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Smart S, Sakamoto M. Using linear measurements to diagnose the ecological habitat of Spinosaurus. PeerJ 2024; 12:e17544. [PMID: 38881866 PMCID: PMC11180429 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.17544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2024] [Indexed: 06/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Much of the ecological discourse surrounding the polarising theropod Spinosaurus has centred on qualitative discussions. Using a quantitative multivariate data analytical approach on size-adjusted linear measurements of the skull, we examine patterns in skull shape across a range of sauropsid clades and three ecological realms (terrestrial, semi-aquatic, and aquatic). We utilise cluster analyses to identify emergent properties of the data which associate properties of skull shape with ecological realm occupancy. Results revealed terrestrial ecologies to be significantly distinct from both semi- and fully aquatic ecologies, the latter two were not significantly different. Spinosaurids (including Spinosaurus) plotted away from theropods in morphospace and close to both marine taxa and wading birds. The position of nares and the degree of rostral elongation had the greatest effect on categorisation. Comparisons of supervised (k-means) and unsupervised clustering demonstrated categorising taxa into three groups (ecological realms) was inappropriate and suggested instead that cluster division is based on morphological adaptations to feeding on aquatic versus terrestrial food items. The relative position of the nares in longirostrine taxa is associated with which skull bones are elongated. Rostral elongation is observed by either elongating the maxilla and the premaxilla or by elongating the maxilla only. This results in the nares positioned towards the orbits or towards the anterior end of the rostrum respectively, with implications on available feeding methods. Spinosaurids, especially Spinosaurus, show elongation in the maxilla-premaxilla complex, achieving similar functional outcomes to elongation of the premaxilla seen in birds, particularly large-bodied piscivorous taxa. Such a skull construction would bolster "stand-and-wait" predation of aquatic prey to a greater extent than serving other proposed feeding methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean Smart
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
| | - Manabu Sakamoto
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
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2
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Mitchell DR, Sherratt E, Weisbecker V. Facing the facts: adaptive trade-offs along body size ranges determine mammalian craniofacial scaling. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024; 99:496-524. [PMID: 38029779 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13032] [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: 03/27/2023] [Revised: 11/12/2023] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
The mammalian cranium (skull without lower jaw) is representative of mammalian diversity and is thus of particular interest to mammalian biologists across disciplines. One widely retrieved pattern accompanying mammalian cranial diversification is referred to as 'craniofacial evolutionary allometry' (CREA). This posits that adults of larger species, in a group of closely related mammals, tend to have relatively longer faces and smaller braincases. However, no process has been officially suggested to explain this pattern, there are many apparent exceptions, and its predictions potentially conflict with well-established biomechanical principles. Understanding the mechanisms behind CREA and causes for deviations from the pattern therefore has tremendous potential to explain allometry and diversification of the mammalian cranium. Here, we propose an amended framework to characterise the CREA pattern more clearly, in that 'longer faces' can arise through several kinds of evolutionary change, including elongation of the rostrum, retraction of the jaw muscles, or a more narrow or shallow skull, which all result in a generalised gracilisation of the facial skeleton with increased size. We define a standardised workflow to test for the presence of the pattern, using allometric shape predictions derived from geometric morphometrics analysis, and apply this to 22 mammalian families including marsupials, rabbits, rodents, bats, carnivores, antelopes, and whales. Our results show that increasing facial gracility with size is common, but not necessarily as ubiquitous as previously suggested. To address the mechanistic basis for this variation, we then review cranial adaptations for harder biting. These dictate that a more gracile cranium in larger species must represent a structural sacrifice in the ability to produce or withstand harder bites, relative to size. This leads us to propose that facial gracilisation in larger species is often a product of bite force allometry and phylogenetic niche conservatism, where more closely related species tend to exhibit more similar feeding ecology and biting behaviours and, therefore, absolute (size-independent) bite force requirements. Since larger species can produce the same absolute bite forces as smaller species with less effort, we propose that relaxed bite force demands can permit facial gracility in response to bone optimisation and alternative selection pressures. Thus, mammalian facial scaling represents an adaptive by-product of the shifting importance of selective pressures occurring with increased size. A reverse pattern of facial 'shortening' can accordingly also be found, and is retrieved in several cases here, where larger species incorporate novel feeding behaviours involving greater bite forces. We discuss multiple exceptions to a bite force-mediated influence on facial proportions across mammals which lead us to argue that ecomorphological specialisation of the cranium is likely to be the primary driver of facial scaling patterns, with some developmental constraints as possible secondary factors. A potential for larger species to have a wider range of cranial functions when less constrained by bite force demands might also explain why selection for larger sizes seems to be prevalent in some mammalian clades. The interplay between adaptation and constraint across size ranges thus presents an interesting consideration for a mechanistically grounded investigation of mammalian cranial allometry.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Rex Mitchell
