Dinosaurs Used Nasal Passages To Avoid Brain Overheating, New Study Finds

Researchers detected that dinosaurs used their nasal passages to keep their brains cool, according to a recent study.

"My work represents the first test of the hypothesis that the elaborated nasal passages of large dinosaurs functioned as efficient heat exchangers," said Jason Bourke in a news release, who is lead author of the study and doctoral student researcher at Ohio University.

In his experiment, Bourke used a branch of engineering computational fluid dynamics, where he created air movement and heat through the nasal passages of various dinosaur species.

The nasal passage is a large air filled space above and behind the nose, where it functions as a filter and air conditioner - warming and humidifying air as it is breathed in, and cooling and drying air as it leaves the body. This is essential for warm blood to travel to the brain.

The three-dimensional shape of dinosaurs' nasal passages showed that large dinosaurs' bodies most likely held onto more heat than smaller animals. Dinosaurs required specialized and large nasal passages in order to avoid overheating their brains, according to the study.

Bourke claimed that dinosaurs would have had an extensive amount of active soft tissues in their noses.

"This strongly suggests that dinosaur airways were more than capable of changing the attributes of respired air. By having this blood detour through the nasal passages and dump some of that excess heat before reaching the brain, dinosaurs were able to keep their brains at an optimum temperature for their bodies," said Bourke.

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