1
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Wilson LN, Gardner JD, Wilson JP, Farnsworth A, Perry ZR, Druckenmiller PS, Erickson GM, Organ CL. Global latitudinal gradients and the evolution of body size in dinosaurs and mammals. Nat Commun 2024; 15:2864. [PMID: 38580657 PMCID: PMC10997647 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46843-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2024] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Global climate patterns fundamentally shape the distribution of species and ecosystems. For example, Bergmann's rule predicts that homeothermic animals, including birds and mammals, inhabiting cooler climates are generally larger than close relatives from warmer climates. The modern world, however, lacks the comparative data needed to evaluate such macroecological rules rigorously. Here, we test for Bergmann's rule in Mesozoic dinosaurs and mammaliaforms that radiated within relatively temperate global climate regimes. We develop a phylogenetic model that accounts for biases in the fossil record and allows for variable evolutionary dispersal rates. Our analysis also includes new fossil data from the extreme high-latitude Late Cretaceous Arctic Prince Creek Formation. We find no evidence for Bergmann's rule in Mesozoic dinosaurs or mammaliaforms, the ancestors of extant homeothermic birds and mammals. When our model is applied to thousands of extant dinosaur (bird) and mammal species, we find that body size evolution remains independent of latitude. A modest temperature effect is found in extant, but not in Mesozoic, birds, suggesting that body size evolution in modern birds was influenced by Bergmann's rule during Cenozoic climatic change. Our study provides a general approach for studying macroecological rules, highlighting the fossil record's power to address longstanding ecological principles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren N Wilson
- University of Alaska Museum, 1962 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA.
- Department of Geosciences, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA.
| | - Jacob D Gardner
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6EX, UK.
| | - John P Wilson
- Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59715, USA
| | - Alex Farnsworth
- School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, University Road, Bristol, BS8 1RL, UK
- State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Zackary R Perry
- University of Alaska Museum, 1962 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA
- Department of Geosciences, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA
| | - Patrick S Druckenmiller
- University of Alaska Museum, 1962 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA
- Department of Geosciences, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA
| | - Gregory M Erickson
- Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA
| | - Chris L Organ
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6EX, UK.
- Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59715, USA.
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2
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Druckenmiller PS, Erickson GM, Brinkman D, Brown CM, Eberle JJ. Nesting at extreme polar latitudes by non-avian dinosaurs. Curr Biol 2021; 31:3469-3478.e5. [PMID: 34171301 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.05.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Revised: 04/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The unexpected discovery of non-avian dinosaurs from Arctic and Antarctic settings has generated considerable debate about whether they had the capacity to reproduce at high latitudes-especially the larger-bodied, hypothetically migratory taxa. Evidence for dinosaurian polar reproduction remains very rare, particularly for species that lived at the highest paleolatitudes (>75°). Here we report the discovery of perinatal and very young dinosaurs from the highest known paleolatitude for the clade-the Cretaceous Prince Creek Formation (PCF) of northern Alaska. These data demonstrate Arctic reproduction in a diverse assemblage of large- and small-bodied ornithischian and theropod species. In terms of overall diversity, 70% of the known dinosaurian families, as well as avialans (birds), in the PCF are represented by perinatal individuals, the highest percentage for any North American Cretaceous formation. These findings, coupled with prolonged incubation periods, small neonate sizes, and short reproductive windows suggest most, if not all, PCF dinosaurs were nonmigratory year-round Arctic residents. Notably, we reconstruct an annual chronology of reproductive events for the ornithischian dinosaurs using refined paleoenvironmental/plant phenology data and new insights into dinosaur incubation periods. Seasonal resource limitations due to extended periods of winter darkness and freezing temperatures placed severe constraints on dinosaurian reproduction, development, and maintenance, suggesting these taxa showed polar-specific life history strategies, including endothermy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick S Druckenmiller
- University of Alaska Museum, 1962 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA; Department of Geosciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA.
