笨拙的蜥脚类恐龙,以体型庞大和长脖子闻名,生活在1.5亿年前。与牛一样,产生甲烷的微生物帮助蜥脚类恐龙消化它们的植物食品。一个简单的数学模型显示,蜥脚类恐龙“放屁打嗝”释放巨量温室气体甲烷,致使气候变暖。英国利物浦约翰摩尔大学的戴夫·威尔金森称,从这些蜥脚类恐龙体内排出的甲烷量比现今所有途径排放的甲烷还多,足以影响当时中生代的气候。 Clumsy sauropod dinosaurs, known for their large size and long neck, lived 150 million years ago. Like cattle, methane-producing microbes help sauropod dinosaurs digest their plant foods. A simple mathematical model shows that sauropod dinosaurs “hiss burp” release huge amounts of greenhouse gas methane, resulting in warming. Dave Wilkinson of John Moores University in Liverpool, UK, said more methane released from these sauropods than enough of the methane from all sources today is enough to affect the then Mesozoic climate.