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Chiarenza AA, Cantalapiedra JL, Jones LA, Gamboa S, Galván S, Farnsworth AJ, Valdes PJ, Sotelo G, Varela S. Early Jurassic origin of avian endothermy and thermophysiological diversity in dinosaurs. Curr Biol 2024; 34:2517-2527.e4. [PMID: 38754424 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.04.051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2024] [Revised: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
A fundamental question in dinosaur evolution is how they adapted to long-term climatic shifts during the Mesozoic and when they developed environmentally independent, avian-style acclimatization, becoming endothermic.1,2 The ability of warm-blooded dinosaurs to flourish in harsher environments, including cold, high-latitude regions,3,4 raises intriguing questions about the origins of key innovations shared with modern birds,5,6 indicating that the development of homeothermy (keeping constant body temperature) and endothermy (generating body heat) played a crucial role in their ecological diversification.7 Despite substantial evidence across scientific disciplines (anatomy,8 reproduction,9 energetics,10 biomechanics,10 osteohistology,11 palaeobiogeography,12 geochemistry,13,14 and soft tissues15,16,17), a consensus on dinosaur thermophysiology remains elusive.1,12,15,17,18,19 Differential thermophysiological strategies among terrestrial tetrapods allow endotherms (birds and mammals) to expand their latitudinal range (from the tropics to polar regions), owing to their reduced reliance on environmental temperature.20 By contrast, most reptilian lineages (squamates, turtles, and crocodilians) and amphibians are predominantly constrained by temperature in regions closer to the tropics.21 Determining when this macroecological pattern emerged in the avian lineage relies heavily on identifying the origin of these key physiological traits. Combining fossils with macroevolutionary and palaeoclimatic models, we unveil distinct evolutionary pathways in the main dinosaur lineages: ornithischians and theropods diversified across broader climatic landscapes, trending toward cooler niches. An Early Jurassic shift to colder climates in Theropoda suggests an early adoption of endothermy. Conversely, sauropodomorphs exhibited prolonged climatic conservatism associated with higher thermal conditions, emphasizing temperature, rather than plant productivity, as the primary driver of this pattern, suggesting poikilothermy with a stronger dependence on higher temperatures in sauropods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfio Alessandro Chiarenza
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Universidade de Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Spain; Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Place, London WC1E 6BS, UK.
| | - Juan L Cantalapiedra
- Departamento de Paleobiología, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain; GloCEE Global Change Ecology and Evolution Research Group, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Spain; Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invdralidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Lewis A Jones
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Universidade de Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Spain
| | - Sara Gamboa
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Universidade de Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Spain; Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Av. Séneca 2, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Sofía Galván
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Universidade de Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Spain
| | - Alexander J Farnsworth
- School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, University Road, Bristol BS8 1SS, UK; State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Paul J Valdes
- School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, University Road, Bristol BS8 1SS, UK; State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Graciela Sotelo
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Universidade de Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Spain
| | - Sara Varela
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Universidade de Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Spain
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2
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Notley SR, Mitchell D, Taylor NAS. A century of exercise physiology: concepts that ignited the study of human thermoregulation. Part 4: evolution, thermal adaptation and unsupported theories of thermoregulation. Eur J Appl Physiol 2024; 124:147-218. [PMID: 37796290 DOI: 10.1007/s00421-023-05262-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 10/06/2023]
Abstract
This review is the final contribution to a four-part, historical series on human exercise physiology in thermally stressful conditions. The series opened with reminders of the principles governing heat exchange and an overview of our contemporary understanding of thermoregulation (Part 1). We then reviewed the development of physiological measurements (Part 2) used to reveal the autonomic processes at work during heat and cold stresses. Next, we re-examined thermal-stress tolerance and intolerance, and critiqued the indices of thermal stress and strain (Part 3). Herein, we describe the evolutionary steps that endowed humans with a unique potential to tolerate endurance activity in the heat, and we examine how those attributes can be enhanced during thermal adaptation. The first of our ancestors to qualify as an athlete was Homo erectus, who were hairless, sweating specialists with eccrine sweat glands covering almost their entire body surface. Homo sapiens were skilful behavioural thermoregulators, which preserved their resource-wasteful, autonomic thermoeffectors (shivering and sweating) for more stressful encounters. Following emigration, they regularly experienced heat and cold stress, to which they acclimatised and developed less powerful (habituated) effector responses when those stresses were re-encountered. We critique hypotheses that linked thermoregulatory differences to ancestry. By exploring short-term heat and cold acclimation, we reveal sweat hypersecretion and powerful shivering to be protective, transitional stages en route to more complete thermal adaptation (habituation). To conclude this historical series, we examine some of the concepts and hypotheses of thermoregulation during exercise that did not withstand the tests of time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean R Notley