| | - Gregory M Erickson
- Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, 319 Stadium Drive, FL 32306, USA
| | - Donald Brinkman
- Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, AB T0J 0Y0, Canada
| | - Caleb M Brown
- Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, AB T0J 0Y0, Canada
| | - Jaelyn J Eberle
- Univerity of Colorado Museum of Natural History, 265 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, USA; Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
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3
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Fischer V, MacLaren JA, Soul LC, Bennion RF, Druckenmiller PS, Benson RBJ. The macroevolutionary landscape of short-necked plesiosaurians. Sci Rep 2020; 10:16434. [PMID: 33009498 PMCID: PMC7532190 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-73413-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Throughout their evolution, tetrapods have repeatedly colonised a series of ecological niches in marine ecosystems, producing textbook examples of convergent evolution. However, this evolutionary phenomenon has typically been assessed qualitatively and in broad-brush frameworks that imply simplistic macroevolutionary landscapes. We establish a protocol to visualize the density of trait space occupancy and thoroughly test for the existence of macroevolutionary landscapes. We apply this protocol to a new phenotypic dataset describing the morphology of short-necked plesiosaurians, a major component of the Mesozoic marine food webs (ca. 201 to 66 Mya). Plesiosaurians evolved this body plan multiple times during their 135-million-year history, making them an ideal test case for the existence of macroevolutionary landscapes. We find ample evidence for a bimodal craniodental macroevolutionary landscape separating latirostrines from longirostrine taxa, providing the first phylogenetically-explicit quantitative assessment of trophic diversity in extinct marine reptiles. This bimodal pattern was established as early as the Middle Jurassic and was maintained in evolutionary patterns of short-necked plesiosaurians until a Late Cretaceous (Turonian) collapse to a unimodal landscape comprising longirostrine forms with novel morphologies. This study highlights the potential of severe environmental perturbations to profoundly alter the macroevolutionary dynamics of animals occupying the top of food chains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentin Fischer
- Evolution & Diversity Dynamics Lab, Université de Liège, 14 Allée du 6 Août, 4000, Liège, Belgium.
| | - Jamie A MacLaren
- Evolution & Diversity Dynamics Lab, Université de Liège, 14 Allée du 6 Août, 4000, Liège, Belgium
| | - Laura C Soul
- Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC, 20013-7012, USA
| | - Rebecca F Bennion
- Evolution & Diversity Dynamics Lab, Université de Liège, 14 Allée du 6 Août, 4000, Liège, Belgium
- OD Earth and History of Life, Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, 29 Rue Vautier, 1000, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Patrick S Druckenmiller
- University of Alaska Museum and Department of Geosciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1962 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA
| | - Roger B J Benson
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks road, Oxford, OX1 3AN, UK
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4
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Roberts AJ, Druckenmiller PS, Cordonnier B, Delsett LL, Hurum JH. A new plesiosaurian from the Jurassic-Cretaceous transitional interval of the Slottsmøya Member (Volgian), with insights into the cranial anatomy of cryptoclidids using computed tomography. PeerJ 2020; 8:e8652. [PMID: 32266112 PMCID: PMC7120097 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2019] [Accepted: 01/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Cryptoclidids are a major clade of plesiosauromorph plesiosaurians best known from the Middle-Late Jurassic, but little is known regarding their turnover into the Early Cretaceous. Of the known cryptoclidid genera, most preserve only a limited amount of cranial material and of these Cryptoclidus eurymerus, displays the most complete, but compressed cranium. Thus, the lack of knowledge of the cranial anatomy of this group may hinder the understanding of phylogenetic interrelationships, which are currently predominantly based on postcranial data. Here we present a nearly complete adult cryptoclidid specimen (PMO 224.248) representing a new genus and species Ophthalmothule cryostea gen et sp. nov., from the latest Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous part of the Slottsmøya Member, of central Spitsbergen. The holotype material preserves a complete cranium, partial mandible, complete and articulated cervical, pectoral and anterior to middle dorsal series, along with the pectoral girdle and anterior humeri. High resolution microcomputed tomography reveals new data on the cranial anatomy of this cryptoclidid, including new internal features of the braincase and palate that are observed in other cryptoclidids. A phylogenetic analysis incorporating new characters reveals a novel tree topology for Cryptoclididae and particularly within the subfamily Colymbosaurinae. These results show that at least two cryptoclidid lineages were present in the Boreal Region during the latest Jurassic at middle to high latitudes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aubrey Jane Roberts
- The Natural History Museum, London, UK
- The National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, Hampshire, UK
| | - Patrick S. Druckenmiller
- University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, AK, USA
