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Avrahami HM, Makovicky PJ, Tucker RT, Zanno LE. A new semi-fossorial thescelosaurine dinosaur from the Cenomanian-age Mussentuchit Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2024. [PMID: 38979930 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Revised: 04/18/2024] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 07/10/2024]
Abstract
Thescelosaurines are a group of early diverging, ornithischian dinosaurs notable for their conservative bauplans and mosaic of primitive features. Although abundant within the latest Cretaceous ecosystems of North America, their record is poor to absent in earlier assemblages, leaving a large gap in our understanding of their evolution, origins, and ecological roles. Here we report a new small bodied thescelosaurine-Fona herzogae gen. et sp. nov.-from the Mussentuchit Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah, USA. Fona herzogae is represented by multiple individuals, representing one of the most comprehensive skeletal assemblages of a small bodied, early diverging ornithischian described from North America to date. Phylogenetic analysis recovers Fona as the earliest member of Thescelosaurinae, minimally containing Oryctodromeus, and all three species of Thescelosaurus, revealing the clade was well-established in North America by as early as the Cenomanian, and distinct from, yet continental cohabitants with, their sister clade, Orodrominae. To date, orodromines and thescelosaurines have not been found together within a single North American ecosystem, suggesting different habitat preferences or competitive exclusion. Osteological observations reveal extensive intraspecific variation across cranial and postcranial elements, and a number of anatomical similarities with Oryctodromeus, suggesting a shared semi-fossorial lifestyle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haviv M Avrahami
- North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
| | - Peter J Makovicky
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Ryan T Tucker
- Department of Earth Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Lindsay E Zanno
- North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
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2
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Ning L, Maidment SCR, Daqing L, Hailu Y, Guangzhao P. A new stegosaur (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Middle Jurassic of Gansu Province, China. Sci Rep 2024; 14:15241. [PMID: 38956140 PMCID: PMC11219857 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-66280-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2024] [Accepted: 07/01/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Stegosaurs are a minor but iconic clade of ornithischian dinosaurs, yet due to a poor fossil record, their early evolution is poorly understood. Here, we describe a new stegosaur, Baiyinosaurus baojiensis, gen. et sp. nov. from the Middle Jurassic Wangjiashan Formation of the Pingchuan District, Baiyin City, Gansu Province, China. The frontal of Baiyinosaurus possesses a unique characteristic among Stegosauria: it is wider than long and contributes to both the medial and anterior margins of the supratemporal fenestra. The character combinations of dorsal vertebrae of Baiyinosaurus are also different to other stegosaurs: its neural arches are not greatly elongated, its parapophyses are well developed, and its neural spines are axially expanded in lateral. The features of the frontal and vertebrae of Baiyinosaurus are reminiscent of basally branching thyreophorans, indicating that Baiyinosaurus is transitional in morphology between early thyreophorans and early-diverging stegosaurs. Systematic analysis shows that Baiyinosaurus is an early-diverging stegosaur.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Ning
- School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, China.
| | | | - Li Daqing
- Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| | - You Hailu
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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3
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Naware D, Benson R. Patterns of variation in fleshy diaspore size and abundance from Late Triassic-Oligocene. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024; 99:430-457. [PMID: 38081480 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Revised: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2024]
Abstract
Vertebrate-mediated seed dispersal is a common attribute of many living plants, and variation in the size and abundance of fleshy diaspores is influenced by regional climate and by the nature of vertebrate seed dispersers among present-day floras. However, potential drivers of large-scale variation in the abundance and size distributions of fleshy diaspores through geological time, and the importance of geographic variation, are incompletely known. This knowledge gap is important because fleshy diaspores are a key mechanism of energy transfer from photosynthesis to animals and may in part explain the diversification of major groups within birds and mammals. Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain variation in the abundance and size distribution of fleshy diaspores through time, including plant-frugivore co-evolution, angiosperm diversification, and changes in vegetational structure and climate. We present a new data set of more than 800 georeferenced fossil diaspore occurrences spanning the Triassic-Oligocene, across low to mid- to high palaeolatitudes. We use this to quantify patterns of long-term change in fleshy diaspores, examining the timing and geographical context of important shifts as a test of the potential evolutionary and climatic explanations. We find that the fleshy fruit sizes of angiosperms increased for much of the Cretaceous, during the early diversification of angiosperms from herbaceous ancestors with small fruits. Nevertheless, this did not cause a substantial net change in the fleshy diaspore size distributions across seed plants, because gymnosperms had achieved a similar size distribution by at least the Late Triassic. Furthermore, gymnosperm-dominated Mesozoic ecosystems were mostly open, and harboured low proportions of specialised frugivores until the latest Cretaceous, suggesting that changes in vegetation structure and plant-frugivore co-evolution were probably not important drivers of fleshy diaspore size distributions over long timescales. Instead, fleshy diaspore size distributions may be largely constrained by physical or life-history limits that are shared among groups and diversify as a plant group expands into different growth forms/sizes, habitats, and climate regimes. Mesozoic gymnosperm floras had a low abundance of fleshy diaspores (<50% fleshy diaspore taxa), that was surpassed by some low-latitude angiosperm floras in the Cretaceous. Eocene angiosperm floras show a mid- to high latitude peak in fleshy fruit abundance, with very high proportions of fleshy fruits that even exceed those seen at low latitudes both in the Eocene and today. Mid- to high latitude proportions of fleshy fruits declined substantially over the Eocene-Oligocene transition, resulting in a shift to more modern-like geographic distributions with the highest proportion of fleshy fruits occurring in low-latitude tropical assemblages. This shift was coincident with global cooling and the onset of Southern Hemisphere glaciation, suggesting that rapid cooling at mid- and high latitudes caused a decrease in availability of the climate conditions most favourable for fleshy fruits in angiosperms. Future research could be focused on examining the environmental niches of modern fleshy fruits, and the potential effects of climate change on fleshy fruit and frugivore diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duhita Naware
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3AN, UK
| | - Roger Benson
- American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, NY, 10024-5102, USA
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Button DJ, Porro LB, Lautenschlager S, Jones MEH, Barrett PM. Multiple pathways to herbivory underpinned deep divergences in ornithischian evolution. Curr Biol 2023; 33:557-565.e7. [PMID: 36603586 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.12.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2022] [Revised: 09/28/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
The extent to which evolution is deterministic is a key question in biology,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 with intensive debate on how adaptation6,10,11,12,13 and constraints14,15,16 might canalize solutions to ecological challenges.4,5,6 Alternatively, unique adaptations1,9,17 and phylogenetic contingency1,3,18 may render evolution fundamentally unpredictable.3 Information from the fossil record is critical to this debate,1,2,11 but performance data for extinct taxa are limited.7 This knowledge gap is significant, as general morphology may be a poor predictor of biomechanical performance.17,19,20 High-fiber herbivory originated multiple times within ornithischian dinosaurs,21 making them an ideal clade for investigating evolutionary responses to similar ecological pressures.22 However, previous biomechanical modeling studies on ornithischian crania17,23,24,25 have not compared early-diverging taxa spanning independent acquisitions of herbivory. Here, we perform finite-element analysis on the skull of five early-diverging members of the major ornithischian clades to characterize morphofunctional pathways to herbivory. Results reveal limited functional convergence among ornithischian clades, with each instead achieving comparable performance, in terms of reconstructed patterns and magnitudes of functionally induced stress, through different adaptations of the feeding apparatus. Thyreophorans compensated for plesiomorphic low performance through increased absolute size, heterodontosaurids expanded jaw adductor muscle volume, ornithopods increased jaw system efficiency, and ceratopsians combined these approaches. These distinct solutions to the challenges of herbivory within Ornithischia underpinned the success of this diverse clade. Furthermore, the resolution of multiple solutions to equivalent problems within a single clade through macroevolutionary time demonstrates that phenotypic evolution is not necessarily predictable, instead arising from the interplay of adaptation, innovation, contingency, and constraints.1,2,3,7,8,9,18.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J Button
- Science Group, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.
