We employed the widely-tested biophysiological modeling software, Niche Mapper™ to investigate the metabolic function of Late Triassic dinosaurs Plateosaurus and Coelophysis during global greenhouse conditions. We tested them under a variety of assumptions about resting metabolic rate, evaluated within six microclimate models that bound paleoenvironmental conditions at 12° N paleolatitude, as determined by sedimentological and isotopic proxies for climate within the Chinle Formation of the southwestern United States. Sensitivity testing of metabolic variables and simulated “metabolic chamber” analyses support elevated “ratite-like” metabolic rates and intermediate “monotreme-like” core temperature ranges in these species of early saurischian dinosaur. Our results suggest small theropods may have needed partial to full epidermal insulation in temperate environments, while fully grown prosauropods would have likely been heat stressed in open, hot environments and should have been restricted to cooler microclimates such as dense forests (under any vegitative cover) or those seen at higher latitudes and elevations. This is in agreement with the Late Triassic fossil record and may have contributed to the latitudinal gap in the Triassic prosauropod record.

中文翻译：

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龙的建模：使用链接的机制生理和小气候模型探索恐龙早期进化的环境，生理和形态学限制

我们使用了经过广泛测试的生物生理建模软件Niche Mapper™来研究晚期三叠纪恐龙板龙和腔骨动物的代谢功能在全球温室条件下。我们在关于静息代谢率的各种假设下进行了测试，这些假设是在六个微气候模型中进行评估的，这些模型在12°N的古纬度约束了古环境条件，该条件由美国西南部Chinle组内气候的沉积学和同位素代理确定。代谢变量的敏感性测试和模拟的“代谢室”分析支持了早苏里斯基恐龙这些物种中较高的“类鼠类”代谢率和中等的“类兽类”核心温度范围。我们的结果表明，在温带环境中，小型节肢动物可能需要部分或完全隔离表皮，而完全长成的节肢动物可能需要在露天条件下承受高温，炎热的环境，应仅限于凉爽的小气候，例如茂密的森林（在任何植被覆盖下）或在较高纬度和高海拔看到的小气候。这与三叠纪晚期的化石记录是一致的，并且可能导致了三叠纪前肢足纲记录中的纬度差异。