1
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Gillet A, Jones KE, Pierce SE. Repatterning of mammalian backbone regionalization in cetaceans. Nat Commun 2024; 15:7587. [PMID: 39217194 PMCID: PMC11365943 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51963-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2024] [Accepted: 08/21/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Cetacean reinvasion of the aquatic realm is an iconic ecological transition that led to drastic modifications of the mammalian body plan, especially in the axial skeleton. Relative to the vertebral column of other mammals that is subdivided into numerous anatomical regions, regional boundaries of the cetacean backbone appear obscured. Whether the traditional mammalian regions are present in cetaceans but hard to detect due to anatomical homogenization or if regions have been entirely repatterned remains unresolved. Here we combine a segmented linear regression approach with spectral clustering to quantitatively investigate the number, position, and homology of vertebral regions across 62 species from all major cetacean clades. We propose the Nested Regions hypothesis under which the cetacean backbone is composed of six homologous modules subdivided into six to nine post-cervical regions, with the degree of regionalization dependent on vertebral count and ecology. Compared to terrestrial mammals, the cetacean backbone is less regionalized in the precaudal segment but more regionalized in the caudal segment, indicating repatterning of the vertebral column associated with the transition from limb-powered to axial-driven locomotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amandine Gillet
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Katrina E Jones
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
| | - Stephanie E Pierce
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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2
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Smith ND, Klein N, Sander PM, Schmitz L. A new pseudosuchian from the Favret Formation of Nevada reveals that archosauriforms occupied coastal regions globally during the Middle Triassic. Biol Lett 2024; 20:20240136. [PMID: 38982977 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2024.0136] [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: 03/14/2024] [Accepted: 05/24/2024] [Indexed: 07/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Recent studies suggest that both stem- and crown-group Archosauria encompassed high ecological diversity during their initial Triassic radiation. We describe a new pseudosuchian archosaur, Benggwigwishingasuchus eremicarminis gen. et sp. nov., from the Anisian (Middle Triassic) Fossil Hill Member of the Favret Formation (Nevada, USA), a pelagic setting in the eastern Panthalassan Ocean characterized by the presence of abundant ammonoids and large-bodied ichthyosaurs. Coupled with archosauriforms from the eastern and western Tethys Ocean, Benggwigwishingasuchus reveals that pseudosuchians were also components of Panthalassan ocean coastal settings, establishing that the group occupied these habitats globally during the Middle Triassic. However, Benggwigwishingasuchus, Qianosuchus, and Ticinosuchus (two other pseudosuchians known from marine sediments) are not recovered in a monophyletic group, demonstrating that a nearshore marine lifestyle occurred widely across Archosauriformes during this time. Benggwigwishingasuchus is recovered as part of an expanded Poposauroidea, including several taxa (e.g. Mandasuchus, Mambawakalae) from the Middle Triassic Manda Beds of Tanzania among its basally branching members. This implies a greater undiscovered diversity of poposauroids during the Early Triassic, and supports that the group, and pseudosuchians more broadly, diversified rapidly following the End-Permian mass extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan D Smith
- Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles 90007-4057, USA
| | - Nicole Klein
- Institute of Geosciences, Palaeontology, University of Bonn, Bonn 53113, Germany
| | - P Martin Sander
- Institute of Geosciences, Palaeontology, University of Bonn, Bonn 53113, Germany
| | - Lars Schmitz
- Kravis Department of Integrated Sciences, Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, USA
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3
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Segesdi M, Brabant D, Cornette R, Houssaye A. How does the shape of the wing and hindlimb bones of aquatic birds relate to their locomotor abilities? Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2024. [PMID: 38803316 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25512] [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: 11/20/2023] [Revised: 05/07/2024] [Accepted: 05/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Aquatic birds represent diverse ecologies and locomotion types. Some became flightless or lost the ability for effective terrestrial locomotion, yet, certain species excel in water, on land, and in air, despite differing physical characteristics associated with each medium. In this exploratory study, we intend to quantitatively analyze the morphological variety of multiple limb bones of aquatic birds using 3D geometric morphometrics. Morphological variation is mainly driven by phylogeny, which also affects size and locomotion. However, the shape of the ulna, including the proportion and orientation of the epiphyses is influenced by size and aquatic propulsive techniques even when phylogeny is taken into consideration. Certain trends, possibly linked to functions, can be observed too in other bones, notably in cases where phylogenetic and functional signals are probably mixed when some taxa only englobe species with similar functional requirements: penguins exhibit the most distinctive wing bone morphologies, highly adapted to wing-propulsion; advanced foot-propellers exhibit femur morphology that reduces proximal mobility but supports stability; knee structures, like cnemial crests of varied sizes and orientations, are crucial for muscle attachments and efficient movement in water and on land; taxa relying on their feet in water but retaining terrestrial abilities share features enabling swimming and walking postures. Size-linked changes distinguish the wing bones of non-wing-propelled taxa. For hindlimbs, larger size relates to robust bones probably linked to terrestrial abilities, but robustness in femora can be connected to foot-propulsion. These results help us better understand birds' skeletal adaptation and can be useful inferring extinct species' ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Segesdi