| | - Laura B Porro
- Centre for Integrative Anatomy, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6DE, UK
| | - Stephan Lautenschlager
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Marc E H Jones
- Science Group, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Paul M Barrett
- Science Group, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
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5
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Riguetti FJ, Apesteguía S, Pereda-Suberbiola X. A new Cretaceous thyreophoran from Patagonia supports a South American lineage of armoured dinosaurs. Sci Rep 2022; 12:11621. [PMID: 35953515 PMCID: PMC9372066 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-15535-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2021] [Accepted: 06/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The early evolution of thyreophoran dinosaurs is thought to have occurred primarily in northern continents since most evidence comes from the Lower and Middle Jurassic of Europe and North America. The diversification into stegosaurs and ankylosaurs is obscured by a patchy fossil record comprising only a handful of fragmentary fossils, most with uncertain phylogenetic affinities. Here we report the discovery of a new armoured dinosaur from the early Late Cretaceous of Argentina, recovered phylogenetically using various datasets either as a basal thyreophoran or a stem ankylosaur, closely related to Scelidosaurus. It bears unusual anatomical features showing that several traits traditionally associated with the heavy Cretaceous thyreophorans did not occur universally. Jakapil kaniukura gen. et sp. nov. is the first definitive thyreophoran species from the Argentinian Patagonia. Unlike most thyreophorans, it seems to show a bipedal stance, as in Scutellosaurus. Jakapil also shows that early thyreophorans had a much broader geographic distribution than previously thought. It is a member of an ancient basal thyreophoran lineage that survived until the Late Cretaceous in South America.
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Affiliation(s)
- Facundo J Riguetti
- Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara, Centro de Ciencias Naturales Ambientales y Antropológicas, Universidad Maimónides, CONICET, Hidalgo 775, 7mo piso (1405), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - Sebastián Apesteguía
- Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara, Centro de Ciencias Naturales Ambientales y Antropológicas, Universidad Maimónides, CONICET, Hidalgo 775, 7mo piso (1405), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola
- Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Apartado 644, 48080, Bilbao, Spain
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6
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Yao X, Barrett PM, Yang L, Xu X, Bi S. A new early branching armored dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic of southwestern China. eLife 2022; 11:75248. [PMID: 35289749 PMCID: PMC8929930 DOI: 10.7554/elife.75248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The early evolutionary history of the armored dinosaurs (Thyreophora) is obscured by their patchily distributed fossil record and by conflicting views on the relationships of Early Jurassic taxa. Here, we describe an early diverging thyreophoran from the Lower Jurassic Fengjiahe Formation of Yunnan Province, China, on the basis of an associated partial skeleton that includes skull, axial, limb, and armor elements. It can be diagnosed as a new taxon based on numerous cranial and postcranial autapomorphies and is further distinguished from all other thyreophorans by a unique combination of character states. Although the robust postcranium is similar to that of more deeply nested ankylosaurs and stegosaurs, phylogenetic analysis recovers it as either the sister taxon of Emausaurus or of the clade Scelidosaurus+ Eurypoda. This new taxon, Yuxisaurus kopchicki, represents the first valid thyreophoran dinosaur to be described from the Early Jurassic of Asia and confirms the rapid geographic spread and diversification of the clade after its first appearance in the Hettangian. Its heavy build and distinctive armor also hint at previously unrealized morphological diversity early in the clade’s history. From the plated Stegosaurus to the tank-like Ankylosaurus, armoured dinosaurs are some of the most extraordinary creatures to have roamed the earth. Fossils from this group are abundant from the Late Jurassic period, 155 million years ago, up until the end of the age of the dinosaurs. However, only a few fossils exist from the early part of the Jurassic, making it difficult to understand how these fantastic beasts came to be. More early fossils could help to fill in gaps about armoured dinosaur biology and evolution. Yao et al. describe the anatomy of a new armoured dinosaur, baptized Yuxisaurus, which was found in rocks of Early Jurassic age in southwestern China. Covered in sharp spines, this medium-sized animal was much sturdier and stockier than its immediate relatives, suggesting that the ancestors of Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus had a wider variety of body forms than once thought. Its presence in China also shows that armoured dinosaurs spread across the world early in their history. Yuxisaurus could help researchers to understand how million years of evolution produced the armoured species we are more familiar with today. As more fossils may emerge from the rocks of southwestern China, it could become possible to further piece together early dinosaur evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xi Yao
- Centre for Vertebrate Evolutionary Biology, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
| | - Paul M Barrett
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
| | - Lei Yang
- Yimen Administration of Cultural Heritage, Yimen, China
| | - Xing Xu
