mammals (who have a diaphram) or birds. This
     would

     seem to put the nail in the coffin of the dinosaur origin of birds that
     has

     become so fashionable (and question dinosaur endothermy to boot). Of
     course,

     the results are disputed: bird specialists have been skeptical of the
     dinosaur

     theory for ages, but the Bakker-types will hold out indefinitely.

     This connects to a theory about dinosaur extinction I heard about
     recently.

     Studies of fossil air in amber suggest that the air had 50% more oxygen
     back

     during the age of dinosaurs - the theory is that their less efficient
     breathing

     mechanism was their undoing.

     Gorno