- Defence Science and Technology Group, Department of Defence, Melbourne, Australia
- School of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
| | - Duncan Mitchell
- Brain Function Research Group, School of Physiology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- School of Human Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia
| | - Nigel A S Taylor
- Research Institute of Human Ecology, College of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
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3
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Ng D, Pawling J, Dennis JW. Gene purging and the evolution of Neoave metabolism and longevity. J Biol Chem 2023; 299:105409. [PMID: 37918802 PMCID: PMC10722388 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.105409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Revised: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Maintenance of the proteasome requires oxidative phosphorylation (ATP) and mitigation of oxidative damage, in an increasingly dysfunctional relationship with aging. SLC3A2 plays a role on both sides of this dichotomy as an adaptor to SLC7A5, a transporter of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA: Leu, Ile, Val), and to SLC7A11, a cystine importer supplying cysteine to the synthesis of the antioxidant glutathione. Endurance in mammalian muscle depends in part on oxidation of BCAA; however, elevated serum levels are associated with insulin resistance and shortened lifespans. Intriguingly, the evolution of modern birds (Neoaves) has entailed the purging of genes including SLC3A2, SLC7A5, -7, -8, -10, and SLC1A4, -5, largely removing BCAA exchangers and their interacting Na+/Gln symporters in pursuit of improved energetics. Additional gene purging included mitochondrial BCAA aminotransferase (BCAT2), pointing to reduced oxidation of BCAA and increased hepatic conversion to triglycerides and glucose. Fat deposits are anhydrous and highly reduced, maximizing the fuel/weight ratio for prolonged flight, but fat accumulation in muscle cells of aging humans contributes to inflammation and senescence. Duplications of the bidirectional α-ketoacid transporters SLC16A3, SLC16A7, the cystine transporters SLC7A9, SLC7A11, and N-glycan branching enzymes MGAT4B, MGAT4C in Neoaves suggests a shift to the transport of deaminated essential amino acid, and stronger mitigation of oxidative stress supported by the galectin lattice. We suggest that Alfred Lotka's theory of natural selection as a maximum power organizer (PNAS 8:151,1922) made an unusually large contribution to Neoave evolution. Further molecular analysis of Neoaves may reveal novel rewiring with applications for human health and longevity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deanna Ng
- Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Judy Pawling
- Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - James W Dennis
- Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto Ontario, Canada.
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4
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Zeiträg C, Reber SA, Osvath M. Gaze following in Archosauria-Alligators and palaeognath birds suggest dinosaur origin of visual perspective taking. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadf0405. [PMID: 37205749 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adf0405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Taking someone else's visual perspective marks an evolutionary shift in the formation of advanced social cognition. It enables using others' attention to discover otherwise hidden aspects of the surroundings and is foundational for human communication and understanding of others. Visual perspective taking has also been found in some other primates, a few songbirds, and some canids. However, despite its essential role for social cognition, visual perspective taking has only been fragmentedly studied in animals, leaving its evolution and origins uncharted. To begin to narrow this knowledge gap, we investigated extant archosaurs by comparing the neurocognitively least derived extant birds-palaeognaths-with the closest living relatives of birds, the crocodylians. In a gaze following paradigm, we showed that palaeognaths engage in visual perspective taking and grasp the referentiality of gazes, while crocodylians do not. This suggests that visual perspective taking originated in early birds or nonavian dinosaurs-likely earlier than in mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Zeiträg
- Department of Philosophy and Cognitive Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Stephan A Reber
- Department of Philosophy and Cognitive Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Mathias Osvath
- Department of Philosophy and Cognitive Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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5
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Tagliavento M, Davies AJ, Bernecker M, Staudigel PT, Dawson RR, Dietzel M, Götschl K, Guo W, Schulp AS, Therrien F, Zelenitsky DK, Gerdes A, Müller W, Fiebig J. Evidence for heterothermic endothermy and reptile-like eggshell mineralization in Troodon, a non-avian maniraptoran theropod. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2213987120. [PMID: 37011196 PMCID: PMC10104568 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2213987120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The dinosaur-bird transition involved several anatomical, biomechanical, and physiological modifications of the theropod bauplan. Non-avian maniraptoran theropods, such as Troodon, are key to better understand changes in thermophysiology and reproduction occurring during this transition. Here, we applied dual clumped isotope (Δ47 and Δ48) thermometry, a technique that resolves mineralization temperature and other nonthermal information recorded in carbonates, to eggshells from Troodon, modern reptiles, and modern birds. Troodon eggshells show variable temperatures, namely 42 and 29 ± 2 °C, supporting the hypothesis of an endothermic thermophysiology with a heterothermic strategy for this extinct taxon. Dual clumped isotope data also reveal physiological differences in the reproductive systems between Troodon, reptiles, and birds. Troodon and modern reptiles mineralize their eggshells indistinguishable from dual clumped isotope equilibrium, while birds precipitate eggshells characterized by a positive disequilibrium offset in Δ48. Analyses of inorganic calcites suggest that the observed disequilibrium pattern in birds is linked to an amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) precursor, a carbonate phase known to accelerate eggshell formation in birds. Lack of disequilibrium patterns in reptile and Troodon eggshells implies these vertebrates had not acquired the fast, ACC-based eggshell calcification process characteristic of birds. Observation that Troodon retained a slow reptile-like calcification suggests that it possessed two functional ovaries and was limited in the number of eggs it could produce; thus its large clutches would have been laid by several females. Dual clumped isotope analysis of eggshells of extinct vertebrates sheds light on physiological information otherwise inaccessible in the fossil record.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mattia Tagliavento