- Centre for Vertebrate Evolutionary Biology, Yunnan University, Kunming, China.,Key Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, China
| | - Shundong Bi
- Centre for Vertebrate Evolutionary Biology, Yunnan University, Kunming, China.,Department of Biology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, United States
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Melstrom KM, Chiappe LM, Smith ND. Exceptionally simple, rapidly replaced teeth in sauropod dinosaurs demonstrate a novel evolutionary strategy for herbivory in Late Jurassic ecosystems. BMC Ecol Evol 2021; 21:202. [PMID: 34742237 PMCID: PMC8571970 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-021-01932-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Dinosaurs dominated terrestrial environments for over 100 million years due in part to innovative feeding strategies. Although a range of dental adaptations was present in Late Jurassic dinosaurs, it is unclear whether dinosaur ecosystems exhibited patterns of tooth disparity and dietary correlation similar to those of modern amniotes, in which carnivores possess simple teeth and herbivores exhibit complex dentitions. To investigate these patterns, we quantified dental shape in Late Jurassic dinosaurs to test relationships between diet and dental complexity. RESULTS Here, we show that Late Jurassic dinosaurs exhibited a disparity of dental complexities on par with those of modern saurians. Theropods possess relatively simple teeth, in spite of the range of morphologies tested, and is consistent with their inferred carnivorous habits. Ornithischians, in contrast, have complex dentitions, corresponding to herbivorous habits. The dentitions of macronarian sauropods are similar to some ornithischians and living herbivorous squamates but slightly more complex than other sauropods. In particular, all diplodocoid sauropods investigated possess remarkably simple teeth. The existence of simple teeth in diplodocoids, however, contrasts with the pattern observed in nearly all known herbivores (living or extinct). CONCLUSIONS Sauropod dinosaurs exhibit a novel approach to herbivory not yet observed in other amniotes. We demonstrate that sauropod tooth complexity is related to tooth replacement rate rather than diet, which contrasts with the results from mammals and saurians. This relationship is unique to the sauropod clade, with ornithischians and theropods displaying the patterns observed in other groups. The decoupling of herbivory and tooth complexity paired with a correlation between complexity and replacement rate demonstrates a novel evolutionary strategy for plant consumption in sauropod dinosaurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keegan M Melstrom
- The Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 W Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Luis M Chiappe
- The Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 W Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Nathan D Smith
- The Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 W Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Maidment SCR, Strachan SJ, Ouarhache D, Scheyer TM, Brown EE, Fernandez V, Johanson Z, Raven TJ, Barrett PM. Bizarre dermal armour suggests the first African ankylosaur. Nat Ecol Evol 2021; 5:1576-1581. [PMID: 34556830 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-021-01553-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Ankylosauria is a diverse clade of armoured dinosaurs whose members were important constituents of many Cretaceous faunas. Phylogenetic analyses imply that the clade diverged from its sister taxon, Stegosauria, during the late Early Jurassic, but the fossil records of both clades are sparse until the Late Jurassic (~150 million years ago). Moreover, Ankylosauria is almost entirely restricted to former Laurasian continents, with only a single valid Gondwanan taxon. Spicomellus afer gen. et sp. nov. appears to represent the earliest-known ankylosaur and the first to be named from Africa, from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian-Callovian) of Morocco, filling an important gap in dinosaur evolution. The specimen consists of a rib with spiked dermal armour fused to its dorsal surface, an unprecedented morphology among extinct and extant vertebrates. The specimen reveals an unrealized morphological diversity of armoured dinosaurs during their early evolution, and implies the presence of an important but undiscovered Gondwanan fossil record.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susannah C R Maidment
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK. .,School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
| | - Sarah J Strachan
- Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Driss Ouarhache
- GERA Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, SMBA University, Fez, Morocco
| | - Torsten M Scheyer
- Palaeontological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Emily E Brown
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK.,School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | | | - Zerina Johanson
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Thomas J Raven
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK.,School of Environment and Technology, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK
| | - Paul M Barrett
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK.,Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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9
