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Benton MJ. Rethinking the egg. Natl Sci Rev 2024; 11:nwad288. [PMID: 38707201 PMCID: PMC11067952 DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwad288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2023] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2024] Open
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Singh SA, Elsler A, Stubbs TL, Rayfield EJ, Benton MJ. Predatory synapsid ecomorphology signals growing dynamism of late Palaeozoic terrestrial ecosystems. Commun Biol 2024; 7:201. [PMID: 38368492 PMCID: PMC10874460 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-05879-2] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 02/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Terrestrial ecosystems evolved substantially through the Palaeozoic, especially the Permian, gaining much new complexity, especially among predators. Key among these predators were non-mammalian synapsids. Predator ecomorphology reflect interactions with prey and competitors, which are key controls on carnivore diversity and ecology. Therefore, carnivorous synapsids may offer insight on wider ecological evolution as the first complex, tetrapod-dominated, terrestrial ecosystems formed through the late Palaeozoic. Using morphometric and phylogenetic comparative methods, we chart carnivorous synapsid trophic morphology from the latest Carboniferous to the earliest Triassic (307-251.2 Ma). We find a major morphofunctional shift in synapsid carnivory between the early and middle Permian, via the addition of new feeding modes increasingly specialised for greater biting power or speed that captures the growing antagonism and dynamism of terrestrial tetrapod predator-prey interactions. The further evolution of new hypo- and hypercarnivorous synapsids highlight the nascent intrinsic pressures and complexification of terrestrial ecosystems across the mid-late Permian.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suresh A Singh
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK.
| | - Armin Elsler
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Thomas L Stubbs
- School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AE, UK
| | - Emily J Rayfield
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
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Shipley AE, Elsler A, Singh SA, Stubbs TL, Benton MJ. Locomotion and the early Mesozoic success of Archosauromorpha. R Soc Open Sci 2024; 11:231495. [PMID: 38328568 PMCID: PMC10846959 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231495] [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] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
The Triassic was a time of ecological upheaval as life recovered from the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. Archosauromorphs were a key component of the recovery, diversifying substantially during the Triassic and encompassing the origins of dinosaurs, pterosaurs and crocodylomorphs. Here, we explore the evolution of locomotion in Archosauromorpha to test whether dinosaurs show any distinctive locomotory features that might explain their success. We implement geometric morphometrics on limb bone shapes and use limb ratios to calculate bipedality and cursoriality metrics. We find that the Avemetatarsalia (dinosaurs, pterosaurs and relatives) exhibit more variable limb form and limb ratios than any other group, indicating a wider range of locomotory modes. The earliest avemetatarsalians were bipedal and cursorial, and their range of form increased through the Triassic with notable diversification shifts following extinction events. This is especially true of dinosaurs, even though these changes cannot be discriminated from a stochastic process. By contrast, the Pseudosuchia (crocodilians and relatives) were more restricted in limb form and locomotor mode with disparity decreasing through time, suggesting more limited locomotor adaptation and vulnerability to extinction. Perhaps the greater locomotor plasticity of dinosaurs gave them a competitive advantage in the changing climates of the Late Triassic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy E. Shipley
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK
- School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
| | - Armin Elsler
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK
| | - Suresh A. Singh
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK
| | - Thomas L. Stubbs
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK
- School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK
| | - Michael J. Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK
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Ballell A, Mai B, Benton MJ. Author Correction: Divergent strategies in cranial biomechanics and feeding ecology of the ankylosaurian dinosaurs. Sci Rep 2023; 13:19581. [PMID: 37949996 PMCID: PMC10638365 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-46872-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Ballell
- Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK.
| | - Bohao Mai
- Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Michael J Benton
- Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK.
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Ballell A, Mai B, Benton MJ. Divergent strategies in cranial biomechanics and feeding ecology of the ankylosaurian dinosaurs. Sci Rep 2023; 13:18242. [PMID: 37880323 PMCID: PMC10600113 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-45444-1] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Ankylosaurs were important megaherbivores of Jurassic and Cretaceous ecosystems. Their distinctive craniodental anatomy and mechanics differentiated them from coexisting hadrosaurs and ceratopsians, and morphological evidence suggests dietary niche partitioning between sympatric ankylosaurids and nodosaurids. Here, we investigate the skull biomechanics of ankylosaurs relative to feeding function. First, we compare feeding functional performance between nodosaurids and ankylosaurids applying finite element analysis and lever mechanics to the skulls of Panoplosaurus mirus (Nodosauridae) and Euoplocephalus tutus (Ankylosauridae). We also compare jaw performance across a wider sample of ankylosaurs through lever mechanics and phylogenetic comparative methods. Mandibular stress levels are higher in Euoplocephalus, supporting the view that Panoplosaurus consumed tougher foodstuffs. Bite force and mechanical advantage (MA) estimates indicate that Panoplosaurus had a relatively more forceful and efficient bite than Euoplocephalus. There is little support for a role of the secondary palate in resisting feeding loads in the two ankylosaur clades. Several ankylosaurs converged on similar jaw mechanics, while some nodosaurids specialised towards high MA and some ankylosaurids evolved low MA jaws. Our study supports the hypothesis that ankylosaurs partitioned dietary niches in Late Cretaceous ecosystems and reveals that the two main ankylosaur clades evolved divergent evolutionary pathways in skull biomechanics and feeding habits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Ballell
- Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK.
| | - Bohao Mai
- Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Michael J Benton
- Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK.
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Guo Z, Flannery-Sutherland JT, Benton MJ, Chen ZQ. Bayesian analyses indicate bivalves did not drive the downfall of brachiopods following the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5566. [PMID: 37689772 PMCID: PMC10492784 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41358-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Certain times of major biotic replacement have often been interpreted as broadly competitive, mediated by innovation in the succeeding clades. A classic example was the switch from brachiopods to bivalves as major seabed organisms following the Permian-Triassic mass extinction (PTME), ~252 million years ago. This was attributed to competitive exclusion of brachiopods by the better adapted bivalves or simply to the fact that brachiopods had been hit especially hard by the PTME. The brachiopod-bivalve switch is emblematic of the global turnover of marine faunas from Palaeozoic-type to Modern-type triggered by the PTME. Here, using Bayesian analyses, we find that unexpectedly the two clades displayed similar large-scale trends of diversification before the Jurassic. Insight from a multivariate birth-death model shows that the extinction of major brachiopod clades during the PTME set the stage for the brachiopod-bivalve switch, with differential responses to high ocean temperatures post-extinction further facilitating their displacement by bivalves. Our study strengthens evidence that brachiopods and bivalves were not competitors over macroevolutionary time scales, with extinction events and environmental stresses shaping their divergent fates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhen Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan, 430074, China
| | | | - Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, UK.
| | - Zhong-Qiang Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan, 430074, China.
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Liu QL, Cheng L, Stubbs TL, Moon BC, Benton MJ, Yan CB, Tian L. Rapid neck elongation in Sauropterygia (Reptilia: Diapsida) revealed by a new basal pachypleurosaur from the Lower Triassic of China. BMC Ecol Evol 2023; 23:44. [PMID: 37648992 PMCID: PMC10469986 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-023-02150-w] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 08/16/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Neck elongation has appeared independently in several tetrapod groups, including giraffes and sauropod dinosaurs on land, birds and pterosaurs in the air, and sauropterygians (plesiosaurs and relatives) in the oceans. Long necks arose in Early Triassic sauropterygians, but the nature and rate of that elongation has not been documented. Here, we report a new species of pachypleurosaurid sauropterygian, Chusaurus xiangensis gen. et sp. nov., based on two new specimens from the Early Triassic Nanzhang-Yuan'an Fauna in the South China Block. The new species shows key features of its Middle Triassic relatives, but has a relatively short neck, measuring 0.48 of the trunk length, compared to > 0.8 from the Middle Triassic onwards. Comparative phylogenetic analysis shows that neck elongation occurred rapidly in all Triassic eosauropterygian lineages, probably driven by feeding pressure in a time of rapid re-establishment of new kinds of marine ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi-Ling Liu
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Paleontology and Geological Environment Evolution, Wuhan Centre of China Geological Survey, Wuhan, 430023, P. R. China
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, 430078, P. R. China
| | - Long Cheng
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Paleontology and Geological Environment Evolution, Wuhan Centre of China Geological Survey, Wuhan, 430023, P. R. China.
| | - Thomas L Stubbs
- School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
- School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
| | - Benjamin C Moon
- School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Chun-Bo Yan
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Paleontology and Geological Environment Evolution, Wuhan Centre of China Geological Survey, Wuhan, 430023, P. R. China
| | - Li Tian
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, 430078, P. R. China.