- Institute of Geosciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main60438, Germany
| | - Amelia J. Davies
- Institute of Geosciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main60438, Germany
| | - Miguel Bernecker
- Institute of Geosciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main60438, Germany
| | - Philip T. Staudigel
- Institute of Geosciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main60438, Germany
| | - Robin R. Dawson
- Department of Earth, Geographic and Climate Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA01003
| | - Martin Dietzel
- Institute of Applied Geosciences, Graz University of Technology,8010Graz, Austria
| | - Katja Götschl
- Institute of Applied Geosciences, Graz University of Technology,8010Graz, Austria
| | - Weifu Guo
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA02543
| | - Anne S. Schulp
- Vertebrate Evolution and Development, Naturalis Biodiversity Center,2333CRLeiden, the Netherlands
- Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Universiteit Utrecht,3584 CBUtrecht, the Netherlands
| | | | | | - Axel Gerdes
- Institute of Geosciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main60438, Germany
- Frankfurt Isotope and Element Research Center, Institute of Geosciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main60438, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Müller
- Institute of Geosciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main60438, Germany
- Frankfurt Isotope and Element Research Center, Institute of Geosciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main60438, Germany
| | - Jens Fiebig
- Institute of Geosciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main60438, Germany
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6
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Ji Y, Feng S, Wu L, Fang Q, Brüniche-Olsen A, DeWoody JA, Cheng Y, Zhang D, Hao Y, Song G, Qu Y, Suh A, Zhang G, Hackett SJ, Lei F. Orthologous microsatellites, transposable elements, and DNA deletions correlate with generation time and body mass in neoavian birds. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabo0099. [PMID: 36044583 PMCID: PMC9432842 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo0099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2022] [Accepted: 07/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The rate of mutation accumulation in germline cells can be affected by cell replication and/or DNA damage, which are further related to life history traits such as generation time and body mass. Leveraging the existing datasets of 233 neoavian bird species, here, we investigated whether generation time and body mass contribute to the interspecific variation of orthologous microsatellite length, transposable element (TE) length, and deletion length and how these genomic attributes affect genome sizes. In nonpasserines, we found that generation time is correlated to both orthologous microsatellite length and TE length, and body mass is negatively correlated to DNA deletions. These patterns are less pronounced in passerines. In all species, we found that DNA deletions relate to genome size similarly as TE length, suggesting a role of body mass dynamics in genome evolution. Our results indicate that generation time and body mass shape the evolution of genomic attributes in neoavian birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanzhu Ji
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL 60605, USA
| | - Shaohong Feng
- BGI-Shenzhen, Beishan Industrial Zone, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Future Health Laboratory, Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang University, Jiaxing 314100, China
- Evolutionary and Organismal Biology Research Center, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Lei Wu
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Qi Fang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Beishan Industrial Zone, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Villum Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen DK-2200, Denmark
| | - Anna Brüniche-Olsen
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen DK-2200, Denmark
| | - J. Andrew DeWoody
- Departments of Forestry and Natural Resources and Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47906, USA
| | - Yalin Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Dezhi Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Yan Hao
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Gang Song
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Yanhua Qu
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Alexander Suh
- School of Biological Sciences, Organism and Environment, University of East Anglia, NR4 7TU, Norwich, UK
- Department of Organismal Biology, Systematic Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre (EBC), Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala SE-752 36, Sweden
| | - Guojie Zhang
- Future Health Laboratory, Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang University, Jiaxing 314100, China
- Evolutionary and Organismal Biology Research Center, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Liangzhu Laboratory, Zhejiang University Medical Center, Hangzhou 311121, China
- Villum Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen DK-2200, Denmark
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China
- Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, 310006, China
| | - Shannon J. Hackett
- Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL 60605, USA
| | - Fumin Lei
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
- Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China
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7