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, South Australia, 5001, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Wollongong, New South Wales, 2522, Australia
| | - Emma Sherratt
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia
- South Australian Museum, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia
| | - Vera Weisbecker
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, South Australia, 5001, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Wollongong, New South Wales, 2522, Australia
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3
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Weisbecker V, Beck RMD, Guillerme T, Harrington AR, Lange-Hodgson L, Lee MSY, Mardon K, Phillips MJ. Multiple modes of inference reveal less phylogenetic signal in marsupial basicranial shape compared with the rest of the cranium. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220085. [PMID: 37183893 PMCID: PMC10184248 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 12/17/2022] [Indexed: 05/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Incorporating morphological data into modern phylogenies allows integration of fossil evidence, facilitating divergence dating and macroevolutionary inferences. Improvements in the phylogenetic utility of morphological data have been sought via Procrustes-based geometric morphometrics (GMM), but with mixed success and little clarity over what anatomical areas are most suitable. Here, we assess GMM-based phylogenetic reconstructions in a heavily sampled source of discrete characters for mammalian phylogenetics-the basicranium-in 57 species of marsupial mammals, compared with the remainder of the cranium. We show less phylogenetic signal in the basicranium compared with a 'Rest of Cranium' partition, using diverse metrics of phylogenetic signal (Kmult, phylogenetically aligned principal components analysis, comparisons of UPGMA/neighbour-joining/parsimony trees and cophenetic distances to a reference phylogeny) for scaled, Procrustes-aligned landmarks and allometry-corrected residuals. Surprisingly, a similar pattern emerged from parsimony-based analyses of discrete cranial characters. The consistent results across methods suggest that easily computed metrics such as Kmult can provide good guidance on phylogenetic information in a landmarking configuration. In addition, GMM data may be less informative for intricate but conservative anatomical regions such as the basicranium, while better-but not necessarily novel-phylogenetic information can be expected for broadly characterized shapes such as entire bones. This article is part of the theme issue 'The mammalian skull: development, structure and function'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vera Weisbecker
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia 5042, Australia
| | - Robin M. D. Beck
- School of Science, Engineering and Environment, University of Salford, Salford, M5 4WT, UK
| | - Thomas Guillerme
- School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK
| | | | - Leonie Lange-Hodgson
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Michael S. Y. Lee
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia 5042, Australia
- Earth Sciences Section, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000 Australia
| | - Karine Mardon
- Centre of Advanced Imaging, University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Matthew J. Phillips
- School of Biology & Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia
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Fischer V, Bennion RF, Foffa D, MacLaren JA, McCurry MR, Melstrom KM, Bardet N. Ecological signal in the size and shape of marine amniote teeth. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20221214. [PMID: 36100016 PMCID: PMC9470252 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Amniotes have been a major component of marine trophic chains from the beginning of the Triassic to present day, with hundreds of species. However, inferences of their (palaeo)ecology have mostly been qualitative, making it difficult to track how dietary niches have changed through time and across clades. Here, we tackle this issue by applying a novel geometric morphometric protocol to three-dimensional models of tooth crowns across a wide range of raptorial marine amniotes. Our results highlight the phenomenon of dental simplification and widespread convergence in marine amniotes, limiting the range of tooth crown morphologies. Importantly, we quantitatively demonstrate that tooth crown shape and size are strongly associated with diet, whereas crown surface complexity is not. The maximal range of tooth shapes in both mammals and reptiles is seen in medium-sized taxa; large crowns are simple and restricted to a fraction of the morphospace. We recognize four principal raptorial guilds within toothed marine amniotes (durophages, generalists, flesh cutters and flesh piercers). Moreover, even though all these feeding guilds have been convergently colonized over the last 200 Myr, a series of dental morphologies are unique to the Mesozoic period, probably reflecting a distinct ecosystem structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentin Fischer
- Evolution and Diversity Dynamics Lab, Université de Liège, Liège 4000, Belgium
| | - Rebecca F. Bennion
- Evolution and Diversity Dynamics Lab, Université de Liège, Liège 4000, Belgium
- Palaeobiosphere Evolution, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Davide Foffa
- Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, UK
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
- Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Jamie A. MacLaren
- Evolution and Diversity Dynamics Lab, Université de Liège, Liège 4000, Belgium
- Functional Morphology Lab, Department of Biology, Universiteit Antwerpen, Antwerpen 2610, Belgium
| | - Matthew R. McCurry
- Australian Museum Research Institute, Sydney, New South Wales 2010, Australia
- Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES), University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales 2052, Australia
- Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA
| | - Keegan M. Melstrom
- Engineering and Science Division, Rose State College, Midwest City, OK 73110, USA
- Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
| | - Nathalie Bardet