- Department of Paleontology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Zoology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Paleontology and Geology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Delphine Brabant
- Plateforme Surfaçus, Délégation de l'Innovation Numérique, Direction générale déléguée aux collections, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Raphaël Cornette
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, Paris, France
| | - Alexandra Houssaye
- Mécanismes adaptatifs et évolution (MECADEV), UMR 7179, MNHN, Paris, France
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4
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Esteban JM, Martín-Serra A, Pérez-Ramos A, Rybczynski N, Jones K, Figueirido B. The influence of the land-to-sea macroevolutionary transition on vertebral column disparification in Pinnipedia. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20232752. [PMID: 38593849 PMCID: PMC11003777 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2752] [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: 12/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024] Open
Abstract
The repeated returns of vertebrates to the marine ecosystems since the Triassic serve as an evolutionary model to understand macroevolutionary change. Here we investigate the effects of the land-to-sea transition on disparity and constraint of the vertebral column in aquatic carnivorans (Carnivora; Pinnipedia) to assess how their functional diversity and evolutionary innovations influenced major radiations of crown pinnipeds. We use three-dimensional geometric morphometrics and multivariate analysis for high-dimensional data under a phylogenetic framework to quantify vertebral size and shape in living and extinct pinnipeds. Our analysis demonstrates an important shift in vertebral column evolution by 10-12 million years ago, from an unconstrained to a constrained evolutionary scenario, a point of time that coincides with the major radiation of crown pinnipeds. Moreover, we also demonstrate that the axial skeleton of phocids and otariids followed a different path of morphological evolution that was probably driven by their specialized locomotor strategies. Despite this, we found a significant effect of habitat preference (coastal versus pelagic) on vertebral morphology of crown taxa regardless of the family they belong. In summary, our analysis provides insights into how the land-to-sea transition influenced the complex evolutionary history of pinniped vertebral morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Miguel Esteban
- Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Campus Universitario de Teatinos s/n, 29071, Málaga, Spain
| | - Alberto Martín-Serra
- Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Campus Universitario de Teatinos s/n, 29071, Málaga, Spain
| | - Alejandro Pérez-Ramos
- Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Campus Universitario de Teatinos s/n, 29071, Málaga, Spain
| | - Natalia Rybczynski
- Department of Palaeobiology, Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1P 6P4
- Department of Earth Sciences & Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1S 5B6
| | - Katrina Jones
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Williamson Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
| | - Borja Figueirido
- Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Campus Universitario de Teatinos s/n, 29071, Málaga, Spain
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5
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Perillo M, Sander PM. The dinosaurs that weren't: osteohistology supports giant ichthyosaur affinity of enigmatic large bone segments from the European Rhaetian. PeerJ 2024; 12:e17060. [PMID: 38618574 PMCID: PMC11011611 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.17060] [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: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Very large unidentified elongate and rounded fossil bone segments of uncertain origin recovered from different Rhaetian (Late Triassic) fossil localities across Europe have been puzzling the paleontological community since the second half of the 19th century. Different hypotheses have been proposed regarding the nature of these fossils: (1) giant amphibian bones, (2) dinosaurian or other archosaurian long bone shafts, and (3) giant ichthyosaurian jaw bone segments. We call the latter proposal the 'Giant Ichthyosaur Hypothesis' and test it using bone histology. In presumable ichthyosaur specimens from SW England (Lilstock), France (Autun), and indeterminate cortical fragments from Germany (Bonenburg), we found a combination of shared histological features in the periosteal cortex: an unusual woven-parallel complex of strictly longitudinal primary osteons set in a novel woven-fibered matrix type with intrinsic coarse collagen fibers (IFM), and a distinctive pattern of Haversian substitution in which secondary osteons often form within primary ones. The splenial and surangular of the holotype of the giant ichthyosaur Shastasaurus sikanniensis from Canada were sampled for comparison. The results of the sampling indicate a common osteohistology with the European specimens. A broad histological comparison is provided to reject alternative taxonomic affinities aside from ichthyosaurs of the very large bone segment. Most importantly, we highlight the occurrence of shared peculiar osteogenic processes in Late Triassic giant ichthyosaurs, reflecting special ossification strategies enabling fast growth and achievement of giant size and/or related to biomechanical properties akin to ossified tendons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcello Perillo