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Wiemann J, Menéndez I, Crawford JM, Fabbri M, Gauthier JA, Hull PM, Norell MA, Briggs DEG. Fossil biomolecules reveal an avian metabolism in the ancestral dinosaur. Nature 2022; 606:522-526. [PMID: 35614213 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04770-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2020] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Birds and mammals independently evolved the highest metabolic rates among living animals1. Their metabolism generates heat that enables active thermoregulation1, shaping the ecological niches they can occupy and their adaptability to environmental change2. The metabolic performance of birds, which exceeds that of mammals, is thought to have evolved along their stem lineage3-10. However, there is no proxy that enables the direct reconstruction of metabolic rates from fossils. Here we use in situ Raman and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy to quantify the in vivo accumulation of metabolic lipoxidation signals in modern and fossil amniote bones. We observe no correlation between atmospheric oxygen concentrations11 and metabolic rates. Inferred ancestral states reveal that the metabolic rates consistent with endothermy evolved independently in mammals and plesiosaurs, and are ancestral to ornithodirans, with increasing rates along the avian lineage. High metabolic rates were acquired in pterosaurs, ornithischians, sauropods and theropods well before the advent of energetically costly adaptations, such as flight in birds. Although they had higher metabolic rates ancestrally, ornithischians reduced their metabolic abilities towards ectothermy. The physiological activities of such ectotherms were dependent on environmental and behavioural thermoregulation12, in contrast to the active lifestyles of endotherms1. Giant sauropods and theropods were not gigantothermic9,10, but true endotherms. Endothermy in many Late Cretaceous taxa, in addition to crown mammals and birds, suggests that attributes other than metabolism determined their fate during the terminal Cretaceous mass extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jasmina Wiemann
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
- Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Iris Menéndez
- Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Departamento de Cambio Medioambiental, Instituto de Geociencias (UCM, CSIC), Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Matteo Fabbri
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Jacques A Gauthier
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Pincelli M Hull
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Mark A Norell
- Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
| | - Derek E G Briggs
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
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8
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Lezama-García K, Mota-Rojas D, Martínez-Burnes J, Villanueva-García D, Domínguez-Oliva A, Gómez-Prado J, Mora-Medina P, Casas-Alvarado A, Olmos-Hernández A, Soto P, Muns R. Strategies for Hypothermia Compensation in Altricial and Precocial Newborn Mammals and Their Monitoring by Infrared Thermography. Vet Sci 2022; 9:vetsci9050246. [PMID: 35622774 PMCID: PMC9145389 DOI: 10.3390/vetsci9050246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2022] [Revised: 05/18/2022] [Accepted: 05/18/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Thermoregulation in newborn mammals is an essential species-specific mechanism of the nervous system that contributes to their survival during the first hours and days of their life. When exposed to cold weather, which is a risk factor associated with mortality in neonates, pathways such as the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA) are activated to achieve temperature control, increasing the circulating levels of catecholamine and cortisol. Consequently, alterations in blood circulation and mechanisms to produce or to retain heat (e.g., vasoconstriction, piloerection, shivering, brown adipocyte tissue activation, and huddling) begin to prevent hypothermia. This study aimed to discuss the mechanisms of thermoregulation in newborn domestic mammals, highlighting the differences between altricial and precocial species. The processes that employ brown adipocyte tissue, shivering, thermoregulatory behaviors, and dermal vasomotor control will be analyzed to understand the physiology and the importance of implementing techniques to promote thermoregulation and survival in the critical post-birth period of mammals. Also, infrared thermography as a helpful method to perform thermal measurements without animal interactions does not affect these parameters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karina Lezama-García
- PhD Program in Biological and Health Sciences [Doctorado en Ciencias Biológicas y de la Salud], Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City 04960, Mexico;
| | - Daniel Mota-Rojas
- Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, DPAA, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City 04960, Mexico; (A.D.-O.); (J.G.-P.); (A.C.-A.); (P.S.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Julio Martínez-Burnes
- Animal Health Group, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Victoria City 87000, Tamaulipas, Mexico;
| | - Dina Villanueva-García
- Division of Neonatology, National Institute of Health, Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez, Doctor Márquez 162, Mexico City 06720, Mexico;
| | - Adriana Domínguez-Oliva
- Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, DPAA, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City 04960, Mexico; (A.D.-O.); (J.G.-P.); (A.C.-A.); (P.S.)
| | - Jocelyn Gómez-Prado
- Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, DPAA, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City 04960, Mexico; (A.D.-O.); (J.G.-P.); (A.C.-A.); (P.S.)
| | - Patricia Mora-Medina
- Department of Livestock Science, FESC, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Cuautitlán Izcalli 54714, Mexico;
| | - Alejandro Casas-Alvarado
- Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, DPAA, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City 04960, Mexico; (A.D.-O.); (J.G.-P.); (A.C.-A.); (P.S.)
| | - Adriana Olmos-Hernández
- Division of Biotechnology—Bioterio and Experimental Surgery, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación-Luis Guillermo Ibarra Ibarra (INR-LGII), Mexico City 14389, Mexico;
| | - Paola Soto
- Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, DPAA, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City 04960, Mexico; (A.D.-O.); (J.G.-P.); (A.C.-A.); (P.S.)