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Breeden BT, Raven TJ, Butler RJ, Rowe TB, Maidment SCR. The anatomy and palaeobiology of the early armoured dinosaur Scutellosaurus lawleri (Ornithischia: Thyreophora) from the Kayenta Formation (Lower Jurassic) of Arizona. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:201676. [PMID: 34295511 PMCID: PMC8292774 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.201676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 06/18/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The armoured dinosaurs, Thyreophora, were a diverse clade of ornithischians known from the Early Jurassic to the end of the Cretaceous. During the Middle and Late Jurassic, the thyreophorans radiated to evolve large body size, quadrupedality, and complex chewing mechanisms, and members of the group include some of the most iconic dinosaurs, including the plated Stegosaurus and the club-tailed Ankylosaurus; however, the early stages of thyreophoran evolution are poorly understood due to a paucity of relatively complete remains from early diverging thyreophoran taxa. Scutellosaurus lawleri is generally reconstructed as the earliest-diverging thyreophoran and is known from over 70 specimens from the Lower Jurassic Kayenta Formation of Arizona, USA. Whereas Scutellosaurus lawleri is pivotal to our understanding of character-state changes at the base of Thyreophora that can shed light on the early evolution of the armoured dinosaurs, the taxon has received limited study. Herein, we provide a detailed account of the osteology of Scutellosaurus lawleri, figuring many elements for the first time. Scutellosaurus lawleri was the only definitive bipedal thyreophoran. Histological studies indicate that it grew slowly throughout its life, possessing lamellar-zonal tissue that was a consequence neither of its small size nor phylogenetic position, but may instead be autapomorphic, and supporting other studies that suggest thyreophorans had lower basal metabolic rates than other ornithischian dinosaurs. Faunal diversity of the Kayenta Formation in comparison with other well-known Early Jurassic-aged dinosaur-bearing formations indicates that there was considerable spatial and/or environmental variation in Early Jurassic dinosaur faunas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin T. Breeden
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- Natural History Museum of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Thomas J. Raven
- Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
- School of Environment and Technology, University of Brighton, Lewes Road, Brighton BN1 4GJ, UK
| | - Richard J. Butler
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Timothy B. Rowe
- Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
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10
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Barta DE, Norell MA. The Osteology of Haya griva (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 2021. [DOI: 10.1206/0003-0090.445.1.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel E. Barta
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah, OK; and Richard Gilder Graduate School and Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York
| | - Mark A. Norell
- Division of Paleontology American Museum of Natural History, New York
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11
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Abstract
Fossilized gut contents suggest that seeds consumed by dinosaurs may have remained intact in their stomachs, and since seed dispersal distance increases with body-mass in extant vertebrates, dinosaurs may have moved seeds long distances. I simulated seed dispersal by dinosaurs across body-masses from 1 × 101 to 8 × 104 kg using allometric random walk models, informed by relationships between (i) body-mass and movement speed, and (ii) body-mass and seed retention time. Seed dispersal distances showed a hump-shaped relationship with body-mass, reflecting the allometric relationship between maximum movement speed and body-mass. Across a range of assumptions and parameterizations, the simulations suggest that plant-eating dinosaurs could have dispersed seeds long distances.
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Affiliation(s)
- George L W Perry
- School of Environment, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand
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12
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Brown CM, Greenwood DR, Kalyniuk JE, Braman DR, Henderson DM, Greenwood CL, Basinger JF. Dietary palaeoecology of an Early Cretaceous armoured dinosaur (Ornithischia; Nodosauridae) based on floral analysis of stomach contents. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2020; 7:200305. [PMID: 32742695 PMCID: PMC7353971 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.200305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2020] [Accepted: 05/18/2020] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
The exceptionally well-preserved holotype of the armoured dinosaur Borealopelta markmitchelli (Ornithischia; Nodosauridae) from the Early Cretaceous (Clearwater Formation) of northern Alberta preserves a distinct mass within the abdominal cavity. Fourteen independent criteria (including: co-allochthony, anatomical position, gastroliths) support the interpretation of this mass as ingested stomach contents-a cololite. Palynomorphs in the cololite are a subset of the more diverse external sample. Analysis of the cololite documents well-preserved plant material dominated by leaf tissue (88%), including intact sporangia, leaf cross-sections and cuticle, but also including stems, wood and charcoal. The leaf fraction is dominated (85%) by leptosporangiate ferns (subclass Polypodiidae), with low cycad-cycadophyte (3%) and trace conifer foliage. These data represent the most well-supported and detailed direct evidence of diet in an herbivorous dinosaur. Details of the dietary palaeoecology of this nodosaur are revealed, including: selective feeding on ferns; preferential ingestion of leptosporangiate ferns to the exclusion of Osmundaceae and eusporangiate ferns such as Marattiaceae; and incidental consumption of cycad-cycadophyte and conifer leaves. The presence of significant (6%) charcoal may represent the dietary use of recently burned conifer forest undergoing fern succession, early evidence of a fire succession ecology, as is associated with many modern large herbivores.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caleb M. Brown
- Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, Alberta, CanadaT0J 0Y0
- Author for correspondence: Caleb M. Brown e-mail:
| | - David R. Greenwood
- Department of Biology, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, CanadaR7A 6A9
| | | | - Dennis R. Braman
- Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, Alberta, CanadaT0J 0Y0
| | | | - Cathy L. Greenwood
- Department of Biology, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, CanadaR7A 6A9
| | - James F. Basinger
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, CanadaS7N 5E2
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Novel track morphotypes from new tracksites indicate increased Middle Jurassic dinosaur diversity on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0229640. [PMID: 32160212 PMCID: PMC7065758 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2019] [Accepted: 02/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Dinosaur fossils from the Middle Jurassic are rare globally, but the Isle of Skye (Scotland, UK) preserves a varied dinosaur record of abundant trace fossils and rare body fossils from this time. Here we describe two new tracksites from Rubha nam Brathairean (Brothers’ Point) near where the first dinosaur footprint in Scotland was found in the 1980s. These sites were formed in subaerially exposed mudstones of the Lealt Shale Formation of the Great Estuarine Group and record a dynamic, subtropical, coastal margin. These tracksites preserve a wide variety of dinosaur track types, including a novel morphotype for Skye: Deltapodus which has a probable stegosaur trackmaker. Additionally, a wide variety of tridactyl tracks shows evidence of multiple theropods of different sizes and possibly hints at the presence of large-bodied ornithopods. Overall, the new tracksites show the dinosaur fauna of Skye is more diverse than previously recognized and give insight into the early evolution of major dinosaur groups whose Middle Jurassic body fossil records are currently sparse.
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Button DJ, Zanno LE. Repeated Evolution of Divergent Modes of Herbivory in Non-avian Dinosaurs. Curr Biol 2020; 30:158-168.e4. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.10.050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2018] [Revised: 09/08/2019] [Accepted: 10/25/2019] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
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Yoshikawa T, Kawakami K, Masaki T. Allometric scaling of seed retention time in seed dispersers and its application to estimation of seed dispersal potentials of theropod dinosaurs. OIKOS 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.05827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tetsuro Yoshikawa
- Forestry and Forest Products Research Inst. – 1 Matsunosato Tsukuba Ibaraki 305‐8687 Japan
- Natl Inst. for Environmental Studies – Center for Environmental Biology and Ecosystem Studies, 16‐2 Onogawa Tsukuba Ibaragi 305‐8506 Japan
| | - Kazuto Kawakami
- Forestry and Forest Products Research Inst. – 1 Matsunosato Tsukuba Ibaraki 305‐8687 Japan
| | - Takashi Masaki
- Forestry and Forest Products Research Inst. – 1 Matsunosato Tsukuba Ibaraki 305‐8687 Japan
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16
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Liu C, Guo DA, Liu L. Quality transitivity and traceability system of herbal medicine products based on quality markers. PHYTOMEDICINE : INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHYTOTHERAPY AND PHYTOPHARMACOLOGY 2018; 44:247-257. [PMID: 29631807 DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2018.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2017] [Revised: 01/05/2018] [Accepted: 03/04/2018] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Due to a variety of factors to affect the herb quality, the existing quality management model is unable to evaluate the process control. The development of the concept of "quality marker" (Q-marker) lays basis for establishing an independent process quality control system for herbal products. HYPOTHESIS/PURPOSE To ensure the highest degree of safety, effectiveness and quality process control of herbal products, it is aimed to establish a quality transitivity and traceability system of quality and process control from raw materials to finished herbal products. STUDY DESIGN Based on the key issues and challenges of quality assessment, the current status of quality and process controls from raw materials to herbal medicinal products listed in Pharmacopoeia were analyzed and the research models including discovery and identification of Q-markers, analysis and quality management of risk evaluation were designed. METHODS Authors introduced a few new technologies and methodologies, such as DNA barcoding, chromatographic technologies, fingerprint analysis, chemical markers, bio-responses, risk management and solution for quality process control. RESULTS The quality and process control models for herbal medicinal products were proposed and the transitivity and traceability system from raw materials to the finished products was constructed to improve the herbal quality from the entire supply and production chain. CONCLUSION The transitivity and traceability system has been established based on quality markers, especially on how to control the production process under Good Engineering Practices, as well as to implement the risk management for quality and process control in herbal medicine production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Changxiao Liu
- Tianjin Research Centre for Drug Evaluation, Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research, Tianjin 300193, China.