- Section Paleontology, Institute of Geosciences, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - P Martin Sander
- Section Paleontology, Institute of Geosciences, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany
- The Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
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6
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Harano T, Kutsukake N. Body size evolution in otters distinguished from terrestrial mustelids. J Evol Biol 2024; 37:152-161. [PMID: 38366250 DOI: 10.1093/jeb/voad015] [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: 02/23/2023] [Revised: 10/28/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2024]
Abstract
Some taxa of mammals live in water, all of which evolved from land-dwelling ancestors. In the family Mustelidae (Mammalia: Carnivora), most species live on land, while otters, comprising the subfamily Lutrinae, inhabit aquatic environments, which include the almost exclusively aquatic sea otters (Enhydra lutris). Thus, the transition from a terrestrial to an aquatic lifestyle has occurred within this family. Despite potentially different selection pressures on body size in aquatic and terrestrial habitats, no divergence in the evolutionary pattern of body size between otters and other mustelids has previously been shown using models of trait evolution on a phylogeny. We applied models that explicitly incorporated lineage-specific directional selection to the evolution of body mass in living mustelids. Using a simulation-based likelihood and approximate Bayesian computation approach, we demonstrated lineage-specific directional selection for larger body mass in otters, which is distinct from other mustelids. There was no evidence of a difference between sea otters and other otters in the strength of directional selection for larger body mass. Additionally, our analyses supported no difference in the rate at which body mass evolves in both directions between otters and other mustelids. These findings suggest that the evolution of body mass in otters is associated with selective advantages of larger size rather than the relaxation of constraints on body size in aquatic habitats, like other aquatic mammals such as sirenians, cetaceans, and pinnipeds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomohiro Harano
- Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Aichi Gakuin University, Nisshin, Japan
- Research Center for Integrative Evolutionary Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, Hayama, Japan
| | - Nobuyuki Kutsukake
- Research Center for Integrative Evolutionary Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, Hayama, Japan
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7
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Séon N, Amiot R, Suan G, Lécuyer C, Fourel F, Vinçon-Laugier A, Charbonnier S, Vincent P. Regional heterothermies recorded in the oxygen isotope composition of harbour seal skeletal elements. J Therm Biol 2024; 120:103825. [PMID: 38430855 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2024.103825] [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: 10/26/2023] [Revised: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
Regional heterothermy is a strategy used by marine mammals to maintain a high and stable core body temperature, but its identification needs in situ measurements difficult to set up in extant wild organisms and inapplicable to extinct ones. We have analysed the oxygen isotope composition of bioapatite phosphate (δ18Op) from one permanent tooth and from thirty-six skeletal elements of one adult male harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) from the Baie de Somme (Hauts-de-France, France). We propose that the observed intra-skeletal δ18Op variability reflects tissue temperature heterogeneities typical of the pinniped regional heterothermy strategy. Our δ18Op data indicate that bone hydroxylapatite from harbour seal autopod skeletal elements (metacarpals, metatarsals, and phalanxes) mineralises at a lower temperature than that of the bone from the axial skeleton (e.g. vertebrae, ribs, and girdle bones). The results suggest that it is possible to locate a history of regional heterothermies in amphibious marine vertebrates using the δ18Op values of their mineralised tissues. This enables direct evaluation of the thermophysiology of both modern and fossil Pinnipedia from their skeletons opening perspectives on understanding their thermal adaptation to the marine environment in the fossil record. In addition to thermophysiology, oxygen isotope data from the permanent teeth of Pinnipedia, which are formed during the in utero phase from body fluid of the mother and at a stable temperature, could be valuable for locating the geographical areas inhabited by existing Pinnipedia females during their gestation period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Séon
- Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie - Paris (CR2P), CNRS, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Université, 57 rue Cuvier, Cedex 05, 75231, Paris, France; Université Claude Bernard Lyon1, LGL-TPE, UMR 5276, CNRS, ENSL, UJM, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France.