| | - Ramon Muns
- Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Livestock Production Sciences Unit, Hillsborough BT26 6DR, Northern Ireland, UK;
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9
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Junker RR, Albrecht J, Becker M, Keuth R, Farwig N, Schleuning M. Towards an animal economics spectrum for ecosystem research. Funct Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Robert R. Junker
- Evolutionary Ecology of Plants Department of Biology University of Marburg 35043 Marburg Germany
- Department of Environment and Biodiversity University of Salzburg 5020 Salzburg Austria
| | - Jörg Albrecht
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK‐F) Senckenberganlage 25 60325 Frankfurt am Main Germany
| | - Marcel Becker
- Conservation Ecology Department of Biology University of Marburg 35043 Marburg Germany
| | - Raya Keuth
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK‐F) Senckenberganlage 25 60325 Frankfurt am Main Germany
| | - Nina Farwig
- Conservation Ecology Department of Biology University of Marburg 35043 Marburg Germany
| | - Matthias Schleuning
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK‐F) Senckenberganlage 25 60325 Frankfurt am Main Germany
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10
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Grigg G, Nowack J, Bicudo JEPW, Bal NC, Woodward HN, Seymour RS. Whole-body endothermy: ancient, homologous and widespread among the ancestors of mammals, birds and crocodylians. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2021; 97:766-801. [PMID: 34894040 PMCID: PMC9300183 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Revised: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
The whole‐body (tachymetabolic) endothermy seen in modern birds and mammals is long held to have evolved independently in each group, a reasonable assumption when it was believed that its earliest appearances in birds and mammals arose many millions of years apart. That assumption is consistent with current acceptance that the non‐shivering thermogenesis (NST) component of regulatory body heat originates differently in each group: from skeletal muscle in birds and from brown adipose tissue (BAT) in mammals. However, BAT is absent in monotremes, marsupials, and many eutherians, all whole‐body endotherms. Indeed, recent research implies that BAT‐driven NST originated more recently and that the biochemical processes driving muscle NST in birds, many modern mammals and the ancestors of both may be similar, deriving from controlled ‘slippage’ of Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+‐ATPase (SERCA) in skeletal muscle, similar to a process seen in some fishes. This similarity prompted our realisation that the capacity for whole‐body endothermy could even have pre‐dated the divergence of Amniota into Synapsida and Sauropsida, leading us to hypothesise the homology of whole‐body endothermy in birds and mammals, in contrast to the current assumption of their independent (convergent) evolution. To explore the extent of similarity between muscle NST in mammals and birds we undertook a detailed review of these processes and their control in each group. We found considerable but not complete similarity between them: in extant mammals the ‘slippage’ is controlled by the protein sarcolipin (SLN), in birds the SLN is slightly different structurally and its role in NST is not yet proved. However, considering the multi‐millions of years since the separation of synapsids and diapsids, we consider that the similarity between NST production in birds and mammals is consistent with their whole‐body endothermy being homologous. If so, we should expect to find evidence for it much earlier and more widespread among extinct amniotes than is currently recognised. Accordingly, we conducted an extensive survey of the palaeontological literature using established proxies. Fossil bone histology reveals evidence of sustained rapid growth rates indicating tachymetabolism. Large body size and erect stature indicate high systemic arterial blood pressures and four‐chambered hearts, characteristic of tachymetabolism. Large nutrient foramina in long bones are indicative of high bone perfusion for rapid somatic growth and for repair of microfractures caused by intense locomotion. Obligate bipedality appeared early and only in whole‐body endotherms. Isotopic profiles of fossil material indicate endothermic levels of body temperature. These proxies led us to compelling evidence for the widespread occurrence of whole‐body endothermy among numerous extinct synapsids and sauropsids, and very early in each clade's family tree. These results are consistent with and support our hypothesis that tachymetabolic endothermy is plesiomorphic in Amniota. A hypothetical structure for the heart of the earliest endothermic amniotes is proposed. We conclude that there is strong evidence for whole‐body endothermy being ancient and widespread among amniotes and that the similarity of biochemical processes driving muscle NST in extant birds and mammals strengthens the case for its plesiomorphy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gordon Grigg
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Julia Nowack
- School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, James Parsons Building, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, U.K
| | | | | | - Holly N Woodward
- Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, OK, 74107, U.S.A
| | - Roger S Seymour
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia
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11
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Galván I, Schwartz TS, Garland T. Evolutionary physiology at 30+: Has the promise been fulfilled?: Advances in Evolutionary Physiology: Advances in Evolutionary Physiology. Bioessays 2021; 44:e2100167. [PMID: 34802161 DOI: 10.1002/bies.202100167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2021] [Revised: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Three decades ago, interactions between evolutionary biology and physiology gave rise to evolutionary physiology. This caused comparative physiologists to improve their research methods by incorporating evolutionary thinking. Simultaneously, evolutionary biologists began focusing more on physiological mechanisms that may help to explain constraints on and trade-offs during microevolutionary processes, as well as macroevolutionary patterns in physiological diversity. Here we argue that evolutionary physiology has yet to reach its full potential, and propose new avenues that may lead to unexpected advances. Viewing physiological adaptations in wild animals as potential solutions to human diseases offers enormous possibilities for biomedicine. New evidence of epigenetic modifications as mechanisms of phenotypic plasticity that regulate physiological traits may also arise in coming years, which may also represent an overlooked enhancer of adaptation via natural selection to explain physiological evolution. Synergistic interactions at these intersections and other areas will lead to a novel understanding of organismal biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ismael Galván
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, National Museum of Natural Sciences, CSIC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Tonia S Schwartz
