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2,315 results for “Dinosaurs”
Data from: Multifaceted disparity approach reveals dinosaur herbivory flourished before the end-Cretaceous mass extinction
Understanding temporal patterns in biodiversity is an enduring question in paleontology. Compared to studies of taxonomic diversity, long-term perspectives on ecological diversity are rare, particularly in terrestrial systems. Yet ecological diversity is critical for the maintenance of biodiversity, particularly during times of major perturbations. Here, we explore the ecological diversity of Cretaceous herbivorous dinosaurs leading up to the K-Pg extinction, using dental and jaw morphological disparity as a proxy. We test the hypothesis that a decline in ecological diversity could have facilitated their rapid extinction 66 mya. We apply three disparity metrics that together capture different aspects of morphospace occupation, and show how this approach is key to understanding patterns of morphological evolution. We find no evidence of declining disparity in herbivorous dinosaurs as a whole – suggesting that dinosaur ecological diversity remained high during the last 10 million years of their existence. Clades show different disparity trends through the Cretaceous, but none except sauropods exhibits a long-term decline. Herbivorous dinosaurs show two disparity peaks characterised by different processes; in the Early Cretaceous by expansion in morphospace and in the Campanian by morphospace packing. These trends were only revealed by using a combination of disparity metrics, demonstrating how this approach can offer novel insights into macroevolutionary processes underlying patterns of disparity and ecological diversity.
Data from: Body size as a driver of scavenging in theropod dinosaurs
Theropod dinosaurs dominated Earth's terrestrial ecosystem as a diverse group of predators for over 160 million years, yet little is known about their foraging ecology. Ranging from the chicken-sized Microraptor up to the whale-sized Giganotosaurus, maintaining a balanced energy budget presented a major challenge in the face of intense competition and the demands of ontogenetic growth. Facultative scavenging, a behaviour present in almost all modern predators, may have been an important behaviour used to supplement energetically expensive lifestyles. By using agent-based models based on the allometric relationship between size and foraging behaviours, we show that theropods between 27 kg and 1044 kg would have gained a significant energetic advantage over individuals at both the small and large extremes of theropod body mass through their scavenging efficiency. These results were robust to rate of competition, primary productivity, and detection distance. Our models demonstrate the potential importance of facultative scavenging in theropods and the role of body size in defining its prevalence in Mesozoic terrestrial systems.
Data from: Morphological innovation and the evolution of hadrosaurid dinosaurs
The hadrosaurids were a successful group of herbivorous dinosaurs. During the Late Cretaceous, 100 to 66 million years ago, hadrosaurids had high diversity, rapid speciation rates, and wide geographic distribution. Most hadrosaurids were large-bodied and had similar postcranial skeletons. However, they show important innovations in the skull, including disparate crests that functioned as socio-sexual display structures, and a complex feeding apparatus, with specialized jaws bearing dental batteries. Little is known about the macroevolutionary processes that produced these evolutionary novelties. Here we provide novel perspectives using evolutionary rates and disparity analyses. Our results show that hadrosaurid cranial evolution was complex and dynamic, but their postcranial skeleton and body size were conservative. High cranial disparity was achieved through multiple bursts of phenotypic innovation. We highlight contrasting evolutionary trends between the disparate facial skeleton and crests, which both showed multiple high-rate shifts, and the feeding apparatus, which had low variance and high rates on a single phylogenetic branch leading to the diverse Saurolophidae, within hadrosaurids. We reveal that rapid evolutionary rates were important for producing the high disparity of exaggerated crests, and present novel evidence that the hadrosaurid diversification was linked to both a key adaptive innovation in the feeding apparatus, and to multiple bursts of innovation in socio-sexual displays.
