Endotherms are animals such as modern birds and mammals that keep their body temperatures constant. For instance, humans are endotherms and maintain an internal temperature of 37°C, no matter whether the environment is warm or cold. Because dinosaurs were reptiles, and modern reptiles are not endotherms, it was long assumed that dinosaurs were not endotherms. However, dinosaurs differ in many ways from modem reptiles, and there is now considerable evidence that dinosaurs were, in fact, endotherms.
Polar dinosaurs
One reason for believing that dinosaurs were endotherms is that dinosaur fossils have been discovered in polar regions. Only animals that can maintain a temperature well above that of the surrounding environment could be active in such cold climates.
Leg position and movement
There is a connection between endothermy and the position and movement of the legs. The physiology of endothermy allows sustained physical activity, such as running. But running is efficient only if an animal's legs are positioned underneath its body, not at the body's side, as they are for crocodiles and many lizards. The legs of all modern endotherms are underneath the body, and so were the legs of dinosaurs. This strongly suggests that dinosaurs were endotherms.
Haversian canals
There is also a connection between endothermy and bone structure. The bones of endotherms usually include structures called Haversian canals. These canals house nerves and blood vessels that allow the living animal to grow quickly, and rapid body growth is in fact a characteristic of endothermy. The presence of Haversian canals in bone is a strong indicator that the animal is an endotherm, and fossilized bones of dinosaurs are usually dense with Haversian canals.
The given passage and the the lecture present conflicting ideas of dinosaurs being classified as endotherms. While the passage provides supportive explanations of dinosaurs being endotherms; while the lecturer would argue and refute these claims presenting counter logic.
To start with, the passage emphasizes on the fact that the dinosaur fossils have been discovered in polar regions - a point that supports the hypothesis since animals with high body temperature are found in such surroundings. The lecturer defers from this point of view. According to her, the polar regions used to be considerably warmer during the age of the dinosaurs, warm enough for the non-endotherms to survive. She further adds that it is possible for the animals to have hibernated during the cold, suggesting a fallacy in the hypothesis of the text.
Secondly, according to the text, the position and movement of the legs of the dinosaurs can be considers a connection with endothermy as all modern endotherms are characterised by legs underneath their body. The lecturer strongly counters this point stating that the position of the legs were meant to support the humongous size of the dinosaurs, thus facilitating their growth, which turned out to be advantageous for them. The high energy hypothesis, hence, was not fully convincing.
Lastly, the passage points at the bone structure of the endotherms, popularly known as Haversian canals, the presence of which bolsters the claim of dinosaurs being endotherms. The speaker argues that the thickening of bones and slow growth was an adaptation to the cooler period, followed by rapid growth in warmer spells and so on. In contrast to this pattern of growth, the non-endotherms maintain sustained bone growth, even when the temperature is cooler.
To conclude, through the interesting argument, it is evident that despite the wide range of facts presented, the author and the speaker have diametrically opposite views.
| Post date | Users | Rates | Link to Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-11-14 | TiOluwani97 | 80 | view |
| 2023-07-20 | guna | 73 | view |
| 2023-07-15 | nusybah | 85 | view |
| 2023-07-04 | Hrushikesh_Vaddoriya | 66 | view |
| 2023-06-14 | YasamanEsml | 90 | view |
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Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 1, column 23, Rule ID: ENGLISH_WORD_REPEAT_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a word
Suggestion: the
The given passage and the the lecture present conflicting ideas of di...
^^^^^^^
Line 1, column 23, Rule ID: DT_DT[1]
Message: Maybe you need to remove one determiner so that only 'the' or 'the' is left.
Suggestion: the; the
The given passage and the the lecture present conflicting ideas of di...
^^^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
hence, if, lastly, second, secondly, so, thus, while, in contrast, in contrast to, to start with
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 15.0 10.4613686534 143% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 2.0 5.04856512141 40% => OK
Conjunction : 6.0 7.30242825607 82% => OK
Relative clauses : 9.0 12.0772626932 75% => More relative clauses wanted.
Pronoun: 17.0 22.412803532 76% => OK
Preposition: 48.0 30.3222958057 158% => OK
Nominalization: 7.0 5.01324503311 140% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1656.0 1373.03311258 121% => OK
No of words: 308.0 270.72406181 114% => OK
Chars per words: 5.37662337662 5.08290768461 106% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.18926351222 4.04702891845 104% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.93389569499 2.5805825403 114% => OK
Unique words: 176.0 145.348785872 121% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.571428571429 0.540411800872 106% => OK
syllable_count: 496.8 419.366225166 118% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.6 1.55342163355 103% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 2.0 3.25607064018 61% => OK
Article: 12.0 8.23620309051 146% => OK
Subordination: 2.0 1.25165562914 160% => OK
Conjunction: 0.0 1.51434878587 0% => OK
Preposition: 6.0 2.5761589404 233% => Less preposition wanted as sentence beginnings.
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 13.0 13.0662251656 99% => OK
Sentence length: 23.0 21.2450331126 108% => OK
Sentence length SD: 52.8152972282 49.2860985944 107% => OK
Chars per sentence: 127.384615385 110.228320801 116% => OK
Words per sentence: 23.6923076923 21.698381199 109% => OK
Discourse Markers: 7.38461538462 7.06452816374 105% => OK
Paragraphs: 5.0 4.09492273731 122% => OK
Language errors: 2.0 4.19205298013 48% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 7.0 4.33554083885 161% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 3.0 4.45695364238 67% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 3.0 4.27373068433 70% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.156393748931 0.272083759551 57% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0497332139015 0.0996497079465 50% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0438331383725 0.0662205650399 66% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.0707427802242 0.162205337803 44% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0528701847801 0.0443174109184 119% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 15.8 13.3589403974 118% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 48.13 53.8541721854 89% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 5.55761589404 158% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 12.3 11.0289183223 112% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 14.22 12.2367328918 116% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 9.24 8.42419426049 110% => OK
difficult_words: 87.0 63.6247240618 137% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 11.0 10.7273730684 103% => OK
gunning_fog: 11.2 10.498013245 107% => OK
text_standard: 11.0 11.2008830022 98% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Rates: 80.0 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 24.0 Out of 30
---------------------
Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.