Study picks new site for dinosaur nostrils
By Sid Perkins
An innovative analysis of fossils and living animals suggests that most dinosaurs’ nostrils occurred at locations toward the tip of their snout rather than farther up on their face.
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Precisely where a dinosaur’s nostrils were located on its head has implications beyond building models for theme parks and movies. The size and shape of air passages through an animal’s nose affect many aspects of its physiology, including how well it breathes, smells, and regulates its body temperature, says Lawrence M. Witmer, an evolutionary biologist at Ohio University in Athens.