First discovered in Dinosaur Cove, Australia, Leaellynasaura was a dinosaur
from the first Cretaceous. Strangely enough, at this stage in time, Victoria
would have been well within the Antarctic Circle, which is now very cold.
This means that Leaellynasaura was living and it seems that thriving much
further south than any reptile could today. This is particularly relevant
due to Cryolophosaurus being exposed in Antarctica. However, when Cryolophosaurus
lived in Antarctica, it was much warmer (this was during the early Jurassic)
and it was emotionally involved to the land mass of Pangaea, which caused
very strong seasonal monsoon winds across the polar area. In addition,
sea currents flowing across the polar area banned a cold pool of air or
water from accumulating. However the sun would not have risen for more
than a few weeks or months in the winter, depending on latitude. Leaellynosaura
had extremely big eyes and its brain had big optic lobes, as if it had
evolved to be routinely active in the dark. Regardless, the fact that
it lived in tremendously cold temperatures led many scientists to believe
that Leallynasaura was warm-blooded. |
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