- CR2P, Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie–Paris, CNRS-MNHN-SU, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 75005, France
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5
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Kast ER, Griffiths ML, Kim SL, Rao ZC, Shimada K, Becker MA, Maisch HM, Eagle RA, Clarke CA, Neumann AN, Karnes ME, Lüdecke T, Leichliter JN, Martínez-García A, Akhtar AA, Wang XT, Haug GH, Sigman DM. Cenozoic megatooth sharks occupied extremely high trophic positions. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabl6529. [PMID: 35731884 PMCID: PMC9217088 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abl6529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Trophic position is a fundamental characteristic of animals, yet it is unknown in many extinct species. In this study, we ground-truth the 15N/14N ratio of enameloid-bound organic matter (δ15NEB) as a trophic level proxy by comparison to dentin collagen δ15N and apply this method to the fossil record to reconstruct the trophic level of the megatooth sharks (genus Otodus). These sharks evolved in the Cenozoic, culminating in Otodus megalodon, a shark with a maximum body size of more than 15 m, which went extinct 3.5 million years ago. Very high δ15NEB values (22.9 ± 4.4‰) of O. megalodon from the Miocene and Pliocene show that it occupied a higher trophic level than is known for any marine species, extinct or extant. δ15NEB also indicates a dietary shift in sharks of the megatooth lineage as they evolved toward the gigantic O. megalodon, with the highest trophic level apparently reached earlier than peak size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma R. Kast
- Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB23EQ, UK
| | - Michael L. Griffiths
- Department of Environmental Science, William Paterson University of New Jersey, Wayne, NJ 07470, USA
| | - Sora L. Kim
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | - Zixuan C. Rao
- Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Kenshu Shimada
- Department of Environmental Science and Studies, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
- Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS 67601, USA
| | - Martin A. Becker
- Department of Environmental Science, William Paterson University of New Jersey, Wayne, NJ 07470, USA
| | - Harry M. Maisch
- Department of Marine and Earth Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL 33965, USA
| | - Robert A. Eagle
- Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Chelesia A. Clarke
- Department of Environmental Science, William Paterson University of New Jersey, Wayne, NJ 07470, USA
| | - Allison N. Neumann
- Department of Environmental Science, William Paterson University of New Jersey, Wayne, NJ 07470, USA
| | - Molly E. Karnes
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | - Tina Lüdecke
- Emmy Noether Group for Hominin Meat Consumption, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Jennifer N. Leichliter
- Emmy Noether Group for Hominin Meat Consumption, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Johannes Gutenberg University, Institute of Geosciences, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Alfredo Martínez-García
- Department of Climate Geochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Alliya A. Akhtar
- Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Xingchen T. Wang
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
| | - Gerald H. Haug
- Department of Climate Geochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zürich, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Daniel M. Sigman
- Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
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Melstrom KM, Angielczyk KD, Ritterbush KA, Irmis RB. The limits of convergence: the roles of phylogeny and dietary ecology in shaping non-avian amniote crania. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:202145. [PMID: 34540239 PMCID: PMC8441121 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.202145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2021] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Cranial morphology is remarkably varied in living amniotes and the diversity of shapes is thought to correspond with feeding ecology, a relationship repeatedly demonstrated at smaller phylogenetic scales, but one that remains untested across amniote phylogeny. Using a combination of morphometric methods, we investigate the links between phylogenetic relationships, diet and skull shape in an expansive dataset of extant toothed amniotes: mammals, lepidosaurs and crocodylians. We find that both phylogeny and dietary ecology have statistically significant effects on cranial shape. The three major clades largely partition morphospace with limited overlap. Dietary generalists often occupy clade-specific central regions of morphospace. Some parallel changes in cranial shape occur in clades with distinct evolutionary histories but similar diets. However, members of a given clade often present distinct cranial shape solutions for a given diet, and the vast majority of species retain the unique aspects of their ancestral skull plan, underscoring the limits of morphological convergence due to ecology in amniotes. These data demonstrate that certain cranial shapes may provide functional advantages suited to particular dietary ecologies, but accounting for both phylogenetic history and ecology can provide a more nuanced approach to inferring the ecology and functional morphology of cryptic or extinct amniotes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keegan M. Melstrom
- Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 W Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, 115 S 1460 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0102, USA
- Natural History Museum of Utah, University of Utah, 301 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84108-1214, USA
| | - Kenneth D. Angielczyk
- Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605-2496, USA
| | - Kathleen A. Ritterbush
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, 115 S 1460 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0102, USA
| | - Randall B. Irmis
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, 115 S 1460 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0102, USA
- Natural History Museum of Utah, University of Utah, 301 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84108-1214, USA
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