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Fang ZC, Li JL, Yan CB, Zou YR, Tian L, Zhao B, Benton MJ, Cheng L, Lai XL. First filter feeding in the Early Triassic: cranial morphological convergence between Hupehsuchus and baleen whales. BMC Ecol Evol 2023; 23:36. [PMID: 37550649 PMCID: PMC10408079 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-023-02143-9] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Modern baleen whales are unique as large-sized filter feeders, but their roles were replicated much earlier by diverse marine reptiles of the Mesozoic. Here, we investigate convergence in skull morphology between modern baleen whales and one of the earliest marine reptiles, the basal ichthyosauromorph Hupehsuchus nanchangensis, from the Early Triassic, a time of rapid recovery of life following profound mass extinction. Two new specimens reveal the skull morphology especially in dorsal view. The snout of Hupehsuchus is highly convergent with modern baleen whales, as shown in a morphometric analysis including 130 modern aquatic amniotes. Convergences in the snout include the unfused upper jaw, specialized intermediate space in the divided premaxilla and grooves around the labial margin. Hupehsuchus had enlarged its buccal cavity to enable efficient filter feeding and probably used soft tissues like baleen to expel the water from the oral cavity. Coordinated with the rigid trunk and pachyostotic ribs suggests low speeds of aquatic locomotion, Hupehsuchus probably employed continuous ram filter feeding as in extant bowhead and right whales. The Early Triassic palaeoenvironment of a restrictive lagoon with low productivity drove Hupehsuchus to feed on zooplankton, which facilitated ecosystem recovery in the Nanzhang-Yuan'an Fauna at the beginning of the Mesozoic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zi-Chen Fang
- School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, P. R. China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Paleontology and Geological Environment Evolution, Wuhan Center of China Geological Survey, Wuhan, 430205, P. R. China
| | - Jiang-Li Li
- Hubei Institute of Geosciences, Hubei Geological Bureau, Wuhan, 430034, P. R. China
| | - Chun-Bo Yan
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Paleontology and Geological Environment Evolution, Wuhan Center of China Geological Survey, Wuhan, 430205, P. R. China
| | - Ya-Rui Zou
- Hubei Institute of Geosciences, Hubei Geological Bureau, Wuhan, 430034, P. R. China
| | - Li Tian
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430078, P. R. China
| | - Bi Zhao
- Hubei Institute of Geosciences, Hubei Geological Bureau, Wuhan, 430034, P. R. China
| | - Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Long Cheng
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Paleontology and Geological Environment Evolution, Wuhan Center of China Geological Survey, Wuhan, 430205, P. R. China.
| | - Xu-Long Lai
- School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, P. R. China
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Yang Z, Jiang B, Benton MJ, Xu X, McNamara ME, Hone DWE. Allometric wing growth links parental care to pterosaur giantism. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231102. [PMID: 37464754 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1102] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Pterosaurs evolved a broad range of body sizes, from small-bodied early forms with wingspans of mostly 1-2 m to the last-surviving giants with sizes of small airplanes. Since all pterosaurs began life as small hatchlings, giant forms must have attained large adult sizes through new growth strategies, which remain largely unknown. Here we assess wing ontogeny and performance in the giant Pteranodon and the smaller-bodied anurognathids Rhamphorhynchus, Pterodactylus and Sinopterus. We show that most smaller-bodied pterosaurs shared negative allometry or isometry in the proximal elements of the fore- and hindlimbs, which were critical elements for powering both flight and terrestrial locomotion, whereas these show positive allometry in Pteranodon. Such divergent growth allometry typically signals different strategies in the precocial-altricial spectrum, suggesting more altricial development in Pteranodon. Using a biophysical model of powered and gliding flight, we test and reject the hypothesis that an aerodynamically superior wing planform could have enabled Pteranodon to attain its larger body size. We therefore propose that a shift from a plesiomorphic precocial state towards a derived state of enhanced parental care may have relaxed the constraints of small body sizes and allowed the evolution of derived flight anatomies critical for the flying giants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zixiao Yang
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork T23 TK30, Ireland
- Environmental Research Institute, Ellen Hutchins Building, Lee Road, Cork T23 XE10, Ireland
| | - Baoyu Jiang
- Center for Research and Education on Biological Evolution and Environments, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, People's Republic of China
| | - Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Xing Xu
- Center for Vertebrate Evolutionary Biology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650031, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, People's Republic of China
| | - Maria E McNamara
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork T23 TK30, Ireland
- Environmental Research Institute, Ellen Hutchins Building, Lee Road, Cork T23 XE10, Ireland
| | - David W E Hone
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK
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Jiang B, He Y, Elsler A, Wang S, Keating JN, Song J, Kearns SL, Benton MJ. Extended embryo retention and viviparity in the first amniotes. Nat Ecol Evol 2023; 7:1131-1140. [PMID: 37308704 PMCID: PMC10333127 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02074-0] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The amniotic egg with its complex fetal membranes was a key innovation in vertebrate evolution that enabled the great diversification of reptiles, birds and mammals. It is debated whether these fetal membranes evolved in eggs on land as an adaptation to the terrestrial environment or to control antagonistic fetal-maternal interaction in association with extended embryo retention (EER). Here we report an oviparous choristodere from the Lower Cretaceous period of northeast China. The ossification sequence of the embryo confirms that choristoderes are basal archosauromorphs. The discovery of oviparity in this assumed viviparous extinct clade, together with existing evidence, suggests that EER was the primitive reproductive mode in basal archosauromorphs. Phylogenetic comparative analyses on extant and extinct amniotes suggest that the first amniote displayed EER (including viviparity).
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Affiliation(s)
- Baoyu Jiang
- State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering and Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
| | - Yiming He
- State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering and Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Armin Elsler
- School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Shengyu Wang
- State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering and Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Joseph N Keating
- State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering and Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Junyi Song
- State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering and Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Stuart L Kearns
- School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
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Benton MJ. Palaeobiology: Rapid succession during mass extinction. Curr Biol 2023; 33:R436-R440. [PMID: 37279663 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The mass extinction at the end of the Permian period was a time of considerable ecological upheaval. A new study shows that in Southern Africa top predators replaced each other in succession across the end-Permian interval, suggesting that ecological crisis preceded the mass extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK.
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Luo M, Li Z, Su M, Gadd GM, Yin Z, Benton MJ, Pan Y, Zheng D, Zhao T, Li Z, Chen Y. Fungal-induced fossil biomineralization. Curr Biol 2023:S0960-9822(23)00548-1. [PMID: 37230078 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.067] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2023] [Revised: 04/10/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Exceptional preservation of fossils has often been attributed to the actions of bacteria that aid in the preservation of soft tissues that normally decay rapidly. However, it is well known that fungi play a major role in organic matter decomposition, biogeochemical cycling of elements, and metal-mineral transformations in modern ecosystems. Although the fungal fossil record can be traced back over a billion years, there are only a few recorded examples of fungal roles in fossilization. In this research, we have carried out a detailed geobiological investigation on early Pleistocene hyena coprolites (fossilized dung) in an attempt to ascertain possible fungal involvement in their formation. Using an advanced microscopic and mineralogical approach, we found that numerous hydroxyapatite nanofibers (25-34 nm on average), interwoven to form spheroidal structures, constituted the matrix of the coprolites in addition to food remains. These structures were found to be extremely similar in texture and mineral composition to biominerals produced during laboratory culture of a common saprophytic and geoactive fungus, Aspergillus niger, in the presence of a solid source of calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P). This observation, and our other data obtained, strongly suggests that fungal metabolism can provide a mechanism that can result in fossil biomineralization, and we hypothesize, therefore, that this may have contributed to the formation of well-preserved fossils (Lagerstätten) in the geological record. The characteristic polycrystalline nanofibers may also have served as a potential biosignature for fungal life in early Earth and extraterrestrial environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mao Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 211135, China.
| | - Zhen Li
- College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China; Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Organic Waste Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, China
| | - Mu Su
- College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
| | - Geoffrey Michael Gadd
- Geomicrobiology Group, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, Scotland, UK; State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, Beijing Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Pollution Control, College of Chemical Engineering and Environment, China University of Petroleum, 18 Fuxue Road, Changping District, Beijing 102249, China.
