How did dinosaurs adapt to the cold? Click here to learn about the science behind how dinosaurs adjust to cold weather!
Image 1: Dinosaurs
By excavating their fossils, paleontologists have learned about the lifestyle of dinosaurs in the frigid winters they endured while walking in the northern tips of the Asian continent. In northwest China, for example, footprints of these animals and other stone deposits suggested that dinosaurs adapted to the cold in polar regions before their extinction at the end of the Triassic period.
What Helped the Dinosaurs Adapt to the Cold?
Dinosaurs were covered in a thick layer of fuzzy feathers (Acting as insulation) so that they could maintain their body heat when temperatures went down. This advantage is the reason why dinosaurs coped a lot better than other creatures when brutal conditions were faced.
Dinosaurs also possessed warm-blooded, high-metabolism systems, which are more efficient in preserving heat in brutally cold temperatures.
The key to their eventual dominance was very simple. They were fundamentally cold-adapted animals. When it got cold everywhere, they were ready, and other animals weren’t.
- Paul Olsen, the lead author on the study at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University.
Another Adaptation: Mass Migration
Just like birds today, there is a plausible theory that dinosaurs may have migrated to warmer, greener pastures during the cold, polar winter months. Migrating to warmer climates would've allowed dinosaurs avoid the large temperature drop, and deadly cold.
What Types of Dinosaurs Were "Polar Dinosaurs"?
Sub-groups of dinosaurs called theropods, ornithopods and ankylosaurs, have been found in areas that indicated having cold, harsh winters. There are also dinosaurs that lived in warmer locations year-round, such as sauropods.
Image 2: Theropods (source Alamy)
Personal Opinion
Personally, I think that dinosaurs are an incredible species with many mysteries held within them. In my perspective, I am keener on the theory that they adapted to the cold as their bones were found in the Antarctic Circle. Finding dinosaur bones in such remote locations emphasizes their extraordinary capabilities. While we have only cracked the surface of figuring out the daily life, behavior, and anatomy of dinosaurs, I would love to continue following up on findings that paleontologists will publish in the future!
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