School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
Physiology (Bethesda). 2016 Nov 1;31(6):430-441. doi: 10.1152/physiol.00016.2016.
Cardiovascular function in dinosaurs can be inferred from fossil evidence with knowledge of how metabolic rate, blood flow rate, blood pressure, and heart size are related to body size in living animals. Skeletal stature and nutrient foramen size in fossil femora provide direct evidence of a high arterial blood pressure, a large four-chambered heart, a high aerobic metabolic rate, and intense locomotion. But was the heart of a huge, long-necked sauropod dinosaur able to pump blood up 9 m to its head?
恐龙的心血管功能可以通过了解新陈代谢率、血流速度、血压和心脏大小与活体动物体型的关系,从化石证据中推断出来。化石股骨的骨骼体型和营养孔大小为高动脉血压、大型四室心脏、高需氧代谢率和高强度运动提供了直接证据。但是,巨大的长颈蜥脚类恐龙的心脏是否能够将血液泵送到 9 米高的头部呢?