Why Are Dinosaurs Huge?
About 150 million years ago, the ruler on earth was a dinosaur, and the protagonist was a sauropod. The sauropod dinosaur is a herbivorous dinosaur with a body length of more than 30 meters and a long neck and tail. The thick limbs support the body like a barrel. The family also includes dragons, brachiosaurus and brontosaurus. We can see Giant Dinosaur Model in the dinosaur theme park.
For a long time, biologists have been confused about the unprecedented size of sauropod dinosaurs. How do they have such a huge size? Why are other land animals on the planet not so "tonnage"? Now, the largest land animal on the planet is the African elephant, weighing only about 6 tons. Even in the dinosaur family, sauropods are heavyweight. The adult Tyrannosaurus weighs only 7 tons, while the largest non-sauropod dinosaur, the Chinese dinosaur known as the giant Shandong dragon, weighs only 16 tons. So why is the size of the dinosaur so big? Museum Dinosaur Manufacturer will come to tell you.
Animatronic Dinosaur
1. Face more challenges
Large animals eat more and breed at a slower rate than petite animals, and face greater problems in the face of difficulties or food shortages. On the one hand, natural selection encourages the animal to grow longer and on the other hand, animals are punished for taking this path.
2. Growth lines similar to the annual rings
The sauropod dinosaur nest does not show signs of parental rearing, which further enhances the ability of adult sauropods to breed more offspring. However, laying eggs and lacking parental care do not fully explain the reasons for laying eggs and not caring for pups. Therefore, Sander started from other aspects to further uncover this mystery. He found that the large body seems to make the sauropod grow faster. Most dinosaurs have growth lines similar to tree rings on their bones. The sauropod dinosaurs have a fast metabolism, allowing them to get large size relatively quickly.
3. Alveolar as complex as birds
There are of course many benefits to growing fast, but how do they respond to body and lifestyle needs once animals have a large body? The sauropod dinosaurs all conform to the same basic body structure: the neck is long, the head is small, the bulky body is like a barrel, and the legs are thick and strong.
A related issue is how large sauropods get enough oxygen. The lungs of sauropods are like birds. Birds breathe far more efficiently than mammals. When the sauropod dinosaur inhales, the air fills the lungs and alveoli in the body. That is to say, the fresh air in the lungs of the sauropod dinosaurs will continue to flow, and the amount of oxygen obtained per breath is 2.5 times that of mammals.
4, the elite of the dinosaur era
The unique body structure of the sauropod dinosaur explains how this 80-ton behemoth can get enough food. The largest terrestrial animals on the planet today are herbivores, which depend on eating a large number of unnutrient plants. This requires herbivores to keep eating. The sauropod dinosaurs like giraffe-like necks and small heads play a key role at this time. The light spine allows the sauropod dinosaur to grow longer and increase the predation range. As a result, the sauropod dinosaurs stand still, and their necks can still feed up and down, which saves energy. In addition, the sauropod dinosaurs do not chew food, but use the hook-like teeth to bite the leaves from the plants and swallow them all into the abdomen. It is because of the unique ways of reproduction and growth and body mechanisms that sauropods can overcome the limitations imposed by large bodies. It is no exaggeration to say that sauropods are the "elite" of the dinosaur era.
Finally, if you want to learn more about dinosaurs, you can go to the museum, the dinosaur theme park, where there are realistic Animatronic Dinosaur and dinosaur costumes, you will be able to learn more in it.