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA
| | - Theodore Garland
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
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12
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Satoh T. Bird evolution by insulin resistance. Trends Endocrinol Metab 2021; 32:803-813. [PMID: 34446347 DOI: 10.1016/j.tem.2021.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Revised: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Drift of oxygen concentrations in the atmosphere was one of the main drivers of the evolution of vertebrates. The drop in oxygen concentrations at the Permian-Triassic (PT) boundary may have been the biggest challenge to vertebrates. This hypoxic condition forced theropods to lose certain genes to maximize their efficiency of oxygen usage. Recent studies show that omentin and insulin-sensitive glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) are missing in the bird genome. Since these gene products play essential roles in maintaining insulin sensitivity, this loss forced theropods to become insulin resistant. Insulin resistance may have been the key to allowing theropods to become hyperathletic under hypoxic conditions and to outcompete mammals during the Triassic period. A second challenge was the gradual increase in oxygen concentrations during the late Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary periods when reactive oxygen species (ROS) leakage from mitochondria became a problem. Since the simplest solution was the expansion of body size, some theropods became bigger to reduce ROS leakage per volume. Another solution was the development of a constitutively active countermeasure against ROS. A recent study shows that Neoaves have constitutively active nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) due to deletion of the C-terminal part of the KEAP1 protein, thus allowing Neoaves to express antioxidant enzymes to overcome ROS leakage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takumi Satoh
- Department of Anti-Aging Food Research, School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo University of Technology, 1404-1 Katakura, Hachioji 192-0982, Japan.
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13
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Wu B, Feng C, Zhu C, Xu W, Yuan Y, Hu M, Yuan K, Li Y, Ren Y, Zhou Y, Jiang H, Qiu Q, Wang W, He S, Wang K. The Genomes of Two Billfishes Provide Insights into the Evolution of Endothermy in Teleosts. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:2413-2427. [PMID: 33533895 PMCID: PMC8136490 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Endothermy is a typical convergent phenomenon which has evolved independently at least eight times in vertebrates, and is of significant advantage to organisms in extending their niches. However, how vertebrates other than mammals or birds, especially teleosts, achieve endothermy has not previously been fully understood. In this study, we sequenced the genomes of two billfishes (swordfish and sailfish), members of a representative lineage of endothermic teleosts. Convergent amino acid replacements were observed in proteins related to heat production and the visual system in two endothermic teleost lineages, billfishes and tunas. The billfish-specific genetic innovations were found to be associated with heat exchange, thermoregulation, and the specialized morphology, including elongated bill, enlarged dorsal fin in sailfish and loss of the pelvic fin in swordfish.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baosheng Wu
- Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Chenguang Feng
- School for Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China.,The Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Chenglong Zhu
- School for Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Wenjie Xu
- School for Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Yuan Yuan
- School for Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Mingliang Hu
- School for Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Ke Yuan
- School for Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Yongxin Li
- School for Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Yandong Ren
- School for Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Yang Zhou
- Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Haifeng Jiang
- The Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Qiang Qiu
- School for Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Wen Wang
- School for Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Shunping He
- Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, China.,School for Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Kun Wang
- School for Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China
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14
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Qin Z, Zhao Q, Choiniere JN, Clark JM, Benton MJ, Xu X. Growth and miniaturization among alvarezsauroid dinosaurs. Curr Biol 2021; 31:3687-3693.e5. [PMID: 34233160 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.06.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2021] [Revised: 04/06/2021] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Sustained miniaturization, here defined as a drop in body size of at least two orders of magnitude from ancestors to descendants, is a widespread and important phenomenon in animals,1-3 but among dinosaurs, miniaturization occurred only rarely, once in the lineage leading to birds and once in the Alvarezsauroidea,1,3-5 one of the most bizarre theropod groups.1,5-7 Miniaturization and powered flight are intimately linked in avialan theropods,3,5,6,8-11 but the causes and patterns of body size reduction are less clear in the non-volant Alvarezsauroidea.1,5,6,12,13 Here, we present results from analyses on a comprehensive dataset, which not only includes new data from early-branching alvarezsauroids but also considers the ontogenetic effect based on histological data. Our analyses show that alvarezsauroid body mass underwent rapid miniaturization from around 110 to 85 mya and that there was a phylogenetic radiation of small-sized alvarezsauroids in the Late Cretaceous. Our analyses also indicate that growth strategies were highly variable among alvarezsauroids, with significant differences among extremely small taxa. The suggested alvarezsauroid miniaturization and associated phylogenetic radiation are coincident with the emergence of ants and termites, and combining previous functional morphological data, our study suggests that alvarezsauroid miniaturization might have been driven by ecological changes during the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution, more specifically by a shift to the myrmecophagous ecological niche.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zichuan Qin
- School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Qi Zhao
- Key Laboratory for the Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China; CAS Center of Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing 100044, China
| | - Jonah N Choiniere
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - James M Clark
- Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Xing Xu
- Key Laboratory for the Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China; CAS Center of Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing 100044, China.