| | - Zongjun Yin
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 211135, China
| | - Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK
| | - Yanhong Pan
- State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Centre for Research and Education on Biological Evolution and Environment and Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Daran Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 211135, China
| | - Tao Zhao
- Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Earth System Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650500, Yunnan, China
| | - Zibo Li
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China
| | - Yuxuan Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China
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13
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Huang Y, Chen ZQ, Roopnarine PD, Benton MJ, Zhao L, Feng X, Li Z. The stability and collapse of marine ecosystems during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. Curr Biol 2023; 33:1059-1070.e4. [PMID: 36841237 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [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: 07/09/2022] [Revised: 11/20/2022] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 02/27/2023]
Abstract
The history of Earth's biodiversity is punctuated episodically by mass extinctions. These are characterized by major declines of taxon richness, but the accompanying ecological collapse has rarely been evaluated quantitatively. The Permian-Triassic mass extinction (PTME; ∼252 mya), as the greatest known extinction, permanently altered marine ecosystems and paved the way for the transition from Paleozoic to Mesozoic evolutionary faunas. Thus, the PTME offers a window into the relationship between taxon richness and ecological dynamics of ecosystems during a severe extinction. However, the accompanying ecological collapse through the PTME has not been evaluated in detail. Here, using food-web models and a marine paleocommunity dataset spanning the PTME, we show that after the first extinction phase, community stability decreased only slightly despite the loss of more than half of taxonomic diversity, while community stability significantly decreased in the second phase. Thus, taxonomic and ecological changes were unequivocally decoupled, with species richness declining severely ∼61 ka earlier than the collapse of marine ecosystem stability, implying that in major catastrophes, a biodiversity crash may be the harbinger of a more devastating ecosystem collapse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuangeng Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), 68 Jincheng Street, Wuhan 430078, China; Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA
| | - Zhong-Qiang Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), 68 Jincheng Street, Wuhan 430078, China.
| | - Peter D Roopnarine
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), 68 Jincheng Street, Wuhan 430078, China; Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA
| | - Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK
| | - Laishi Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Resource Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), 68 Jincheng Street, Wuhan 430078, China
| | - Xueqian Feng
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), 68 Jincheng Street, Wuhan 430078, China
| | - Zhenhua Li
- School of Computer Science, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), 68 Jincheng Street, Wuhan 430078, China
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14
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Hou S, Shi Q, Benton MJ, Solounias N. Comment on "Sexual selection promotes giraffoid head-neck evolution and ecological adaptation". Science 2023; 379:eadd9559. [PMID: 36795824 DOI: 10.1126/science.add9559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/18/2023]
Abstract
Wang et al. (Research Articles, 3 June 2022, eabl8316) reported an early Miocene giraffoid that exhibited fierce head-butting behavior and concluded that sexual selection promoted head-neck evolution in giraffoids. However, we argue that this ruminant is not a giraffoid and thus that the hypothesis that sexual selection promoted giraffoid head-neck evolution is not sufficiently supported.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sukuan Hou
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing 100044, China.,University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Qinqin Shi
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing 100044, China
| | | | - Nikos Solounias
- Department of Anatomy, New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, Old Westbury, NY, USA.,Department of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
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15
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Qin Z, Liao CC, Benton MJ, Rayfield EJ. Functional space analyses reveal the function and evolution of the most bizarre theropod manual unguals. Commun Biol 2023; 6:181. [PMID: 36797463 PMCID: PMC9935540 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04552-4] [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] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Accepted: 02/03/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Maniraptoran dinosaurs include the ancestors of birds, and most used their hands for grasping and in flight, but early-branching maniraptorans had extraordinary claws of mysterious function. Alvarezsauroids had short, strong arms and hands with a stout, rock-pick-like, single functional finger. Therizinosaurians had elongate fingers with slender and sickle-like unguals, sometimes over one metre long. Here we develop a comprehensive methodological framework to investigate what the functions of these most bizarre bony claws are and how they formed. Our analysis includes finite element analysis and a newly established functional-space analysis and also involves shape and size effects in an assessment of function and evolution. We find a distinct functional divergence among manual unguals of early-branching maniraptorans, and we identify a complex relationship between their structural strength, morphological specialisations, and size changes. Our analysis reveals that efficient digging capabilities only emerged in late-branching alvarezsauroid forelimbs, rejecting the hypothesis of functional vestigial structures like T. rex. Our results also support the statement that most therizinosaurians were herbivores. However, the bizarre, huge Therizinosaurus had sickle-like unguals of such length that no mechanical function has been identified; we suggest they were decorative and lengthened by peramorphic growth linked to increased body size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zichuan Qin
- School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK.
| | - Chun-Chi Liao
- grid.9227.e0000000119573309Key Laboratory for the Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044 China
| | - Michael J. Benton
- grid.5337.20000 0004 1936 7603School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ UK
| | - Emily J. Rayfield
- grid.5337.20000 0004 1936 7603School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ UK
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16
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Ballell A, Benton MJ, Rayfield EJ. Dental form and function in the early feeding diversification of dinosaurs. Sci Adv 2022; 8:eabq5201. [PMID: 36525501 PMCID: PMC9757754 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq5201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2022] [Revised: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 11/16/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Dinosaurs evolved a remarkable diversity of dietary adaptations throughout the Mesozoic, but the origins of different feeding modes are uncertain, especially the multiple origins of herbivory. Feeding habits of early dinosaurs have mostly been inferred from qualitative comparisons of dental morphology with extant analogs. Here, we use biomechanical and morphometric methods to investigate the dental morphofunctional diversity of early dinosaurs in comparison with extant squamates and crocodylians and predict their diets using machine learning classification models. Early saurischians/theropods are consistently classified as carnivores. Sauropodomorphs underwent a dietary shift from faunivory to herbivory, experimenting with diverse diets during the Triassic and Early Jurassic, and early ornithischians were likely omnivores. Obligate herbivory was a late evolutionary innovation in both clades. Carnivory is the most plausible ancestral diet of dinosaurs, but omnivory is equally likely under certain phylogenetic scenarios. This early dietary diversity was fundamental in the rise of dinosaurs to ecological dominance.
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17
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Abstract
Mammals, birds, and squamates (lizards, snakes, and relatives) are key living vertebrates, and thus understanding their evolution underpins important questions in biodiversity science. Whereas the origins of mammals and birds are relatively well understood, the roots of squamates have been obscure. Here, we report a modern-type lizard from the Late Triassic of England [202 million years (Ma)], comprising a partial skeleton, skull, and mandibles. It displays at least 15 unique squamate traits and further shares unidentatan and anguimorph apomorphies. The new discovery fixes the origin of crown Squamata as much older than had been thought, and the revised dating shows substantial diversification of modern-type squamates following the Carnian Pluvial Episode, 232 Ma ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- David I. Whiteside
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, UK
- Palaeontology Section, Earth Science Department, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | | | - Michael J. Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, UK
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18
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Jamison-Todd S, Moon BC, Rowe AJ, Williams M, Benton MJ. Dietary niche partitioning in Early Jurassic ichthyosaurs from Strawberry Bank. J Anat 2022; 241:1409-1423. [PMID: 36175086 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13744] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2021] [Revised: 08/02/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Jurassic ichthyosaurs dominated upper trophic levels of marine ecosystems. Many species coexisted alongside each another, and it is uncertain whether they competed for the same array of food or divided dietary resources, each specializing in different kinds of prey. Here, we test whether feeding differences existed between species, applying finite element analysis to ichthyosaurs for the first time. We examine two juvenile ichthyosaur specimens, referred to Hauffiopteryx typicus and Stenopterygius triscissus, from the Strawberry Bank Lagerstätte, a shallow marine environment from the Early Jurassic of southern England (Toarcian, ~183 Ma). Snout and cranial robusticity differ between the species, with S. triscissus having a more robust snout and cranium and specializing in slow biting of hard prey, and H. typicus with its slender snout specializing in fast, but weaker bites on fast-moving, but soft prey. The two species did not differ in muscle forces, but stress distributions varied in the nasal area, reflecting differences when biting at different points along the tooth row: the more robustly snouted Stenopterygius resisted increases or shifts in stress distribution when the bite point was shifted from the posterior to the mid-point of the tooth row, but the slender-snouted Hauffiopteryx showed shifts and increases in stress distributions between these two bite points. The differences in cranial morphology, dentition and inferred stresses between the two species suggest adaptations for dietary niche partitioning.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Benjamin C Moon
- Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Andre J Rowe
- Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Matt Williams
- Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, Bath, UK
| | - Michael J Benton
- Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
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19
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Newham E, Gill PG, Benton MJ, Brewer P, Gostling NJ, Haberthür D, Jernvall J, Kankanpää T, Kallonen A, Navarro C, Pacureanu A, Richards K, Robson Brown K, Schneider P, Suhonen H, Tafforeau P, Williams K, Zeller-Plumhoff B, Corfe IJ. Reply to: Revisiting life history and morphological proxies for early mammaliaform metabolic rates. Nat Commun 2022; 13:5564. [PMID: 36151135 PMCID: PMC9508248 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32716-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2021] [Accepted: 08/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Elis Newham
- School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
| | - Pamela G Gill
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. .,Earth Sciences Department, Natural History Museum, London, UK.
| | | | - Philippa Brewer
- Earth Sciences Department, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Neil J Gostling
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | | | - Jukka Jernvall
- Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Tuomas Kankanpää
- Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Aki Kallonen
- Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Charles Navarro
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | | | | | - Kate Robson Brown
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.,Department of Engineering Mathematics, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Philipp Schneider
- Bioengineering Science Research Group, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.,High-Performance Vision Systems, Center for Vision, Automation & Control, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Vienna, Austria
| | - Heikki Suhonen
- Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Paul Tafforeau
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
| | - Katherine Williams
- Bioengineering Science Research Group, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.,School of Biological Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK
| | - Berit Zeller-Plumhoff
- Institute of Metallic Biomaterials, Helmholtz-Zentrum hereon GmbH, Geesthacht, Germany
| | - Ian J Corfe
- Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. .,Geological Survey of Finland, Espoo, Finland.