| | - Romain Amiot
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon1, LGL-TPE, UMR 5276, CNRS, ENSL, UJM, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France.
| | - Guillaume Suan
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon1, LGL-TPE, UMR 5276, CNRS, ENSL, UJM, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France.
| | - Christophe Lécuyer
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon1, LGL-TPE, UMR 5276, CNRS, ENSL, UJM, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France.
| | - François Fourel
- Laboratoire d'Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés, CNRS, UMR 5023, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France.
| | - Arnauld Vinçon-Laugier
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon1, LGL-TPE, UMR 5276, CNRS, ENSL, UJM, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France.
| | - Sylvain Charbonnier
- Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie - Paris (CR2P), CNRS, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Université, 57 rue Cuvier, Cedex 05, 75231, Paris, France.
| | - Peggy Vincent
- Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie - Paris (CR2P), CNRS, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Université, 57 rue Cuvier, Cedex 05, 75231, Paris, France.
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8
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Mussini G, Dunn FS. Decline and fall of the Ediacarans: late-Neoproterozoic extinctions and the rise of the modern biosphere. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024; 99:110-130. [PMID: 37667585 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2023] [Revised: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023]
Abstract
The end-Neoproterozoic transition marked a gradual but permanent shift between distinct configurations of Earth's biosphere. This interval witnessed the demise of the enigmatic Ediacaran Biota, ushering in the structured trophic webs and disparate animal body plans of Phanerozoic ecosystems. However, little consensus exists on the reality, drivers, and macroevolutionary implications of end-Neoproterozoic extinctions. Here we evaluate potential drivers of late-Neoproterozoic turnover by addressing recent findings on Ediacaran geochronology, the persistence of classical Ediacaran macrobionts into the Cambrian, and the existence of Ediacaran crown-group eumetazoans. Despite renewed interest in the possibility of Phanerozoic-style 'mass extinctions' in the latest Neoproterozoic, our synthesis of the available evidence does not support extinction models based on episodic geochemical triggers, nor does it validate simple ecological interpretations centred on direct competitive displacement. Instead, we argue that the protracted and indirect effects of early bilaterian innovations, including escalations in sediment engineering, predation, and the largely understudied impacts of reef-building, may best account for the temporal structure and possible selectivity of late-Neoproterozoic extinctions. We integrate these processes into a generalised model of early eumetazoan-dominated ecologies, charting the disruption of spatial and temporal isotropy on the Ediacaran benthos as a consequence of diversifying macrofaunal interactions. Given the nature of resource distribution in Ediacaran ecologies, the continuities among Ediacaran and Cambrian faunas, and the convergent origins of ecologically disruptive innovations among bilaterians we suggest that the rise of Phanerozoic-type biotas may have been unstoppable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Mussini
- Department of Earth Sciences, Downing Street, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, UK
| | - Frances S Dunn
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PW, UK
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9
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Bennion RF, Maxwell EE, Lambert O, Fischer V. Craniodental ecomorphology of the large Jurassic ichthyosaurian Temnodontosaurus. J Anat 2024; 244:22-41. [PMID: 37591692 PMCID: PMC10734653 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13939] [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: 04/02/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Marine amniotes have played many crucial roles in ocean ecosystems since the Triassic, including predation at the highest trophic levels. One genus often placed into this guild is the large Early Jurassic neoichthyosaurian Temnodontosaurus, the only post-Triassic ichthyosaurian known with teeth which bear a distinct cutting edge or carina. This taxonomically problematic genus is currently composed of seven species which show a wide variety of skull and tooth morphologies. Here we assess the craniodental disparity in Temnodontosaurus using a series of functionally informative traits. We describe the range of tooth morphologies in the genus in detail, including the first examples of serrated carinae in ichthyosaurians. These consist of false denticles created