Testing size-frequency distributions as a method of ontogenetic aging: a life history assessment of hadrosaurid dinosaurs from the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada, with implications for hadrosaurid paleoecology
<p class="MsoNoSpacing">Hadrosaurid dinosaurs, the dominant large-bodied terrestrial herbivores in most Laurasian Late Cretaceous ecosystems, have an exceptional fossil record consisting of many species known from partial ontogenetic series making them an ideal clade with which to conduct life history studies. Previous research considered the Dinosaur Park Formation (DPF) of Alberta as an attritional, or time-averaged, sample and interpreted size-frequency distribution of long bones collected from the DPF with three size classes to suggest that hadrosaurids from the DPF attained near-asymptotic body size in under three years. This conflicted with previously published osteohistological estimates of 6+ years for penecontemporaneous hadrosaurids from the Two Medicine Formation (TMF) of Montana suggesting either extreme variation in hadrosaurid growth rates or that size-frequency distributions and/or osteohistology and growth modeling inaccurately estimate ontogenetic age.</p> <p>We tested the validity of the previously proposed size-age relationship of hadrosaurids from the DPF by significantly increasing sample size and combining data from size-frequency distributions and osteohistology across multiple long bones elements. The newly constructed size-frequency distributions typically reveal four relatively distinct size-frequency peaks that, when integrated with the osteohistological data, aligned with growth marks. The yearling size class was heavily underrepresented in the size-frequency distribution. If not due to preservation, this suggests that either juvenile (< 2 years of age) hadrosaurids from the DPF had increased survivorship following an initially high nestling mortality rate, or that yearlings were segregated from adults. A growth curve analysis revealed asymptotic body size was attained in approximately 7 years, which is consistent with hadrosaurids from the TMF. The data suggest size-frequency distributions of attritional samples underestimate age and overestimate growth rates, but when paired with osteohistology can provide unique life history insights.</p>
Data from: Using striated tooth marks on bone to predict body size in theropod dinosaurs: a model based on feeding observations of Varanus komodoensis, the Komodo monitor
Mesozoic tooth marks on bone surfaces directly link consumers to fossil assemblage formation. Striated tooth marks are believed to form by theropod denticle contact, and attempts have been made to identify theropod consumers by comparing these striations with denticle widths of contemporaneous taxa. The purpose of this study is to test whether ziphodont theropod consumer characteristics may be accurately identified from striated tooth marks on fossil surfaces. There are three major objectives; 1) experimentally produce striated tooth marks and explain how they form; 2) determine whether body size characteristics are reflected in denticle widths; 3) determine whether denticle characters are accurately transcribed onto bone surfaces in the form of striated tooth marks. Controlled feeding trials were conducted with the dental analogue Varanus komodoensis (the Komodo monitor). Goat (Capra hircus) carcasses were introduced to captive, isolated individuals. Striated tooth marks were then identified, and striation width, number, and degree of divergence were recorded for each. Denticle widths and tooth/body size characters were taken from photographs and published accounts of both theropod and V. komodoensis skeletal material, and regressions were compared among and between the two groups. Striated marks tend to be regularly striated with a variable degree of branching, and may co-occur with scores. Striation morphology directly reflects contact between the mesial carina and bone surfaces during the rostral reorientation when defleshing. Denticle width is primarily influenced by tooth size, and correlates well with body size displaying negative allometry in both groups regardless of taxon or position. When compared, striation widths fall within or below the range of denticle widths extrapolated for similar sized V. komodoensis individuals. Striation width is directly influenced by the orientation of the carina during feeding, and may underestimate but cannot overestimate denticle width. Although body size may theoretically be estimated solely by a striated tooth mark under ideal circumstances, many caveats should be considered. These include the influence of negative allometry across taxa and throughout ontogeny, the existence of theropods with extreme denticle widths, and the potential for striations to underestimate denticle widths. This method may be useful under specific circumstances, especially for establishing a lower limit body size for potential consumers.