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20
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Cermeño P, García-Comas C, Pohl A, Williams S, Benton MJ, Chaudhary C, Le Gland G, Müller RD, Ridgwell A, Vallina SM. Post-extinction recovery of the Phanerozoic oceans and biodiversity hotspots. Nature 2022; 607:507-511. [PMID: 35831505 PMCID: PMC9300466 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04932-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [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: 10/24/2021] [Accepted: 06/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
The fossil record of marine invertebrates has long fuelled the debate as to whether or not there are limits to global diversity in the sea1-5. Ecological theory states that, as diversity grows and ecological niches are filled, the strengthening of biological interactions imposes limits on diversity6,7. However, the extent to which biological interactions have constrained the growth of diversity over evolutionary time remains an open question1-5,8-11. Here we present a regional diversification model that reproduces the main Phanerozoic eon trends in the global diversity of marine invertebrates after imposing mass extinctions. We find that the dynamics of global diversity are best described by a diversification model that operates widely within the exponential growth regime of a logistic function. A spatially resolved analysis of the ratio of diversity to carrying capacity reveals that less than 2% of the global flooded continental area throughout the Phanerozoic exhibits diversity levels approaching ecological saturation. We attribute the overall increase in global diversity during the Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras to the development of diversity hotspots under prolonged conditions of Earth system stability and maximum continental fragmentation. We call this the 'diversity hotspots hypothesis', which we propose as a non-mutually exclusive alternative to the hypothesis that the Mesozoic marine revolution led this macroevolutionary trend12,13.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Cermeño
- Institut de Ciències del Mar, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Carmen García-Comas
- Institut de Ciències del Mar, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Alexandre Pohl
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA
- Biogéosciences, UMR 6282, UBFC/CNRS, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France
| | - Simon Williams
- State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi'an, China
- EarthByte Group, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | | | - Chhaya Chaudhary
- Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - Guillaume Le Gland
- Institut de Ciències del Mar, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Barcelona, Spain
| | - R Dietmar Müller
- EarthByte Group, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Andy Ridgwell
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Sergio M Vallina
- Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Gijón, Spain
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21
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Feng X, Chen ZQ, Benton MJ, Su C, Bottjer DJ, Cribb AT, Li Z, Zhao L, Zhu G, Huang Y, Guo Z. Resilience of infaunal ecosystems during the Early Triassic greenhouse Earth. Sci Adv 2022; 8:eabo0597. [PMID: 35767613 PMCID: PMC9242451 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo0597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The Permian-Triassic mass extinction severely depleted biodiversity, primarily observed in the body fossil of well-skeletonized animals. Understanding how whole ecosystems were affected and rebuilt following the crisis requires evidence from both skeletonized and soft-bodied animals; the best comprehensive information on soft-bodied animals comes from ichnofossils. We analyzed abundant trace fossils from 26 sections across the Permian-Triassic boundary in China and report key metrics of ichnodiversity, ichnodisparity, ecospace utilization, and ecosystem engineering. We find that infaunal ecologic structure was well established in the early Smithian. Decoupling of diversity between deposit feeders and suspension feeders in carbonate ramp-platform settings implies that an effect of trophic group amensalism could have delayed the recovery of nonmotile, suspension-feeding epifauna in the Early Triassic. This differential reaction of infaunal ecosystems to variable environmental controls thus played a substantial but heretofore little appreciated evolutionary and ecologic role in the overall recovery in the hot Early Triassic ocean.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueqian Feng
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Zhong-Qiang Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Michael J. Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK
| | - Chunmei Su
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - David J. Bottjer
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Alison T. Cribb
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Ziheng Li
- State Key Laboratory of Geological Process and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Laishi Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Geological Process and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Guangyou Zhu
- Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Yuangeng Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Zhen Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
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22
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Flannery-Sutherland JT, Silvestro D, Benton MJ. Global diversity dynamics in the fossil record are regionally heterogeneous. Nat Commun 2022; 13:2751. [PMID: 35585069 PMCID: PMC9117201 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30507-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2019] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Global diversity patterns in the fossil record comprise a mosaic of regional trends, underpinned by spatially non-random drivers and distorted by variation in sampling intensity through time and across space. Sampling-corrected diversity estimates from spatially-standardised fossil datasets retain their regional biogeographic nuances and avoid these biases, yet diversity-through-time arises from the interplay of origination and extinction, the processes that shape macroevolutionary history. Here we present a subsampling algorithm to eliminate spatial sampling bias, coupled with advanced probabilistic methods for estimating origination and extinction rates and a Bayesian method for estimating sampling-corrected diversity. We then re-examine the Late Permian to Early Jurassic marine fossil record, an interval spanning several global biotic upheavals that shaped the origins of the modern marine biosphere. We find that origination and extinction rates are regionally heterogenous even during events that manifested globally, highlighting the need for spatially explicit views of macroevolutionary processes through geological time. Global diversity trends in the fossil record vary regionally through time and space, affecting our ability to interpret macroevolutionary history. Here, the authors propose a method to eliminate spatial sampling bias, estimate origination and extinction rates, and generate diversity estimates, applying this method to the Late Permian to Early Jurassic marine fossil record.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Daniele Silvestro
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.,Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Global Gothenburg Biodiversity Centre, Gothenburg, Sweden
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23
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Bolet A, Stubbs TL, Herrera-Flores JA, Benton MJ. The Jurassic rise of squamates as supported by lepidosaur disparity and evolutionary rates. eLife 2022; 11:e66511. [PMID: 35502582 PMCID: PMC9064307 DOI: 10.7554/elife.66511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [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: 01/13/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The squamates (lizards, snakes, and relatives) today comprise more than 10,000 species, and yet their sister group, the Rhynchocephalia, is represented by a single species today, the tuatara. The explosion in squamate diversity has been tracked back to the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution, 100 million years ago (Ma), the time when flowering plants began their takeover of terrestrial ecosystems, associated with diversification of coevolving insects and insect-eating predators such as lizards, birds, and mammals. Squamates arose much earlier, but their long pre-Cretaceous history of some 150 million years (Myr) is documented by sparse fossils. Here, we provide evidence for an initial radiation of squamate morphology in the Middle and Late Jurassic (174-145 Ma), and show that they established their key ecological roles much earlier than had been assumed, and they have not changed them much since.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arnau Bolet
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaCerdanyola del VallèsSpain
- School of Earth Sciences, University of BristolBristolUnited Kingdom
| | - Thomas L Stubbs
- School of Earth Sciences, University of BristolBristolUnited Kingdom
| | | | - Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of BristolBristolUnited Kingdom
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24
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Benton MJ, Wilf P, Sauquet H. The Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution and the origins of modern biodiversity. New Phytol 2022; 233:2017-2035. [PMID: 34699613 DOI: 10.1111/nph.17822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Accepted: 09/09/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Biodiversity today has the unusual property that 85% of plant and animal species live on land rather than in the sea, and half of these live in tropical rainforests. An explosive boost to terrestrial diversity occurred from c. 100-50 million years ago, the Late Cretaceous and early Palaeogene. During this interval, the Earth-life system on land was reset, and the biosphere expanded to a new level of productivity, enhancing the capacity and species diversity of terrestrial environments. This boost in terrestrial biodiversity coincided with innovations in flowering plant biology and evolutionary ecology, including their flowers and efficiencies in reproduction; coevolution with animals, especially pollinators and herbivores; photosynthetic capacities; adaptability; and ability to modify habitats. The rise of angiosperms triggered a macroecological revolution on land and drove modern biodiversity in a secular, prolonged shift to new, high levels, a series of processes we name here the Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Peter Wilf
- Department of Geosciences and Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Hervé Sauquet
- National Herbarium of New South Wales, Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
- Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
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25
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Ballell A, Rayfield EJ, Benton MJ. Walking with early dinosaurs: appendicular myology of the Late Triassic sauropodomorph Thecodontosaurus antiquus. R Soc Open Sci 2022; 9:211356. [PMID: 35116154 PMCID: PMC8767213 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2021] [Accepted: 12/06/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Dinosaur evolution is marked by numerous independent shifts from bipedality to quadrupedality. Sauropodomorpha is one of the lineages that transitioned from small bipedal forms to graviportal quadrupeds, with an array of intermediate postural strategies evolving in non-sauropodan sauropodomorphs. This locomotor shift is reflected by multiple modifications of the appendicular skeleton, coupled with a drastic rearrangement of the limb musculature. Here, we describe the osteological correlates of appendicular muscle attachment of the Late Triassic sauropodomorph Thecodontosaurus antiquus from multiple well-preserved specimens and provide the first complete forelimb and hindlimb musculature reconstruction of an early-branching sauropodomorph. Comparisons with other sauropodomorphs and early dinosaurs reveal a unique combination of both plesiomorphic and derived musculoskeletal features. The diversity of appendicular osteological correlates among early dinosaurs and their relevance in muscle reconstruction are discussed. In line with previous evidence, aspects of the limb muscle arrangement, such as conspicuous correlates of lower limb extensors and flexors and low moment arms of hip extensors and flexors, suggest Thecodontosaurus was an agile biped. This reconstruction helps to elucidate the timing of important modifications of the appendicular musculature in the evolution of sauropodomorphs which facilitated the transition to quadrupedalism and contributed to their evolutionary success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Ballell
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Emily J. Rayfield
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Michael J. Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
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Benton MJ, Currie PJ, Xu X. A thing with feathers. Curr Biol 2021; 31:R1406-R1409. [PMID: 34752760 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.09.064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Michael Benton and colleagues reminisce about the discovery of Sinosauripteryx, the first feathered dinosaur.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK.