- Department of Geoscience, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Benoit Cordonnier
- Physics of Geological Processes, Institute of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Lene L. Delsett
- The Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Jørn H. Hurum
- The Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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5
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Marshall CR, Finnegan S, Clites EC, Holroyd PA, Bonuso N, Cortez C, Davis E, Dietl GP, Druckenmiller PS, Eng RC, Garcia C, Estes-Smargiassi K, Hendy A, Hollis KA, Little H, Nesbitt EA, Roopnarine P, Skibinski L, Vendetti J, White LD. Quantifying the dark data in museum fossil collections as palaeontology undergoes a second digital revolution. Biol Lett 2019; 14:rsbl.2018.0431. [PMID: 30185609 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2018] [Accepted: 08/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Large-scale analysis of the fossil record requires aggregation of palaeontological data from individual fossil localities. Prior to computers, these synoptic datasets were compiled by hand, a laborious undertaking that took years of effort and forced palaeontologists to make difficult choices about what types of data to tabulate. The advent of desktop computers ushered in palaeontology's first digital revolution-online literature-based databases, such as the Paleobiology Database (PBDB). However, the published literature represents only a small proportion of the palaeontological data housed in museum collections. Although this issue has long been appreciated, the magnitude, and thus potential significance, of these so-called 'dark data' has been difficult to determine. Here, in the early phases of a second digital revolution in palaeontology--the digitization of museum collections-we provide an estimate of the magnitude of palaeontology's dark data. Digitization of our nine institutions' holdings of Cenozoic marine invertebrate collections from California, Oregon and Washington in the USA reveals that they represent 23 times the number of unique localities than are currently available in the PBDB. These data, and the vast quantity of similarly untapped dark data in other museum collections, will, when digitally mobilized, enhance palaeontologists' ability to make inferences about the patterns and processes of past evolutionary and ecological changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- C R Marshall
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, 3040 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140, USA .,University of California Museum of Paleontology, University of California, 1101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720-4780, USA
| | - S Finnegan
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, 3040 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140, USA.,University of California Museum of Paleontology, University of California, 1101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720-4780, USA
| | - E C Clites
- University of California Museum of Paleontology, University of California, 1101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720-4780, USA
| | - P A Holroyd
- University of California Museum of Paleontology, University of California, 1101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720-4780, USA
| | - N Bonuso
- Department of Geological Sciences, California State University, Fullerton, CA 92834, USA
| | - C Cortez
- John D. Cooper Archaeological and Paleontological Center, Santa Ana, CA 92701-6427, USA
| | - E Davis
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1272, USA.,University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History, 1680 E. 15th Avenue, Eugene, OR 97403-1224, USA
| | - G P Dietl
- Paleontological Research Institution, 1259 Trumansburg Road, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA.,Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, 112 Hollister Drive, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - P S Druckenmiller
- University of Alaska Museum and Department of Geosciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1962 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
| | - R C Eng
- Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Box 353010, Seattle, WA 98195-3010, USA
| | - C Garcia
- California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA
| | - K Estes-Smargiassi
- Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
| | - A Hendy
- Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
| | - K A Hollis
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013, USA
| | - H Little
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013, USA
| | - E A Nesbitt
- Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Box 353010, Seattle, WA 98195-3010, USA
| | - P Roopnarine
- California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA
| | - L Skibinski
- Paleontological Research Institution, 1259 Trumansburg Road, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | - J Vendetti
- Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
| | - L D White
- University of California Museum of Paleontology, University of California, 1101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720-4780, USA
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6
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Neenan JM, Reich T, Evers SW, Druckenmiller PS, Voeten DFAE, Choiniere JN, Barrett PM, Pierce SE, Benson RBJ. Evolution of the Sauropterygian Labyrinth with Increasingly Pelagic Lifestyles. Curr Biol 2017. [PMID: 29225027 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.3810.3069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/18/2023]
Abstract
