Subscribe to one of our news e-mail lists . No one in his right mind could find a dinosaur heart from 66 million years ago. It was exceptionally well-preserved, so the researchers decided to examine it with medical imaging technology at a local hospital. Researchers then were able to see through the layers of dirt and fossilized bone and discover a 3-D view of the heart with four highly developed chambers and a single arched aorta.
Coldblooded reptiles are dependent on the environment for body heat.
Warmblooded mammals and birds generate their own body heat and are more tolerant of temperature extremes. Some dinosaur experts said discovery of the fossilized heart will change basic views about the dinosaur and send researchers scrambling to do more X-ray studies of intact specimens. A series of CT scan images of the dinosaur's chest cavity. Its suspected heart can be seen as a dark shape . A long bony tail gave it a total length of about 13 feet.