DINOSAUR WORLD

Chapter 13 - Cold Blooded

A ferocious looking creature lumbers into view.

"Spinosaurus!" says Mary.

" 'Cause of that sail on his back, right?" asks her father.

"Probably."

"The Spinosaurus, a flesh eating dinosaur from Egypt in the late Cretaceous, has a huge skin sail along his back."

"Wonder why?"

"Well, since most scientists think dinosaurs were coldblooded reptiles," the radio explains, "Spinosaurus might have used his sail to regulate body heat by turning toward, or away from the sun."

"Sure!" says Dad. "If he turns sideways, more sun hits the sail and he gets hotter and if he faces the sun, less light hits it and he cools down.

"Very good."

"Thanks!"

"They grow to be up to 40 feet long and they weigh about 7 tons."

"That's about, uh, what? Two and a half elephants?"

"Now can we see the Tyrannosaurus Rex?" Mary wants to know.

"We're almost there."