| | - Philip J Currie
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta 116 Street and 85 Avenue, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada
| | - Xing Xu
- IVPP, 142 Xizhimenwai Street, PO Box 643, Beijing 100044, China
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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; 31:3705-3706. [PMID: 34428406 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Sakamoto M, Benton MJ, Venditti C. Strong support for a heterogeneous speciation decline model in Dinosauria: a response to claims made by Bonsor et al. (2020). R Soc Open Sci 2021; 8:202143. [PMID: 34457325 PMCID: PMC8385376 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.202143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2020] [Accepted: 06/16/2021] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Through phylogenetic modelling, we previously presented strong support for diversification decline in the three major subclades of dinosaurs (Sakamoto et al. 2016 Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 113, 5036-5040. (doi:10.1073/pnas.1521478113)). Recently, our support for this model has been criticized (Bonsor et al. 2020 R. Soc. Open Sci. 7, 201195. (doi:10.1098/rsos.201195)). Here, we highlight that these criticisms seem to largely stem from a misunderstanding of our study: contrary to Bonsor et al.'s claims, our model accounts for heterogeneity in diversification dynamics, was selected based on deviance information criterion (DIC) scores (not parameter significance), and intercepts were estimated to account for uncertainties in the root age of the phylogenetic tree. We also demonstrate that their new analyses are not comparable to our models: they fit simple, Dinosauria-wide models as a direct comparison to our group-wise models, and their additional trees are subclades that are limited in taxonomic coverage and temporal span, i.e. severely affected by incomplete sampling. We further present results of new analyses on larger, better-sampled trees (N = 961) of dinosaurs, showing support for the time-quadratic model. Disagreements in how we interpret modelled diversification dynamics are to be expected, but criticisms should be based on sound logic and understanding of the model under discussion.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Chris Venditti
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
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Singh SA, Elsler A, Stubbs TL, Bond R, Rayfield EJ, Benton MJ. Author Correction: Niche partitioning shaped herbivore macroevolution through the early Mesozoic. Nat Commun 2021; 12:4591. [PMID: 34294709 PMCID: PMC8298476 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24593-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Suresh A Singh
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
| | - Armin Elsler
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Thomas L Stubbs
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Russell Bond
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
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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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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Benton MJ, Silva-Smith AL, Spicher JM. Muscle Loss is Associated with Risk of Orthostatic Hypotension in Older Men and Women. J Frailty Aging 2021; 10:219-225. [PMID: 34105704 DOI: 10.14283/jfa.2020.72] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Muscle provides a reservoir for water to maintain fluid volume and blood pressure, so older adults may be at risk for orthostatic hypotension due to muscle loss with age. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the association between muscle loss with age and postural blood pressure. DESIGN Longitudinal comparison of overnight changes in hydration, postural blood pressure, and strength. SETTING Community field study. PARTICIPANTS Sixty-nine men and women (76.0 ± 0.8 years) with low (Low) or normal (Normal) muscle based on the Lean Mass Index. MEASUREMENTS Body composition was measured with bioelectrical impedance analysis. Postural blood pressure was measured sequentially (lying, sitting, standing). Strength was measured with a handgrip dynamometer, Arm Curl test, and Chair Stand test. RESULTS On Day 1, Low had less hydration and a significant drop in postural systolic blood pressure compared to Normal (lying to standing: -11.06 ± 2.36 vs. +1.14 ± 2.20 mmHg, p < 0.001). Overnight, both groups lost significant total body water, while fluid volume was unchanged. On Day 2, both groups experienced significant drops in postural systolic blood pressure, although the drop in Low was more profound and significantly greater than Normal (lying to standing: -16.85 ± 2.50 vs. -3.89 ± 2.52 mmHg, p = 0.001). On both days, Normal compensated for postural changes with increases in postural diastolic blood pressure not observed in Low. Only Low experienced significant overnight decreases in all strength measures. CONCLUSIONS In older men and women, muscle loss with age is accompanied by loss of hydration and less stable early morning postural systolic blood pressure that increase risk for orthostatic hypotension and can also increase risk for falls.
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Affiliation(s)
- M J Benton
- Melissa J. Benton, PhD, RN, Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway, Colorado Springs, CO 80918, phone: +1-719-255-4140,
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Singh SA, Elsler A, Stubbs TL, Bond R, Rayfield EJ, Benton MJ. Niche partitioning shaped herbivore macroevolution through the early Mesozoic. Nat Commun 2021; 12:2796. [PMID: 33990610 PMCID: PMC8121902 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23169-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2020] [Accepted: 04/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The Triassic (252-201 Ma) marks a major punctuation in Earth history, when ecosystems rebuilt themselves following the devastating Permian-Triassic mass extinction. Herbivory evolved independently several times as ecosystems comprising diverse assemblages of therapsids, parareptiles and archosauromorphs rose and fell, leading to a world dominated by dinosaurs. It was assumed that dinosaurs prevailed either through long-term competitive replacement of the incumbent clades or rapidly and opportunistically following one or more extinction events. Here we use functional morphology and ecology to explore herbivore morphospace through the Triassic and Early Jurassic. We identify five main herbivore guilds (ingestion generalists, prehension specialists, durophagous specialists, shearing pulpers, and heavy oral processors), and find that herbivore clades generally avoided competition by almost exclusively occupying different guilds. Major ecosystem remodelling was triggered multiple times by external environmental challenges, and previously dominant herbivores were marginalised by newly emerging forms. Dinosaur dominance was a mix of opportunity following disaster, combined with competitive advantage in their new world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suresh A Singh
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
| | - Armin Elsler
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Thomas L Stubbs
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Russell Bond
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
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Huang Y, Chen ZQ, Roopnarine PD, Benton MJ, Yang W, Liu J, Zhao L, Li Z, Guo Z. Ecological dynamics of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems across three mid-Phanerozoic mass extinctions from northwest China. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20210148. [PMID: 33726593 PMCID: PMC8059510 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [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] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The Earth has been beset by many crises during its history, and yet comparing the ecological impacts of these mass extinctions has been difficult. Key questions concern the kinds of species that go extinct and survive, how communities rebuild in the post-extinction recovery phase, and especially how the scaling of events affects these processes. Here, we explore ecological impacts of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems in three mass extinctions through the mid-Phanerozoic, a span of 121 million years (295–174 Ma). This critical duration encompasses the largest mass extinction of all time, the Permian–Triassic (P–Tr) and is flanked by two smaller crises, the Guadalupian–Lopingian (G–L) and Triassic–Jurassic (T–J) mass extinctions. Palaeocommunity dynamics modelling of 14 terrestrial and freshwater communities through a long sedimentary succession from the lower Permian to the lower Jurassic in northern Xinjiang, northwest China, shows that the P–Tr mass extinction differed from the other two in two ways: (i) ecological recovery from this extinction was prolonged and the three post-extinction communities in the Early Triassic showed low stability and highly variable and unpredictable responses to perturbation primarily following the huge losses of species, guilds and trophic space; and (ii) the G–L and T–J extinctions were each preceded by low-stability communities, but post-extinction recovery was rapid. Our results confirm the uniqueness of the P–Tr mass extinction and shed light on the trophic structure and ecological dynamics of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems across the three mid-Phanerozoic extinctions, and how complex communities respond to environmental stress and how communities recovered after the crisis. Comparisons with the coeval communities from the Karoo Basin, South Africa show that geographically and compositionally different communities of terrestrial ecosystems were affected in much the same way by the P–Tr extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuangeng Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, People's Republic of China.,Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA
| | - Zhong-Qiang Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, People's Republic of China
| | - Peter D Roopnarine
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, People's Republic of China.,Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA
| | - Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Wan Yang
- Geology and Geophysics Program, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65409, USA
| | - Jun Liu
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, People's Republic of China
| | - Laishi Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Resource Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhenhua Li
- School of Computer Science, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhen Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, People's Republic of China
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Stubbs TL, Pierce SE, Elsler A, Anderson PSL, Rayfield EJ, Benton MJ. Ecological opportunity and the rise and fall of crocodylomorph evolutionary innovation. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20210069. [PMID: 33757349 PMCID: PMC8059953 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [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] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the origin, expansion and loss of biodiversity is fundamental to evolutionary biology. The approximately 26 living species of crocodylomorphs (crocodiles, caimans, alligators and gharials) represent just a snapshot of the group's rich 230-million-year history, whereas the fossil record reveals a hidden past of great diversity and innovation, including ocean and land-dwelling forms, herbivores, omnivores and apex predators. In this macroevolutionary study of skull and jaw shape disparity, we show that crocodylomorph ecomorphological variation peaked in the Cretaceous, before declining in the Cenozoic, and the rise and fall of disparity was associated with great heterogeneity in evolutionary rates. Taxonomically diverse and ecologically divergent Mesozoic crocodylomorphs, like marine thalattosuchians and terrestrial notosuchians, rapidly evolved novel skull and jaw morphologies to fill specialized adaptive zones. Disparity in semi-aquatic predatory crocodylians, the only living crocodylomorph representatives, accumulated steadily, and they evolved more slowly for most of the last 80 million years, but despite their conservatism there is no evidence for long-term evolutionary stagnation. These complex evolutionary dynamics reflect ecological opportunities, that were readily exploited by some Mesozoic crocodylomorphs but more limited in Cenozoic crocodylians.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Stephanie E Pierce
