How the largest dinosaurs got so big

Mathew J. Wedel, PhD, assistant professor of anatomy at WesternU, is quoted in a story appearing in the magazine "New Scientist."

…A related problem is how to get enough oxygen. In 2003, Mathew Wedel of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History solved this by showing that sauropods had bird-like lungs.

Birds breathe in a far more efficient way than mammals. When they inhale, air fills their lungs and also air sacs further inside their body. Upon exhaling, fresh air from the air sacs flows out and replaces the air that was in the lungs. This means that the lungs contain a constant stream of fresh air and can extract up to two-and-a-half times as much oxygen per breath as a mammal. "Sauropods had an air sac system that was, as far as we can tell, just as complex as that of birds," says Wedel (Paleobiology, vol 29, p 243). Read the full story >>