Data from: Polarity of concavo-convex intervertebral joints in the necks and tails of sauropod dinosaurs
The highly elongated necks, and often tails, of sauropod dinosaurs were composed of concavo-convex vertebrae that provided stability without compromising mobility. Polarities of these concavo-convex joints in the neck and tail are anatomically opposite one another but mechanically equivalent. Opisthocoelous cervical vertebrae and procoelous caudal vertebrae have the convex articular face directed away from the body and the concave articular face directed toward the body. This "sauropod-type" polarity is hypothesized to be (1) more resistant to fracturing of the cotylar rim and (2) better stabilized against joint failure by rotation than the opposite polarity. We used physical models to test these two functional hypotheses. Photoelastic analysis of model centra loaded as cantilevers reveals that neither polarity better resists fracture of the cotylar rim; strain magnitude and localization are similar in both polarities. We assessed the rotational stability of concavo-convex joints using pairs of concavo-convex centra loaded near the joint. Sauropod-type joints withstood significantly greater weight before failure occurred, a pattern we interpret to be dependent on the position of the center of rotation, which is always within the convex part of the concavo-convex joint. In sauropod-type joints, the free centrum rotates about a center of rotation that lies within the more stable proximal centrum. In contrast, the opposite polarity results in a free centrum that rotates about an internal point; when the condyle rotates down and out of joint, the distal end rotates back toward the body, unopposed by ligamentous support. Sauropod-type joints remained stable with greater mobility, more mechanically advantageous tensile element insertions, and greater distal loads than the opposite polarity. The advantages conferred by this joint polarity would have facilitated the evolution of hyperelongated necks and tails by sauropods. Polarity of concavo-convex joints of the appendicular skeleton (e.g., hip, shoulder) is also consistent with the demands of rotational stability.
FIGURE 7 in A new early dinosaur (Sauropodomorpha) from the Caturrita Formation (Late Triassic), Paraná Basin, Brazil
FIGURE 7. Right radio in: A and B, lateral view; C and D, medial View. Scale bar represents 50 mm.
FIGURE 32 in The anatomy and phylogenetic position of the Triassic dinosaur Staurikosaurus pricei Colbert, 1970
FIGURE 32. Undetermined bone fragments. Scale bar = 5 cm.
FIGURE 20 in The anatomy and phylogenetic position of the Triassic dinosaur Staurikosaurus pricei Colbert, 1970
FIGURE 20. Photographs of the left scapula in lateral (a) and distal (b) views. Scale bar = 1 cm.
Figure 1. Tatisaurus oehleri Simmons, 1965. Holotype, FMNH CUP 2088. A in Reconsidering the status and affinities of the ornithischian dinosaur Tatisaurus oehleri Simmons, 1965
Figure 1. Tatisaurus oehleri Simmons, 1965. Holotype, FMNH CUP 2088. A, Lower jaw in lateral view. All the tooth crowns are heavily eroded and the jaw itself is poorly preserved. B, FMNH CUP 2088. Lower jaw in medial view; fragments of postdentary bones and a?quadrate are firmly attached. Abbreviations: ar, articular/prearticular splint; cr, tip of crown of replacement tooth showing denticulate margin; d, dentary; e.cr, eroded crowns of functional teeth; M.gr, Meckel's groove; q, quadrate; sa, surangular; sym, dentary symphysis. The adherent bones are untextured, as is the matrix that surrounds the tooth roots and fills the alveoli.
Global latitudinal gradients and the evolution of body size in dinosaurs and mammals
<p>Supplementary materials for Wilson et al., 'Global latitudinal gradients and the evolution of body size in dinosaurs and mammals'. </p>
Figure 17 in A new hadrosauriform dinosaur from the Wessex Formation, Wealden Group (Early Cretaceous), of the Isle of Wight, southern England
Figure 17. Brighstoneus simmondsi gen. et sp. nov. (MIWG 6344), sacrum in A, right lateral, B, posterior and C, ventral views. Abbreviations: da, depressed area; er, eroded area; ns, neural spine; nsf, neural spine fragments in presumed position; pfc, posterior surface of centrum; poz, postzygapophysis; s, sacral vertebra; sr, sacral rib; sy, sacral yoke; vk, ventral keel. Scale bars ¼ 100 mm.
Bone thin sections of six Alvarezsaurian dinosaurs
<p>This dataset includes histological thin sections from long bones of six different Alvarezsaurian dinosaurs and labelled primary and secondary osteons.</p>
following: in The influence of juvenile dinosaurs on community structure and diversity
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follows: in The influence of juvenile dinosaurs on community structure and diversity
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FIGURE 5 in Re-assessment of the Late Jurassic eusauropod dinosaur Hudiesaurus sinojapanorum Dong, 1997, from the Turpan Basin, China, and the evolution of hyper-robust antebrachia in sauropods
FIGURE 5. Teeth previously referred to Hudiesaurus sinojapanorum (IVPP 11121-2) but regarded as?Mamenchisauridae indet. herein. A–D, Two tooth crowns within a broken jaw element in lingual (A), labial (B), distal (C), and mesial (D) views. E–H, Isolated tooth crown in lingual (E), labial (F), distal (G), and mesial (H) views. I–L, isolated tooth crown in lingual (I), labial (J), distal (K), and mesial (L) views. Abbreviation: lb, lingual boss. Scale bars equal 10 mm.
