Skin bones helped huge dinos survive
November 30th, 2011 - 5:16 pm ICT by IANSToronto, Nov 30 (IANS) Bones within the skin of some of the largest dinosaurs ever to roam our planet might have stored vital minerals to help them survive and bear their young in tough times, a study reveals.
The study says that these long-necked plant-eaters used hollow skin bones called osteoderms to store minerals to maintain their huge skeletons and to lay large egg clutches.
Sediments around the fossils show that the dinosaurs’ environment was highly seasonal and semi-arid, with periodic droughts causing massive die-offs, the journal Nature Communications reported.
“Our findings suggest that osteoderms provided an internal source of calcium and phosphorus when environmental and physiological conditions were stressful,” said researcher Matthew Vickaryous.
Vickaryous, researcher in biomedical sciences at University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College, studies how skeletons develop, regenerate and evolve, according to a university statement.
He worked with paleontologist Kristina Curry Rogers and geologist Raymond Rogers at Macalaster College, Minnesota, and paleontologist Michael D’Emic, now at Georgia Southern University, on the study.
Vickaryous helped to interpret the results of CT scans and fossilized tissue cores taken from the dinosaurs.
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Tags: biomedical sciences, ct scans, dinosaurs, egg clutches, fossils, geologist, georgia southern university, internal source, journal nature, macalaster college, ontario veterinary college, periodic droughts, phosphorus, physiological conditions, raymond rogers, sediments, skeletons, tough times, university of guelph, vital minerals