Sauropterygia, a successful clade of marine reptiles abundant in aquatic ecosystems of the Mesozoic, inhabited nearshore to pelagic habitats over >180 million years of evolutionary history [1]. Aquatic vertebrates experience strong buoyancy forces that allow movement in a three-dimensional environment, resulting in structural convergences such as flippers and fish-like bauplans [2, 3], as well as convergences in the sensory systems. We used computed tomographic scans of 19 sauropterygian species to determine how the transition to pelagic lifestyles influenced the evolution of the endosseous labyrinth, which houses the vestibular sensory organ of balance and orientation [4]. Semicircular canal geometries underwent distinct changes during the transition from nearshore Triassic sauropterygians to the later, pelagic plesiosaurs. Triassic sauropterygians have dorsoventrally compact, anteroposteriorly elongate labyrinths, resembling those of crocodylians. In contrast, plesiosaurs have compact, bulbous labyrinths, sharing some features with those of sea turtles. Differences in relative labyrinth size among sauropterygians correspond to locomotory differences: bottom-walking [5, 6] placodonts have proportionally larger labyrinths than actively swimming taxa (i.e., all other sauropterygians). Furthermore, independent evolutionary origins of short-necked, large-headed "pliosauromorph" body proportions among plesiosaurs coincide with reductions of labyrinth size, paralleling the evolutionary history of cetaceans [7]. Sauropterygian labyrinth evolution is therefore correlated closely with both locomotory style and body proportions, and these changes are consistent with isolated observations made previously in other marine tetrapods. Our study presents the first virtual reconstructions of plesiosaur endosseous labyrinths and the first large-scale, quantitative study detailing the effects of increasingly aquatic lifestyles on labyrinth morphology among marine reptiles.
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Affiliation(s)
- James M Neenan
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW, UK.
| | - Tobias Reich
- Palaeontological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Karl-Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Serjoscha W Evers
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK
| | - Patrick S Druckenmiller
- University of Alaska Museum and Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 907 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
| | - Dennis F A E Voeten
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France; Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Palacký University, 17 listopadu 50, 771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Jonah N Choiniere
- School of Geosciences and Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Johannesburg, Braamfontein 2000, South Africa
| | - Paul M Barrett
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK; School of Geosciences and Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Johannesburg, Braamfontein 2000, South Africa
| | - Stephanie E Pierce
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Roger B J Benson
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK; School of Geosciences and Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Johannesburg, Braamfontein 2000, South Africa
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7
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Neenan JM, Reich T, Evers SW, Druckenmiller PS, Voeten DFAE, Choiniere JN, Barrett PM, Pierce SE, Benson RBJ. Evolution of the Sauropterygian Labyrinth with Increasingly Pelagic Lifestyles. Curr Biol 2017; 27:3852-3858.e3. [PMID: 29225027 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.10.069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2017] [Revised: 10/25/2017] [Accepted: 10/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Sauropterygia, a successful clade of marine reptiles abundant in aquatic ecosystems of the Mesozoic, inhabited nearshore to pelagic habitats over >180 million years of evolutionary history [1]. Aquatic vertebrates experience strong buoyancy forces that allow movement in a three-dimensional environment, resulting in structural convergences such as flippers and fish-like bauplans [2, 3], as well as convergences in the sensory systems. We used computed tomographic scans of 19 sauropterygian species to determine how the transition to pelagic lifestyles influenced the evolution of the endosseous labyrinth, which houses the vestibular sensory organ of balance and orientation [4]. Semicircular canal geometries underwent distinct changes during the transition from nearshore Triassic sauropterygians to the later, pelagic plesiosaurs. Triassic sauropterygians have dorsoventrally compact, anteroposteriorly elongate labyrinths, resembling those of crocodylians. In contrast, plesiosaurs have compact, bulbous labyrinths, sharing some features with those of sea turtles. Differences in relative labyrinth size among sauropterygians correspond to locomotory differences: bottom-walking [5, 6] placodonts have proportionally larger labyrinths than actively swimming taxa (i.e., all other sauropterygians). Furthermore, independent evolutionary origins of short-necked, large-headed "pliosauromorph" body proportions among plesiosaurs coincide with reductions of labyrinth size, paralleling the evolutionary history of cetaceans [7]. Sauropterygian labyrinth evolution is therefore correlated closely with both locomotory style and body proportions, and these changes are consistent with isolated observations made previously in other marine tetrapods. Our study presents the first virtual reconstructions of plesiosaur endosseous labyrinths and the first large-scale, quantitative study detailing the effects of increasingly aquatic lifestyles on labyrinth morphology among marine reptiles.