FIGURE 1 in Re-assessment of the Late Jurassic eusauropod dinosaur Hudiesaurus sinojapanorum Dong, 1997, from the Turpan Basin, China, and the evolution of hyper-robust antebrachia in sauropods
FIGURE 1. Map showing Xinjiang Autonomous Region in China, with a magnified inset showing the approximate location of the Hudiesaurus specimens within Shanshan County.
Fig. 1. A in Skull of a dromaeosaurid dinosaur Shri devi from the Upper Cretaceous of the Gobi Desert suggests convergence to the North American forms
Fig. 1. A. Map of Mongolia and Inner Mongolia of China with the Upper Cretaceous sites yielding remains of dromaeosaurid dinosaurs. B. Photograph of Khulsan locality, from where the specimen described in this paper was collected, photographed in the 1971 during the PolishMongolian Paleontological Expeditions (from the Collections of the Institute of Palaeobiology PAS). Geographic data from: Jerzykiewicz and Russell 1991; Jerzykiewicz et al. 1993; Norell and Makovicky 1999; Dingus et al. 2008; Godefroit et al. 2008; Watabe et al. 2010; Tsogtbaatar et al. 2019; Chen et al. 2022. Map modified from Czepiński 2020b. Transcriptions of the locality names follow Benton (2000).
Fig. 3. Sauropod dinosaur Brachiosaurus altithorax Riggs, 1903 in Novel pneumatic features in the ribs of the sauropod dinosaur Brachiosaurus altithorax
Fig. 3. Sauropod dinosaur Brachiosaurus altithorax Riggs, 1903, holotype FMNH PR 25107 from Dinosaur Quarry No. 13 near Grand Junction, Colorado, dating to the Kimmeridgian–Tithonian ages of the Late Jurassic, left dorsal rib "Rib B". A1, the whole rib, posterior face in proximal view. Foreshortening makes the shaft look shorter and narrower than it actually is: the position of the rib between two shelves makes it impossible to photograph in true posterior view; A2, close-up of the pneumatic opening in the tuberculum in medial view, with anterior to the bottom; A3, red-cyan anaglyph of the same, indicating the form and depth of the fossa. Scale bars provide only a rough indication of the size of the elements: see the text for measurements.
Fig. 2 in Allometric growth in the frontals of the Mongolian theropod dinosaur Tarbosaurus bataar
Fig. 2. Measurement parameters used in study, with frontal of Tarbosaurus bataar Maleev, 1955a (MPC-D 107/22), from Bugiin Tsav, Nemegt Formation, Maastrichtian, as an example. Measurement parameters in dorsal (A1), ventral (A2), medial (A3), and lateral (A4) views. 1, width of the nasal process; 2, width of the prefrontal suture; 3, width of the lacrimal socket; 4, length of the frontal between prefrontonasal process and the frontoparietal suture; 5, width of the frontal between medial edge of the orbital slot and the midline; 6, width of the frontal between the most lateral point of the posterior shelf and the midline; 7, length of the dorsotemporal fossa between the middle of the dorsotemporal ridge and the frontoparietal suture; 8, length of the brain between most anterior point of the olfactory bulb fossa and the most posterior point of the cerebral fossa; 9, depth of the frontal at the region that is immediately anterior to the most anterior point of the sagittal crest; 10, length of the postorbital suture between the most anterior point of the anterior part and the most posterior point of the posterior part of the suture; 11, dorsoventral depth of the anterior part of the postorbital suture; 12, dorsoventral depth of the posterior part of the postorbital suture. The same numbers appear in Figs. 3–5 and Table 1.
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Allen Brain Atlas
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International Brain Laboratory public data
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OpenNeuro
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