Farting Dinosaurs Heats the Earth?

Gassiosaurus more appropriate name might be given to the Brachiosaurus, plant-eating dinosaurs that lived millions of years ago. Recent research results show that emissions of gases that are emitted giant dinosaurs were more likely than not to heat the earth.

The Mesozoic Era of the  Phanerozoic Eon:
251 to 65.5 million years ago. (Picture from:  
http://palaeos.com/)

Sauropod or plant-eating dinosaurs are characterized as super-bodied animals, such as Apatosaurus (formerly called Brontosaurus) and Brachiosaurus. During their lives, in the Mesozoic era began 250 million years ago until the dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago, the climate is getting warmer and wetter.

Currently there are no animals that could be compared with the giant beasts.

The researchers found that the methane gas produced by all sauropods in the world will reach 520 million tons per year. The amount is equivalent to the total methane produced by human activities and natural now.

Brachiosaurus. (Picture from: http://www.britannica.com/)

The research team led by David Wilkinson of Liverpool John Moores University in Liverpool, England, tried to obtain an accurate estimate of how much gas could be produced by these large dinosaurs. However, the results of their calculations are based on assumptions.

Apatosaurus (formerly Brontosaurus). (Picture from: http://www.britannica.com/)

Greenhouse gas methane is a natural byproduct of the digestion plant-eating animals, especially ruminants, like cattle and camels. The researchers speculate, just like cows, sauropods had a lot of methane-producing bacteria in the gut to aid digestion of fibrous foods.

Currently, there is no way to know what type of bacteria that live in the digestive system of the dinosaurs, what gases are produced, or how the digestive system of the dinosaurs. But Wilkinson expect them to produce methane as the animals living today.

"To process so many plants, they must rely on microbes in their digestive system," says Wilkinson, "but we're not sure,"

The scientists had to use mathematical models to determine how much gas is produced giant animal digestive processes. They process data of methane production of modern mammals are enlarged up to the size of the sauropods.

In their calculations, the researchers assumed 10 sauropods, each weighing 20 thousand pounds or 9.071 kilograms, hanging on a land area of ​​thick Mesozoic habitat of one square kilometer. "We take the middle value," says Wilkinson, "we tried quite conservative."

They found that 10 sauropods would donate 7.6 tonnes of methane every year. By shifting the numbers to cover the land area is estimated to be the habitat of dinosaurs, the researchers scored more than 550 million tons of methane are produced each year. *** [LIVESCIENCE | KORAN TEMPO 3875]

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