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Armin Elsler
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, UK
| | - Philip S L Anderson
- Animal Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
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Herrera-Flores JA, Stubbs TL, Benton MJ. Ecomorphological diversification of squamates in the Cretaceous. R Soc Open Sci 2021; 8:201961. [PMID: 33959350 PMCID: PMC8074880 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.201961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Accepted: 01/12/2021] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Squamates (lizards and snakes) are highly successful modern vertebrates, with over 10 000 species. Squamates have a long history, dating back to at least 240 million years ago (Ma), and showing increasing species richness in the Late Cretaceous (84 Ma) and Early Palaeogene (66-55 Ma). We confirm that the major expansion of dietary functional morphology happened before these diversifications, in the mid-Cretaceous, 110-90 Ma. Until that time, squamates had relatively uniform tooth types, which then diversified substantially and ecomorphospace expanded to modern levels. This coincides with the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution, when angiosperms began to take over terrestrial ecosystems, providing new roles for plant-eating and pollinating insects, which were, in turn, new sources of food for herbivorous and insectivorous squamates. There was also an early Late Cretaceous (95-90 Ma) rise in jaw size disparity, driven by the diversification of marine squamates, particularly early mosasaurs. These events established modern levels of squamate feeding ecomorphology before the major steps in species diversification, confirming decoupling of diversity and disparity. In fact, squamate feeding ecomorphospace had been partially explored in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, and jaw innovation in Late Cretaceous squamates involved expansions at the extremes of morphospace.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jorge A. Herrera-Flores
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Thomas L. Stubbs
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Michael J. Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
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Abstract
Ever since Darwin, biologists have debated the relative roles of external and internal drivers of large-scale evolution. The distributions and ecology of living crocodilians are controlled by environmental factors such as temperature. Crocodilians have a rich history, including amphibious, marine and terrestrial forms spanning the past 247 Myr. It is uncertain whether their evolution has been driven by extrinsic factors, such as climate change and mass extinctions, or intrinsic factors like sexual selection and competition. Using a new phylogeny of crocodilians and their relatives, we model evolutionary rates using phylogenetic comparative methods. We find that body size evolution follows a punctuated, variable rate model of evolution, consistent with environmental drivers of evolution, with periods of stability interrupted by periods of change. Regression analyses show warmer environmental temperatures are associated with high evolutionary rates and large body sizes. We confirm that environmental factors played a significant role in the evolution of crocodiles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximilian T. Stockdale
- grid.5337.20000 0004 1936 7603School of Geographical Sciences, University Road, Bristol, BS8 1RL United Kingdom
| | - Michael J. Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ United Kingdom
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38
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Hu K, King JL, Romick CA, Dufeau DL, Witmer LM, Stubbs TL, Rayfield EJ, Benton MJ. Ontogenetic endocranial shape change in alligators and ostriches and implications for the development of the non-avian dinosaur endocranium. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2020; 304:1759-1775. [PMID: 33314780 DOI: 10.1002/ar.24579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [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: 03/10/2020] [Revised: 11/20/2020] [Accepted: 11/27/2020] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Birds and crocodiles show radically different patterns of brain development, and it is of interest to compare these to determine the pattern of brain growth expected in dinosaurs. Here we provide atlases of 3D brain (endocast) reconstructions for Alligator mississippiensis (alligator) and Struthio camelus (ostrich) through ontogeny, prepared as digital restorations from CT scans of stained head and dry skull specimens. Our morphometric analysis confirms that ostrich brains do not change significantly in shape during postnatal growth, whereas alligator brains unfold from a cramped bird-like shape in the hatchling to an elongate, straight structure in the adult. We confirm that birds exhibit paedomorphic dinosaur endocranial traits such as retaining an enlarged and compact brain shape in the adult, whereas crocodiles show peramorphic traits where the brain elongates with growth as the skull elongates. These atlases of ontogenetic stages of modern bird and crocodilian endocrania provide a basis for comparison of non-avian dinosaur endocasts and consideration of the divergence of the "avian" and "crocodilian" modes of brain development and heterochronic change on phylogenies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krishna Hu
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - J Logan King
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Cheyenne A Romick
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, USA
| | - David L Dufeau
- Department of Biomedical Science, Marian University, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
| | - Lawrence M Witmer
- Department of Biomedical Science, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, USA
| | - Thomas L Stubbs
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
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Ballell A, King JL, Neenan JM, Rayfield EJ, Benton MJ. The braincase, brain and palaeobiology of the basal sauropodomorph dinosaur Thecodontosaurus antiquus. Zool J Linn Soc 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Sauropodomorph dinosaurs underwent drastic changes in their anatomy and ecology throughout their evolution. The Late Triassic Thecodontosaurus antiquus occupies a basal position within Sauropodomorpha, being a key taxon for documenting how those morphofunctional transitions occurred. Here, we redescribe the braincase osteology and reconstruct the neuroanatomy of Thecodontosaurus, based on computed tomography data. The braincase of Thecodontosaurus shares the presence of medial basioccipital components of the basal tubera and a U-shaped basioccipital–parabasisphenoid suture with other basal sauropodomorphs and shows a distinct combination of characters: a straight outline of the braincase floor, an undivided metotic foramen, an unossified gap, large floccular fossae, basipterygoid processes perpendicular to the cultriform process in lateral view and a rhomboid foramen magnum. We reinterpret these braincase features in the light of new discoveries in dinosaur anatomy. Our endocranial reconstruction reveals important aspects of the palaeobiology of Thecodontosaurus, supporting a bipedal stance and cursorial habits, with adaptations to retain a steady head and gaze while moving. We also estimate its hearing frequency and range based on endosseous labyrinth morphology. Our study provides new information on the pattern of braincase and endocranial evolution in Sauropodomorpha.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Ballell
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - J Logan King
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - James M Neenan
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford, UK
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40
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Venditti C, Baker J, Benton MJ, Meade A, Humphries S. 150 million years of sustained increase in pterosaur flight efficiency. Nature 2020; 587:83-86. [PMID: 33116315 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2858-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2020] [Accepted: 08/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The long-term accumulation of biodiversity has been punctuated by remarkable evolutionary transitions that allowed organisms to exploit new ecological opportunities. Mesozoic flying reptiles (the pterosaurs), which dominated the skies for more than 150 million years, were the product of one such transition. The ancestors of pterosaurs were small and probably bipedal early archosaurs1, which were certainly well-adapted to terrestrial locomotion. Pterosaurs diverged from dinosaur ancestors in the Early Triassic epoch (around 245 million years ago); however, the first fossils of pterosaurs are dated to 25 million years later, in the Late Triassic epoch. Therefore, in the absence of proto-pterosaur fossils, it is difficult to study how flight first evolved in this group. Here we describe the evolutionary dynamics of the adaptation of pterosaurs to a new method of locomotion. The earliest known pterosaurs took flight and subsequently appear to have become capable and efficient flyers. However, it seems clear that transitioning between forms of locomotion2,3-from terrestrial to volant-challenged early pterosaurs by imposing a high energetic burden, thus requiring flight to provide some offsetting fitness benefits. Using phylogenetic statistical methods and biophysical models combined with information from the fossil record, we detect an evolutionary signal of natural selection that acted to increase flight efficiency over millions of years. Our results show that there was still considerable room for improvement in terms of efficiency after the appearance of flight. However, in the Azhdarchoidea4, a clade that exhibits gigantism, we test the hypothesis that there was a decreased reliance on flight5-7 and find evidence for reduced selection on flight efficiency in this clade. Our approach offers a blueprint to objectively study functional and energetic changes through geological time at a more nuanced level than has previously been possible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris Venditti
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
| | - Joanna Baker
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | | | - Andrew Meade
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
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41
