Heat loss from giant extinct reptiles.

Abstract

There is disagreement in the literature about the relative rates of heat loss from a large animal surrounded by either air or water. Here, it is shown that, in most circumstances, the rate at which heat is lost by a large body is significantly greater when it is immersed in water than when it is surrounded by air, assuming that the two fluids are at the same temperature. The only circumstance when this may not apply is when comparing air with fresh water when both are at a temperature somewhere between 0 degrees C and 6 degrees C, the animal is still and water or air currents are negligible. Under these conditions, free convection in water is weak or non-existent, and so the combined effect of conduction and free convection in air becomes comparable to or even greater than that of conduction alone in water. However, in these circumstances, radiation is the dominant mode of heat loss to both media, and so heat losses are approximately the same in both air and water.