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15
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Condamine FL, Guinot G, Benton MJ, Currie PJ. Dinosaur biodiversity declined well before the asteroid impact, influenced by ecological and environmental pressures. Nat Commun 2021; 12:3833. [PMID: 34188028 PMCID: PMC8242047 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23754-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2019] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The question why non-avian dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago (Ma) remains unresolved because of the coarseness of the fossil record. A sudden extinction caused by an asteroid is the most accepted hypothesis but it is debated whether dinosaurs were in decline or not before the impact. We analyse the speciation-extinction dynamics for six key dinosaur families, and find a decline across dinosaurs, where diversification shifted to a declining-diversity pattern ~76 Ma. We investigate the influence of ecological and physical factors, and find that the decline of dinosaurs was likely driven by global climate cooling and herbivorous diversity drop. The latter is likely due to hadrosaurs outcompeting other herbivores. We also estimate that extinction risk is related to species age during the decline, suggesting a lack of evolutionary novelty or adaptation to changing environments. These results support an environmentally driven decline of non-avian dinosaurs well before the asteroid impact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabien L Condamine
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (Université de Montpellier | CNRS|IRD|EPHE), Montpellier, France.
| | - Guillaume Guinot
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (Université de Montpellier | CNRS|IRD|EPHE), Montpellier, France
| | - Michael J Benton
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Philip J Currie
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
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16
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Wu Y. Molecular phyloecology suggests a trophic shift concurrent with the evolution of the first birds. Commun Biol 2021; 4:547. [PMID: 33986452 PMCID: PMC8119460 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02067-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2020] [Accepted: 03/31/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Birds are characterized by evolutionary specializations of both locomotion (e.g., flapping flight) and digestive system (toothless, crop, and gizzard), while the potential selection pressures responsible for these evolutionary specializations remain unclear. Here we used a recently developed molecular phyloecological method to reconstruct the diets of the ancestral archosaur and of the common ancestor of living birds (CALB). Our results suggest a trophic shift from carnivory to herbivory (fruit, seed, and/or nut eater) at the archosaur-to-bird transition. The evolutionary shift of the CALB to herbivory may have essentially made them become a low-level consumer and, consequently, subject to relatively high predation risk from potential predators such as gliding non-avian maniraptorans, from which birds descended. Under the relatively high predation pressure, ancestral birds with gliding capability may have then evolved not only flapping flight as a possible anti-predator strategy against gliding predatory non-avian maniraptorans but also the specialized digestive system as an evolutionary tradeoff of maximizing foraging efficiency and minimizing predation risk. Our results suggest that the powered flight and specialized digestive system of birds may have evolved as a result of their tropic shift-associated predation pressure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yonghua Wu
- School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
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17
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Legendre LJ, Clarke JA. Shifts in eggshell thickness are related to changes in locomotor ecology in dinosaurs. Evolution 2021; 75:1415-1430. [PMID: 33913155 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2020] [Revised: 03/13/2021] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Birds share an array of unique characteristics among extant land vertebrates. Among these, external and microstructural characteristics of extant bird eggs have been linked to changes in reproductive strategy that arose among non-avian theropod dinosaurs. More recently, differences in egg proportions recovered in crown birds relative to other dinosaurs were suggested as possibly linked to avian flight, but dense sampling close to its proposed origin was lacking. Here we assess the evolution of eggshell thickness in a targeted sample of 114 dinosaurs including birds, and test the relationship of eggshell thickness with potential life history correlates and locomotor mode using phylogenetic comparative methods. Only egg mass and flight are identified as significant predictors of eggshell thickness. While a high correlation between egg mass and eggshell thickness is expected, that relationship is much stronger in flying taxa, which show a significantly higher slope and lower residual variance than flightless species. This suggests stabilizing selection of eggshell thickness among theropods, as recovered for other traits in extant birds (e.g. genome size, metabolic rate). Within living birds, Eufalconimorphae present an apomorphic increase in relative eggshell thickness which remains unexplained, as few morphological synapomorphies of this clade have been identified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas J Legendre
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Julia A Clarke
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
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18
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Bastos B, Pradhan N, Tarroso P, Brito JC, Boratyński Z. Environmental determinants of minimum body temperature in mammals. JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE BIOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.25225/jvb.21004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bárbara Bastos
