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A thermal model of the sailback pelycosaur

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

Steven C. Haack
Steven C. Haack*
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy and Physics, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588
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Abstract

Standard techniques of energy exchange analysis are applied to modelling the thermal regimes of several species of sailback pelycosaurs. Of particular interest is the role played by the sail in thermoregulation. Although the sail did increase the rate at which the model could warm up in the morning, its effectiveness fell short of previous estimates. The sail increased the daytime internal temperature by typically 3°C to 6°C. The more massive subjects had the highest temperature increases owing partly to their higher thermal inertia and partly to their disproportionately large sails. The sail had no impact upon the nocturnal minimums in temperature.

Overheating does not appear to have been a significant problem in the Permian environment, particularly in view of the high thermal inertia of the subjects modeled. When overheating occurred, the sail was of limited value for dumping excess heat.

Type
Articles
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , Fall 1986 , pp. 450 - 458
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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References

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