by the interaction of enamel ridgelets with the carinal keel, as well as possible cryptic true denticles only visible using scanning electron microscopy. We also find evidence for heterodonty in the species T. platyodon, with unicarinate mesial teeth likely playing a role in prey capture and labiolingually compressed, bicarinate distal teeth likely involved in prey processing. This type of heterodonty appears to be convergent with a series of other marine amniotes including early cetaceans. Overall, the species currently referred to as the genus Temnodontosaurus show a range of craniodental configurations allowing prey to be captured and processed in different ways - for example, T. eurycephalus has a deep snout and relatively small bicarinate teeth likely specialised for increased wound infliction and grip-and-tear feeding, whereas T. platyodon has a more elongate yet robust snout and larger teeth and may be more adapted for grip-and-shear feeding. These results suggest the existence of niche partitioning at higher trophic levels in Early Jurassic ichthyosaurians and have implications for future work on the taxonomy of this wastebasket genus, as well as for research into the ecology of other extinct megapredatory marine tetrapods.
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Affiliation(s)
- R F Bennion
- Evolution & Diversity Dynamics Lab, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium
- OD Earth and History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium
| | - E E Maxwell
- Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - O Lambert
- OD Earth and History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium
| | - V Fischer
- Evolution & Diversity Dynamics Lab, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium
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10
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Formoso KK, Habib MB, Vélez-Juarbe J. The Role of Locomotory Ancestry on Secondarily Aquatic Transitions. Integr Comp Biol 2023; 63:1140-1153. [PMID: 37591628 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icad112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2023] [Revised: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Land-to-sea evolutionary transitions are great transformations where terrestrial amniote clades returned to aquatic environments. These secondarily aquatic amniote clades include charismatic marine mammal and marine reptile groups, as well as countless semi-aquatic forms that modified their terrestrial locomotor anatomy to varying degrees to be suited for swimming via axial and/or appendicular propulsion. The terrestrial ancestors of secondarily aquatic groups would have started off swimming strikingly differently from one another given their evolutionary histories, as inferred by the way modern terrestrial amniotes swim. With such stark locomotor functional differences between reptiles and mammals, we ask if this impacted these transitions. Axial propulsion appears favored by aquatic descendants of terrestrially sprawling quadrupedal reptiles, with exceptions. Appendicular propulsion is more prevalent across the aquatic descendants of ancestrally parasagittal-postured mammals, particularly early transitioning forms. Ancestral terrestrial anatomical differences that precede secondarily aquatic invasions between mammals and reptiles, as well as the distribution of axial and appendicular swimming in secondarily aquatic clades, may indicate that ancestral terrestrial locomotor anatomy played a role, potentially in both constraint and facilitation, in certain aquatic locomotion styles. This perspective of the land-to-sea transition can lead to new avenues of functional, biomechanical, and developmental study of secondarily aquatic transitions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kiersten K Formoso
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, 3651 Trousedale Pkwy, Zumberge Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
- Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007-4057, USA
| | - Michael B Habib
- Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007-4057, USA
- UCLA Cardiac Arrhythmia Center, Division of Cardiology, 100 Medical Plaza, Suite 660, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Jorge Vélez-Juarbe
- Department of Mammalogy, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd, Los Angelss, CA 90007-4057, USA
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11
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Shine R, Meiri S, Shine TG, Brown GP, Goiran C. The adaptive significance of large size at birth in marine snakes. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:231429. [PMID: 38094277 PMCID: PMC10716650 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2024]
Abstract