- CIBIO/InBIO, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto, Vairão, Portugal; e-mail: , , , ,
| | - Nelish Pradhan
- CIBIO/InBIO, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto, Vairão, Portugal; e-mail: , , , ,
| | - Pedro Tarroso
- CIBIO/InBIO, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto, Vairão, Portugal; e-mail: , , , ,
| | - José C. Brito
- CIBIO/InBIO, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto, Vairão, Portugal; e-mail: , , , ,
| | - Zbyszek Boratyński
- CIBIO/InBIO, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto, Vairão, Portugal; e-mail: , , , ,
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19
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Botha J. The paleobiology and paleoecology of South African Lystrosaurus. PeerJ 2020; 8:e10408. [PMID: 33282563 PMCID: PMC7694564 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.10408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2020] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Lystrosaurus was one of the few tetrapods to survive the end-Permian mass extinction (EPME), the most catastrophic biotic crisis in Phanerozoic history. The significant increased abundance of this genus during the post-extinction Early Triassic recovery period has made Lystrosaurus an iconic survivor taxon globally and ideal for studying changes in growth dynamics during a mass extinction. There is potential evidence of a Lilliput effect in Lystrosaurus in South Africa as the two Triassic species that became highly abundant after the EPME are relatively smaller than the two Permian species. In order to test this hypothesis a detailed examination of the body size and life history of Permo-Triassic Lystrosaurus is required. In this study, the basal skull length and growth patterns of the four South African Lystrosaurus species from the Karoo Basin, L. maccaigi, L. curvatus, L. murrayi and L. declivis, were examined using cranial measurements and bone histology. The basal skull length measurements show that the Triassic species are smaller than the Permian species and supports previous studies. The osteohistology examination of all four species reveal rapidly forming fibrolamellar bone tissues during early to mid-ontogeny. Growth marks are common in L. maccaigi and L. curvatus, but rare and inconsistent in the purely Triassic L. murrayi and L. declivis. The inconsistency of the growth marks in these latter two taxa suggests the presence of developmental plasticity. This feature may have been advantageous in allowing these species to alter their growth patterns in response to environmental cues in the post-extinction Early Triassic climate. An overall transition to slower forming parallel-fibered bone is observed in the largest individuals of L. maccaigi, but absent from the limb bones of the other species. The absence of such bone tissue or outer circumferential lamellae in L. curvatus, L. murrayi and L. declivis indicates that even the largest collected specimens do not represent fully grown individuals. Although L. murrayi and L. declivis are smaller in size, the lack of a growth asymptote in the largest specimens indicates that adult individuals would have been notably larger and may have been similar in size to large L. maccaigi and L. curvatus when fully grown. Thus, the previously described Lilliput effect, recognized by some authors in the Karoo fossil record (such as the therocephalian Moschorhinus kitchingi), may be a product of high juvenile excess mortality in the Triassic rather than a strict "dwarfing" of Lystrosaurus species. The lifestyle of Lystrosaurus was also re-examined. Although previous studies have proposed an aquatic lifestyle for the genus, the similar morphology and bone microanatomy to several other large terrestrial Permo-Triassic dicynodonts supports a fully terrestrial mode of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Botha
- Department of Karoo Palaeontology, National Museum, Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa.,Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa
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20
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Auer SK, Solowey JR, Rajesh S, Rezende EL. Energetic mechanisms for coping with changes in resource availability. Biol Lett 2020; 16:20200580. [PMID: 33142086 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Given current anthropogenic alterations to many ecosystems and communities, it is becoming increasingly important to consider whether and how organisms can cope with changing resources. Metabolic rate, because it represents the rate of energy expenditure, may play a key role in mediating the link between resource conditions and performance and thereby how well organisms can persist in the face of environmental change. Here, we focus on the role that energy metabolism plays in determining organismal responses to changes in food availability over both short-term ecological and longer-term evolutionary timescales. Using a meta-analytical approach encompassing multiple species, we find that individuals with a higher metabolic rate grow faster under high food levels but slower once food levels decline, suggesting that the association between metabolism and life-history traits shifts along resource gradients. We also find that organisms can cope with changing resource availability through both phenotypic plasticity and genetically based evolutionary adaptation in their rates of energy metabolism. However, the metabolic rates of individuals within a population and of species within a lineage do not all respond in the same manner to changes in food availability. This diversity of responses suggests that there are benefits but also costs to changes in metabolic rate. It also underscores the need to examine not just the energy budgets of organisms within the context of metabolic rate but also how energy metabolism changes alongside other physiological and behavioural traits in variable environments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Enrico L Rezende
- Departamento de Ecología, Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 6513677, Chile
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