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Newham E, Gill PG, Brewer P, Benton MJ, Fernandez V, Gostling NJ, Haberthür D, Jernvall J, Kankaanpää T, Kallonen A, Navarro C, Pacureanu A, Richards K, Brown KR, Schneider P, Suhonen H, Tafforeau P, Williams KA, Zeller-Plumhoff B, Corfe IJ. Reptile-like physiology in Early Jurassic stem-mammals. Nat Commun 2020; 11:5121. [PMID: 33046697 PMCID: PMC7550344 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18898-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2019] [Accepted: 09/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite considerable advances in knowledge of the anatomy, ecology and evolution of early mammals, far less is known about their physiology. Evidence is contradictory concerning the timing and fossil groups in which mammalian endothermy arose. To determine the state of metabolic evolution in two of the earliest stem-mammals, the Early Jurassic Morganucodon and Kuehneotherium, we use separate proxies for basal and maximum metabolic rate. Here we report, using synchrotron X-ray tomographic imaging of incremental tooth cementum, that they had maximum lifespans considerably longer than comparably sized living mammals, but similar to those of reptiles, and so they likely had reptilian-level basal metabolic rates. Measurements of femoral nutrient foramina show Morganucodon had blood flow rates intermediate between living mammals and reptiles, suggesting maximum metabolic rates increased evolutionarily before basal metabolic rates. Stem mammals lacked the elevated endothermic metabolism of living mammals, highlighting the mosaic nature of mammalian physiological evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elis Newham
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. .,Bioengineering Science Research Group, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
| | - Pamela G Gill
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. .,Earth Sciences Department, The Natural History Museum, London, UK.
| | - Philippa Brewer
- Earth Sciences Department, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | | | - Vincent Fernandez
- Core Research Laboratories, The Natural History Museum, London, UK.,ESRF, The European Synchrotron, Grenoble, France
| | - Neil J Gostling
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - David Haberthür
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland.,Institute of Anatomy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Jukka Jernvall
- Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Tuomas Kankaanpää
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Aki Kallonen
- Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Charles Navarro
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | | | | | - Kate Robson Brown
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Philipp Schneider
- Bioengineering Science Research Group, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Heikki Suhonen
- Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | | | - Katherine A Williams
- Bioengineering Science Research Group, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Berit Zeller-Plumhoff
- Institute for Materials Research, Division of Metallic Biomaterials, Helmholtz Zentrum Geesthacht, Geesthacht, Germany
| | - Ian J Corfe
- Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. .,Geomaterials and Applied Mineralogy group, Geological Survey of Finland, Espoo, Finland.
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42
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Yang Z, Jiang B, McNamara ME, Kearns SL, Pittman M, Kaye TG, Orr PJ, Xu X, Benton MJ. Reply to: No protofeathers on pterosaurs. Nat Ecol Evol 2020; 4:1592-1593. [PMID: 32989267 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-01309-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2019] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zixiao Yang
- Center for Research and Education on Biological Evolution and Environments, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Baoyu Jiang
- Center for Research and Education on Biological Evolution and Environments, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
| | - Maria E McNamara
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
| | - Stuart L Kearns
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Michael Pittman
- Vertebrate Palaeontology Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Thomas G Kaye
- Foundation for Scientific Advancement, Sierra Vista, AZ, USA
| | - Patrick J Orr
- UCD School of Earth Sciences, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Xing Xu
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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43
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Dal Corso J, Bernardi M, Sun Y, Song H, Seyfullah LJ, Preto N, Gianolla P, Ruffell A, Kustatscher E, Roghi G, Merico A, Hohn S, Schmidt AR, Marzoli A, Newton RJ, Wignall PB, Benton MJ. Extinction and dawn of the modern world in the Carnian (Late Triassic). Sci Adv 2020; 6:6/38/eaba0099. [PMID: 32938682 PMCID: PMC7494334 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba0099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2019] [Accepted: 07/31/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The Carnian Pluvial Episode (Late Triassic) was a time of global environmental changes and possibly substantial coeval volcanism. The extent of the biological turnover in marine and terrestrial ecosystems is not well understood. Here, we present a meta-analysis of fossil data that suggests a substantial reduction in generic and species richness and the disappearance of 33% of marine genera. This crisis triggered major radiations. In the sea, the rise of the first scleractinian reefs and rock-forming calcareous nannofossils points to substantial changes in ocean chemistry. On land, there were major diversifications and originations of conifers, insects, dinosaurs, crocodiles, lizards, turtles, and mammals. Although there is uncertainty on the precise age of some of the recorded biological changes, these observations indicate that the Carnian Pluvial Episode was linked to a major extinction event and might have been the trigger of the spectacular radiation of many key groups that dominate modern ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacopo Dal Corso
- School of Earth and Environments, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK.
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences Wuhan, Wuhan, China
| | - Massimo Bernardi
- MUSE-Science Museum, 38122 Trento, Italy
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK
| | - Yadong Sun
- GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Haijun Song
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences Wuhan, Wuhan, China
| | - Leyla J Seyfullah
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, 1090 Wien, Austria
| | - Nereo Preto
- Department of Geosciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Piero Gianolla
- Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, University of Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Alastair Ruffell
- School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland, UK
| | - Evelyn Kustatscher
- Museum of Nature South Tyrol, 39100 Bozen/Bolzano, Italy
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Paleontology & Geobiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80333 München, Germany
- SNSB-Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, 80333 München, Germany
| | - Guido Roghi
- Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources (IGG-CNR), 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Agostino Merico
- Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), 28359 Bremen, Germany
- Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen, 28759 Bremen, Germany
| | - Sönke Hohn
- Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), 28359 Bremen, Germany
| | | | - Andrea Marzoli
- Department of Geosciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Robert J Newton
- School of Earth and Environments, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
| | - Paul B Wignall
- School of Earth and Environments, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
| | - Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK.
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44
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Saitta ET, Stockdale MT, Longrich NR, Bonhomme V, Benton MJ, Cuthill IC, Makovicky PJ. An effect size statistical framework for investigating sexual dimorphism in non-avian dinosaurs and other extinct taxa. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blaa105] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Despite reports of sexual dimorphism in extinct taxa, such claims in non-avian dinosaurs have been rare over the last decade and have often been criticized. Since dimorphism is widespread in sexually reproducing organisms today, under-reporting in the literature might suggest either methodological shortcomings or that this diverse group exhibited highly unusual reproductive biology. Univariate significance testing, especially for bimodality, is ineffective and prone to false negatives. Species recognition and mutual sexual selection hypotheses, therefore, may not be required to explain supposed absence of sexual dimorphism across the grade (a type II error). Instead, multiple lines of evidence support sexual selection and variation of structures consistent with secondary sexual characteristics, strongly suggesting sexual dimorphism in non-avian dinosaurs. We propose a framework for studying sexual dimorphism in fossils, focusing on likely secondary sexual traits and testing against all alternate hypotheses for variation in them using multiple lines of evidence. We use effect size statistics appropriate for low sample sizes, rather than significance testing, to analyse potential divergence of growth curves in traits and constrain estimates for dimorphism magnitude. In many cases, estimates of sexual variation can be reasonably accurate, and further developments in methods to improve sex assignments and account for intrasexual variation (e.g. mixture modelling) will improve accuracy. It is better to compare estimates for the magnitude of and support for dimorphism between datasets than to dichotomously reject or fail to reject monomorphism in a single species, enabling the study of sexual selection across phylogenies and time. We defend our approach with simulated and empirical data, including dinosaur data, showing that even simple approaches can yield fairly accurate estimates of sexual variation in many cases, allowing for comparison of species with high and low support for sexual variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evan T Saitta
- Life Sciences Section, Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, USA
| | | | - Nicholas R Longrich
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry and Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath, Bath, UK
| | - Vincent Bonhomme
- Institut des sciences de l’évolution, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | | | - Innes C Cuthill
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Peter J Makovicky
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
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45
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Abstract
Models for future environmental change all involve global warming, whether slow or fast. Predicting how plants and animals will respond to such warming can be aided by using ecogeographic biological 'rules', some long-established, that make predictions based on observations in nature, as well as plausible physiological and ecological expectations. Bergmann's rule is well known, namely that warm-blooded animals are generally smaller in warm climates, but six further temperature-related rules - Allen's rule, Gloger's rule, Hesse's rule, Jordan's rule, Rapoport's rule and Thorson's rule - are also worth considering as predictive tools. These rules have been discussed in the recent ecological and physiological literature, and in some cases meta-analytical studies of multiple studies show how they are applicable across taxa and in particular physical environmental situations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Tian
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China.
| | - Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TS, UK.