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Affiliation(s)
- James M Neenan
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW, UK.
| | - Tobias Reich
- Palaeontological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Karl-Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Serjoscha W Evers
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK
| | - Patrick S Druckenmiller
- University of Alaska Museum and Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 907 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
| | - Dennis F A E Voeten
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France; Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Palacký University, 17 listopadu 50, 771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Jonah N Choiniere
- School of Geosciences and Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Johannesburg, Braamfontein 2000, South Africa
| | - Paul M Barrett
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK; School of Geosciences and Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Johannesburg, Braamfontein 2000, South Africa
| | - Stephanie E Pierce
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Roger B J Benson
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK; School of Geosciences and Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Johannesburg, Braamfontein 2000, South Africa
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8
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Fischer V, Benson RBJ, Zverkov NG, Soul LC, Arkhangelsky MS, Lambert O, Stenshin IM, Uspensky GN, Druckenmiller PS. Plasticity and Convergence in the Evolution of Short-Necked Plesiosaurs. Curr Biol 2017; 27:1667-1676.e3. [PMID: 28552354 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.04.052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2017] [Revised: 04/06/2017] [Accepted: 04/25/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Plesiosaurs were the longest-surviving group of secondarily marine tetrapods, comparable in diversity to today's cetaceans. During their long evolutionary history, which spanned the Jurassic and the Cretaceous (201 to 66 Ma), plesiosaurs repeatedly evolved long- and short-necked body plans [1, 2]. Despite this postcranial plasticity, short-necked plesiosaur clades have traditionally been regarded as being highly constrained to persistent and clearly distinct ecological niches: advanced members of Pliosauridae (ranging from the Middle Jurassic to the early Late Cretaceous) have been characterized as apex predators [2-5], whereas members of the distantly related clade Polycotylidae (middle to Late Cretaceous) were thought to have been fast-swimming piscivores [1, 5-7]. We report a new, highly unusual pliosaurid from the Early Cretaceous of Russia that shows close convergence with the cranial structure of polycotylids: Luskhan itilensis gen. et sp. nov. Using novel cladistic and ecomorphological data, we show that pliosaurids iteratively evolved polycotylid-like cranial morphologies from the Early Jurassic until the Early Cretaceous. This underscores the ecological diversity of derived pliosaurids and reveals a more complex evolutionary history than their iconic representation as gigantic apex predators of Mesozoic marine ecosystems suggests. Collectively, these data demonstrate an even higher degree of morphological plasticity and convergence in the evolution of plesiosaurs than previously thought and suggest the existence of an optimal ecomorphology for short-necked piscivorous plesiosaurs through time and across phylogeny.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentin Fischer
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK; Department of Geology, Université de Liège, 14 Allée du 6 Août, Liège 4000, Belgium.