Evolutionary shifts from one habitat type to another can clarify selective forces that affect life-history attributes. Four lineages of snakes (acrochordids and three clades within the Elapidae) have invaded marine habitats, and all have larger offspring than do terrestrial snakes. Predation by fishes on small neonates offers a plausible selective mechanism for that shift, because ascending to breathe at the ocean surface exposes a marine snake to midwater predation whereas juvenile snakes in terrestrial habitats can remain hidden. Consistent with this hypothesis, snake-shaped models moving through a coral-reef habitat in New Caledonia attracted high rates of attack by predatory fishes, and small models (the size of neonatal terrestrial snakes) were attacked more frequently than were large models (the size of neonatal sea snakes). Vulnerability to predatory fishes may have imposed strong selection for increased offspring size in marine snakes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Shine
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Shai Meiri
- School of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel
- The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel-Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Terri G. Shine
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Gregory P. Brown
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Claire Goiran
- LabEx Corail & ISEA, Université de la Nouvelle-Calédonie, BP R4, 98851 Nouméa cedex, New Caledonia
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12
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Laboury A, Scheyer TM, Klein N, Stubbs TL, Fischer V. High phenotypic plasticity at the dawn of the eosauropterygian radiation. PeerJ 2023; 11:e15776. [PMID: 37671356 PMCID: PMC10476616 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.15776] [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: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The initial radiation of Eosauropterygia during the Triassic biotic recovery represents a key event in the dominance of reptiles secondarily adapted to marine environments. Recent studies on Mesozoic marine reptile disparity highlighted that eosauropterygians had their greatest morphological diversity during the Middle Triassic, with the co-occurrence of Pachypleurosauroidea, Nothosauroidea and Pistosauroidea, mostly along the margins of the Tethys Ocean. However, these previous studies quantitatively analysed the disparity of Eosauropterygia as a whole without focussing on Triassic taxa, thus limiting our understanding of their diversification and morphospace occupation during the Middle Triassic. Our multivariate morphometric analyses highlight a clearly distinct colonization of the ecomorphospace by the three clades, with no evidence of whole-body convergent evolution with the exception of the peculiar pistosauroid Wangosaurus brevirostris, which appears phenotypically much more similar to nothosauroids. This global pattern is mostly driven by craniodental differences and inferred feeding specializations. We also reveal noticeable regional differences among nothosauroids and pachypleurosauroids of which the latter likely experienced a remarkable diversification in the eastern Tethys during the Pelsonian. Our results demonstrate that the high phenotypic plasticity characterizing the evolution of the pelagic plesiosaurians was already present in their Triassic ancestors, casting eosauropterygians as particularly adaptable animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Laboury
- Evolution & Diversity Dynamics Lab, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | | | - Nicole Klein
- Institute of Geosciences, Paleontology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Thomas L. Stubbs
- School of Life, Health & Chemical Sciences, Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
| | - Valentin Fischer
- Evolution & Diversity Dynamics Lab, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium
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13
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Werth AJ, Crompton AW. Cetacean tongue mobility and function: A comparative review. J Anat 2023; 243:343-373. [PMID: 37042479 PMCID: PMC10439401 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13876] [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: 02/01/2022] [Revised: 03/26/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 04/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Cetaceans are atypical mammals whose tongues often depart from the typical (basal) mammalian condition in structure, mobility, and function. Their tongues are dynamic, innovative multipurpose tools that include the world's largest muscular structures. These changes reflect the evolutionary history of cetaceans' secondary adaptation to a fully aquatic environment. Cetacean tongues play no role in mastication and apparently a greatly reduced role in nursing (mainly channeling milk ingestion), two hallmarks of Mammalia. Cetacean tongues are not involved in drinking, breathing, vocalizing, and other non-feeding activities; they evidently play no or little role in taste reception. Although cetaceans do not masticate or otherwise process food, their tongues retain key roles in