Why did dinosaurs reach such enormous sizes? 0 8

The process of heat production in the body is directly proportional to its mass, that is, volume, while heat dissipation depends on surface area. As the size of an animal increases, its body volume grows proportionally to the cube of the linear size, while the surface area increases proportionally to the square, which happens significantly more slowly.

During the Mesozoic era, the geographical location of continents and the system of ocean currents created a warm climate across the planet. Thus, reptiles, warming up during the day due to their activity and sunlight, did not cool down at night. This allowed them to gain the advantages of warm-blooded creatures without expending energy to maintain a constant body temperature. However, this is just one of the possible theories.

Interestingly, the word “dinosaur” was introduced in the 19th century by British paleontologist Richard Owen and comes from the Greek words δεινός — “terrible” and σαῦρος — “lizard, reptile”.