| | - Roger B J Benson
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK
| | - Nikolay G Zverkov
- Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1, GSP-1, Moscow 119991, Russia; Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Pyzhevsky Lane 7, Moscow 119017, Russia
| | - Laura C Soul
- Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
| | - Maxim S Arkhangelsky
- Institute of Urban Studies, Saratov State Technical University, Politekhnicheskaya Ulica 77, Saratov 410054, Russia; Geological faculty, Saratov State University, Astrakhanskaya Ulica 83, Saratov 410012, Russia
| | - Olivier Lambert
- Earth and History of Life O.D., Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 29 Rue Vautier, Brussels 1000, Belgium
| | - Ilya M Stenshin
- I.A. Goncharov Ulyanovsk Regional Natural History Museum, Boulevard Novyi Venets 3/4, Ulyanovsk 432000, Russia
| | - Gleb N Uspensky
- Natural Science Museum, Ulyanovsk State University, Ulyanovsk 432000, Russia
| | - Patrick S Druckenmiller
- University of Alaska Museum and Department of Geosciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 907 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
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9
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Delsett LL, Roberts AJ, Druckenmiller PS, Hurum JH. A New Ophthalmosaurid (Ichthyosauria) from Svalbard, Norway, and Evolution of the Ichthyopterygian Pelvic Girdle. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0169971. [PMID: 28121995 PMCID: PMC5266267 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2016] [Accepted: 12/24/2016] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
In spite of a fossil record spanning over 150 million years, pelvic girdle evolution in Ichthyopterygia is poorly known. Here, we examine pelvic girdle size relationships using quantitative methods and new ophthalmosaurid material from the Slottsmøya Member Lagerstätte of Svalbard, Norway. One of these new specimens, which preserves the most complete ichthyosaur pelvic girdle from the Cretaceous, is described herein as a new taxon, Keilhauia nui gen. et sp. nov. It represents the most complete Berriasian ichthyosaur known and the youngest yet described from the Slottsmøya Member. It is diagnosed on the basis of two autapomorphies from the pelvic girdle, including an ilium that is anteroposteriorly expanded at its dorsal end and an ischiopubis that is shorter or subequal in length to the femur, as well as a unique character combination. The Slottsmøya Member Lagerstätte ichthyosaurs are significant in that they represent a diverse assemblage of ophthalmosaurids that existed immediately preceding and across the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary. They also exhibit considerable variation in pelvic girdle morphology, and expand the known range in size variation of pelvic girdle elements in the clade.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Aubrey J. Roberts
- Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- The National Oceanography Centre, Department of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom
| | - Patrick S. Druckenmiller
- University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, Alaska
- Department of Geoscience, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska
| | - Jørn H. Hurum
- Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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Benson RBJ, Druckenmiller PS. Faunal turnover of marine tetrapods during the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2013; 89:1-23. [PMID: 23581455 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 150] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2012] [Revised: 02/28/2013] [Accepted: 03/06/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Patrick S. Druckenmiller
- Department of Geology and Geophysics; University of Alaska Museum, University of Alaska Fairbanks; Fairbanks Alaska 99775, U.S.A
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Benson RBJ, Evans M, Druckenmiller PS. High diversity, low disparity and small body size in plesiosaurs (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) from the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. PLoS One 2012; 7:e31838. [PMID: 22438869 PMCID: PMC3306369 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0031838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2011] [Accepted: 01/12/2012] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Invasion of the open ocean by tetrapods represents a major evolutionary transition that occurred independently in cetaceans, mosasauroids, chelonioids (sea turtles), ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs. Plesiosaurian reptiles invaded pelagic ocean environments immediately following the Late Triassic extinctions. This diversification is recorded by three intensively-sampled European fossil faunas, spanning 20 million years (Ma). These provide an unparalleled opportunity to document changes in key macroevolutionary parameters associated with secondary adaptation to pelagic life in tetrapods. A comprehensive assessment focuses on the oldest fauna, from the Blue Lias Formation of Street, and nearby localities, in Somerset, UK (Earliest Jurassic: 200 Ma), identifying three new species representing two small-bodied rhomaleosaurids (Stratesaurus taylori gen et sp. nov.; Avalonnectes arturi gen. et sp. nov) and the most basal plesiosauroid, Eoplesiosaurus antiquior gen. et sp. nov. The initial radiation of plesiosaurs was characterised by high, but short-lived, diversity of an archaic clade, Rhomaleosauridae. Representatives of this initial radiation were replaced by derived, neoplesiosaurian plesiosaurs at small-medium body sizes during a more gradual accumulation of morphological disparity. This gradualistic modality suggests that adaptive radiations within tetrapod subclades are not always characterised by the initially high levels of disparity observed in the Paleozoic origins of major metazoan body plans, or in the origin of tetrapods. High rhomaleosaurid diversity immediately following the Triassic-Jurassic boundary supports the gradual model of Late Triassic extinctions, mostly predating the boundary itself. Increase in both maximum and minimum body length early in plesiosaurian history suggests a driven evolutionary trend. However, Maximum-likelihood models suggest only passive expansion into higher body size categories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roger B J Benson
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
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