| | - De-An Guo
- National Engineering Laboratory for Standardization of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Liang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China
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Raven TJ, Maidment SCR. The systematic position of the enigmatic thyreophoran dinosaur Paranthodon africanus, and the use of basal exemplifiers in phylogenetic analysis. PeerJ 2018; 6:e4529. [PMID: 29576986 PMCID: PMC5865477 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2018] [Accepted: 03/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
The first African dinosaur to be discovered, Paranthodon africanus was found in 1845 in the Lower Cretaceous of South Africa. Taxonomically assigned to numerous groups since discovery, in 1981 it was described as a stegosaur, a group of armoured ornithischian dinosaurs characterised by bizarre plates and spines extending from the neck to the tail. This assignment has been subsequently accepted. The type material consists of a premaxilla, maxilla, a nasal, and a vertebra, and contains no synapomorphies of Stegosauria. Several features of the maxilla and dentition are reminiscent of Ankylosauria, the sister-taxon to Stegosauria, and the premaxilla appears superficially similar to that of some ornithopods. The vertebral material has never been described, and since the last description of the specimen, there have been numerous discoveries of thyreophoran material potentially pertinent to establishing the taxonomic assignment of the specimen. An investigation of the taxonomic and systematic position of Paranthodon is therefore warranted. This study provides a detailed re-description, including the first description of the vertebra. Numerous phylogenetic analyses demonstrate that the systematic position of Paranthodon is highly labile and subject to change depending on which exemplifier for the clade Stegosauria is used. The results indicate that the use of a basal exemplifier may not result in the correct phylogenetic position of a taxon being recovered if the taxon displays character states more derived than those of the basal exemplifier, and we recommend the use, minimally, of one basal and one derived exemplifier per clade. Paranthodon is most robustly recovered as a stegosaur in our analyses, meaning it is one of the youngest and southernmost stegosaurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas J Raven
- Department of Earth Science & Engineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.,School of Environment & Technology, University of Brighton, Brighton, United Kingdom.,Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Susannah C R Maidment
- School of Environment & Technology, University of Brighton, Brighton, United Kingdom.,Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
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Chin K, Feldmann RM, Tashman JN. Consumption of crustaceans by megaherbivorous dinosaurs: dietary flexibility and dinosaur life history strategies. Sci Rep 2017; 7:11163. [PMID: 28935986 PMCID: PMC5608751 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-11538-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2017] [Accepted: 08/25/2017] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Large plant-eating dinosaurs are usually presumed to have been strictly herbivorous, because their derived teeth and jaws were capable of processing fibrous plant foods. This inferred feeding behavior offers a generalized view of dinosaur food habits, but rare direct fossil evidence of diet provides more nuanced insights into feeding behavior. Here we describe fossilized feces (coprolites) that demonstrate recurring consumption of crustaceans and rotted wood by large Late Cretaceous dinosaurs. These multi-liter coprolites from the Kaiparowits Formation are primarily composed of comminuted conifer wood tissues that were fungally degraded before ingestion. Thick fragments of laminar crustacean cuticle are scattered within the coprolite contents and suggest that the dinosaurian defecators consumed sizeable crustaceans that sheltered in rotting logs. The diet of decayed wood and crustaceans offered a substantial supply of plant polysaccharides, with added dividends of animal protein and calcium. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that the fossilized fecal residues depict year-round feeding habits. It is more reasonable to infer that these coprolites reflected seasonal dietary shifts—possibly related to the dinosaurs’ oviparous breeding activities. This surprising fossil evidence challenges conventional notions of herbivorous dinosaur diets and reveals a degree of dietary flexibility that is consistent with that of extant herbivorous birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen Chin
- Department of Geological Sciences and Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA.
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