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46
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Gutarra S, Moon BC, Rahman IA, Palmer C, Lautenschlager S, Brimacombe AJ, Benton MJ. Effects of body plan evolution on the hydrodynamic drag and energy requirements of swimming in ichthyosaurs. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 286:20182786. [PMID: 30836867 PMCID: PMC6458325 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.2786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [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] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Ichthyosaurs are an extinct group of fully marine tetrapods that were well adapted to aquatic locomotion. During their approximately 160 Myr existence, they evolved from elongate and serpentine forms into stockier, fish-like animals, convergent with sharks and dolphins. Here, we use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to quantify the impact of this transition on the energy demands of ichthyosaur swimming for the first time. We run computational simulations of water flow using three-dimensional digital models of nine ichthyosaurs and an extant functional analogue, a bottlenose dolphin, providing the first quantitative evaluation of ichthyosaur hydrodynamics across phylogeny. Our results show that morphology did not have a major effect on the drag coefficient or the energy cost of steady swimming through geological time. We show that even the early ichthyosaurs produced low levels of drag for a given volume, comparable to those of a modern dolphin, and that deep ‘torpedo-shaped’ bodies did not reduce the cost of locomotion. Our analysis also provides important insight into the choice of scaling parameters for CFD applied to swimming mechanics, and underlines the great influence of body size evolution on ichthyosaur locomotion. A combination of large bodies and efficient swimming modes lowered the cost of steady swimming as ichthyosaurs became increasingly adapted to a pelagic existence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susana Gutarra
- 1 School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol , Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ , UK
| | - Benjamin C Moon
- 1 School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol , Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ , UK
| | - Imran A Rahman
- 2 Oxford University Museum of Natural History , Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW , UK
| | - Colin Palmer
- 1 School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol , Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ , UK
| | - Stephan Lautenschlager
- 3 School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham , Birmingham B15 2TT , UK
| | - Alison J Brimacombe
- 1 School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol , Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ , UK
| | - Michael J Benton
- 1 School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol , Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ , UK
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47
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Bullar CM, Zhao Q, Benton MJ, Ryan MJ. Ontogenetic braincase development in Psittacosaurus lujiatunensis (Dinosauria: Ceratopsia) using micro-computed tomography. PeerJ 2019; 7:e7217. [PMID: 31428535 PMCID: PMC6698140 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.7217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [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: 10/23/2018] [Accepted: 05/31/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Ontogenetic sequences are relatively rare among dinosaurs, with Ceratopsia being one of the better represented clades, and especially among geologically earlier forms, such as Psittacosaurus. Psittacosaurus is a small, bipedal basal ceratopsian abundant in the Lower Cretaceous deposits of Asia, whose cranial and endocranial morphology has been well studied, but only cursory details have been published on the bones surrounding the brain. Using reconstructions created from micro-computed tomography scans of well-preserved skulls from the Barremian–Aptian Yixian Formation, China, we document morphological changes in the braincase of Psittacosaurus lujiatunensis through three growth stages, hatchling, juvenile, and adult, thus providing the first detailed study of ceratopsian braincase morphology through ontogeny. Notable ontogenetic changes in the braincase of P. lujiatunensis include a dramatic relative reduction in size of the supraoccipital, an increase in the lateral expansion of the paroccipital processes and a decrease in the angle between the lateral semicircular canal and the palatal plane. These ontogenetic morphological changes in the braincase relate to expansion of the cranium and brain through growth, as well as reflecting the switch from quadrupedal juveniles to bipedal adults as documented in the changing orientation of the horizontal semicircular canal through ontogeny. Recognition of these patterns in a basal ceratopsian has implications for understanding key events in later ceratopsian evolution, such as the development of the parieto-squamosal frill in derived neoceratopsians.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire M Bullar
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Qi Zhao
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.,Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | | | - Michael J Ryan
- Department of Earth Sciences, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
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48
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Benton MJ, Dhouailly D, Jiang B, McNamara M. The Early Origin of Feathers. Trends Ecol Evol 2019; 34:856-869. [PMID: 31164250 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2019.04.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [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: 02/20/2019] [Revised: 04/13/2019] [Accepted: 04/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Feathers have long been regarded as the innovation that drove the success of birds. However, feathers have been reported from close dinosaurian relatives of birds, and now from ornithischian dinosaurs and pterosaurs, the cousins of dinosaurs. Incomplete preservation makes these reports controversial. If true, these findings shift the origin of feathers back 80 million years before the origin of birds. Gene regulatory networks show the deep homology of scales, feathers, and hairs. Hair and feathers likely evolved in the Early Triassic ancestors of mammals and birds, at a time when synapsids and archosaurs show independent evidence of higher metabolic rates (erect gait and endothermy), as part of a major resetting of terrestrial ecosystems following the devastating end-Permian mass extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Baoyu Jiang
- School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Maria McNamara
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Cork, Cork, Ireland
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49
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Flannery Sutherland JT, Moon BC, Stubbs TL, Benton MJ. Does exceptional preservation distort our view of disparity in the fossil record? Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20190091. [PMID: 30963850 PMCID: PMC6408902 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2019] [Accepted: 02/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
How much of evolutionary history is lost because of the unevenness of the fossil record? Lagerstätten, sites which have historically yielded exceptionally preserved fossils, provide remarkable, yet distorting insights into past life. When examining macroevolutionary trends in the fossil record, they can generate an uneven sampling signal for taxonomic diversity; by comparison, their effect on morphological variety (disparity) is poorly understood. We show here that lagerstätten impact the disparity of ichthyosaurs, Mesozoic marine reptiles, by preserving higher diversity and more complete specimens. Elsewhere in the fossil record, undersampled diversity and more fragmentary specimens produce spurious results. We identify a novel effect, that a taxon moves towards the centroid of a Generalized Euclidean dataset as its proportion of missing data increases. We term this effect 'centroid slippage', as a disparity-based analogue of phylogenetic stemward slippage. Our results suggest that uneven sampling presents issues for our view of disparity in the fossil record, but that this is also dependent on the methodology used, especially true with widely used Generalized Euclidean distances. Mitigation of missing cladistic data is possible by phylogenetic gap filling, and heterogeneous effects of lagerstätten on disparity may be accounted for by understanding the factors affecting their spatio-temporal distribution.
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50
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Bernardi M, Petti FM, Benton MJ. Tetrapod distribution and temperature rise during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 285:rspb.2017.2331. [PMID: 29321300 PMCID: PMC5784198 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.2331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [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: 10/18/2017] [Accepted: 12/04/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The Permian–Triassic mass extinction (PTME) had an enormous impact on life in three ways: by substantially reducing diversity, by reshuffling the composition of ecosystems and by expelling life from the tropics following episodes of intense global warming. But was there really an ‘equatorial tetrapod gap', and how long did it last? Here, we consider both skeletal and footprint data, and find a more complex pattern: (i) tetrapods were distributed both at high and low latitudes during this time; (ii) there was a clear geographic disjunction through the PTME, with tetrapod distribution shifting 10–15° poleward; and (iii) there was a rapid expansion phase across the whole of Pangea following the PTME. These changes are consistent with a model of generalized migration of tetrapods to higher latitudinal, cooler regions, to escape from the superhot equatorial climate in the earliest Triassic, but the effect was shorter in time scale, and not as pronounced as had been proposed. In the recovery phase following the PTME, this episode of forced range expansion also appears to have promoted the emergence and radiation of entirely new groups, such as the archosaurs, including the dinosaurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Massimo Bernardi
- MUSE-Museo delle Scienze, Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza, 3, 38122 Trento, Italy .,School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK
| | - Fabio Massimo Petti
- MUSE-Museo delle Scienze, Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza, 3, 38122 Trento, Italy.,PaleoFactory - Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, Rome 00185, Italy
| | - Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK
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