Could methane produced by sauropod dinosaurs have helped drive Mesozoic climate warmth?
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Material Information

Title:
Could methane produced by sauropod dinosaurs have helped drive Mesozoic climate warmth?
Creator:
David M. Wilkinson
Euan G. Nisbet
Graeme D. Ruxton
Publisher:
Current Biology
Publication Date:

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
climate change
dinosaurs
methane
Herbivores

Notes

Summary:
Mesozoic sauropods, like many modern herbivores, are likely to have hosted microbial methanogenic symbionts for the fermentative digestion of their plant food [1]. Today methane from livestock is a significant component of the global methane budget [2]. Sauropod methane emission would probably also have been considerable. Here, we use a simple quantitative approach to estimate the magnitude of such methane production and show that the production of the ‘greenhouse’ gas methane by sauropods could have been an important factor in warm Mesozoic climates.

Record Information

Source Institution:
Florida International University
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