Commenters reacted to a New York Times claim that T. rex had a body temperature of 97 degrees, with several noting unit confusion: mepian said they misread it as Celsius, while others (and a few replies) pointed out the article never explicitly said Fahrenheit. micromacrofoot and others summarized the study’s approach - UCLA researchers using geochemical analysis of fossilized teeth (including the specimen “Thomas”) and linking that to earlier CT and geochemistry work - arguing the result fits a longer shift toward seeing dinosaurs as warm‑blooded and drawing parallels to birds. Some commenters suggested smaller theropods like raptors could have had even higher temperatures, and a few proposed larger dinosaurs might differ as well.
Opposing views questioned interpretation and implications: laweijfmvo asked how researchers separate body temperature from ambient temperature, pixl97 wondered what environment stays at a constant 97 degrees, and bthrn invoked biological common sense about fevers to argue against extreme readings. Others, including globular-toast and BugsJustFindMe, made terse points that 97°F is only slightly cooler than humans and that the unit choice matters. Overall the exchange split between those treating the geochemical evidence as convincing context for warm‑blooded dinosaurs and those urging caution about units, environmental confounds, and overinterpretation.
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