food ingestion, transport, securing/positioning, and swallowing, though by different means than most mammals. This is due to cetaceans' aquatic habitat, which in turn altered their anatomy (e.g., the intranarial larynx and consequent soft palate alteration). Odontocetes ingest prey via raptorial biting or tongue-generated suction. Odontocete tongues expel water and possibly uncover benthic prey via hydraulic jetting. Mysticete tongues play crucial roles driving ram, suction, or lunge ingestion for filter feeding. The uniquely flaccid rorqual tongue, not a constant volume hydrostat (as in all other mammalian tongues), invaginates into a balloon-like pouch to temporarily hold engulfed water. Mysticete tongues also create hydrodynamic flow regimes and hydraulic forces for baleen filtration, and possibly for cleaning baleen. Cetacean tongues lost or modified much of the mobility and function of generic mammal tongues, but took on noteworthy morphological changes by evolving to accomplish new tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander J Werth
- Department of Biology, Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden-Sydney, Virginia, USA
| | - A W Crompton
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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14
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Wolniewicz AS, Shen Y, Li Q, Sun Y, Qiao Y, Chen Y, Hu YW, Liu J. An armoured marine reptile from the Early Triassic of South China and its phylogenetic and evolutionary implications. eLife 2023; 12:e83163. [PMID: 37551884 PMCID: PMC10499374 DOI: 10.7554/elife.83163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Sauropterygia was a taxonomically and ecomorphologically diverse clade of Mesozoic marine reptiles spanning the Early Triassic to the Late Cretaceous. Sauropterygians are traditionally divided into two groups representing two markedly different body plans - the short-necked, durophagous Placodontia and the long-necked Eosauropterygia - whereas Saurosphargidae, a small clade of armoured marine reptiles, is generally considered as the sauropterygian sister-group. However, the early evolutionary history of sauropterygians and their phylogenetic relationships with other groups within Diapsida are still incompletely understood. Here, we report a new saurosphargid from the Early Triassic (Olenekian) of South China - Prosaurosphargis yingzishanensis gen. et sp. nov. - representing the earliest known occurrence of the clade. An updated phylogenetic analysis focussing on the interrelationships among diapsid reptiles recovers saurosphargids as nested within sauropterygians, forming a clade with eosauropterygians to the exclusion of placodonts. Furthermore, a clade comprising Eusaurosphargis and Palatodonta is recovered as the sauropterygian sister-group within Sauropterygomorpha tax. nov. The phylogenetic position of several Early and Middle Triassic sauropterygians of previously uncertain phylogenetic affinity, such as Atopodentatus, Hanosaurus, Majiashanosaurus, and Corosaurus, is also clarified, elucidating the early evolutionary assembly of the sauropterygian body plan. Finally, our phylogenetic analysis supports the placement of Testudines and Archosauromorpha within Archelosauria, a result strongly corroborated by molecular data, but only recently recovered in a phylogenetic analysis using a morphology-only dataset. Our study provides evidence for the rapid diversification of sauropterygians in the aftermath of the Permo-Triassic mass extinction event and emphasises the importance of broad taxonomic sampling in reconstructing phylogenetic relationships among extinct taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrzej S Wolniewicz
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of TechnologyHefeiChina
- Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of SciencesWarsawPoland
| | - Yuefeng Shen
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of TechnologyHefeiChina
| | - Qiang Li
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of TechnologyHefeiChina
- Section Paleontology, Institute of Geosciences, University of BonnBonnGermany
| | - Yuanyuan Sun
- Chengdu Center, China Geological Survey (Southwest China Innovation Center for Geosciences)ChengduChina
| | - Yu Qiao
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of TechnologyHefeiChina
| | - Yajie Chen
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of TechnologyHefeiChina
| | - Yi-Wei Hu
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of TechnologyHefeiChina
| | - Jun Liu
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of TechnologyHefeiChina
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15
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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] [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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16
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Grouping behavior in a Triassic marine apex predator. Curr Biol 2022; 32:5398-5405.e3. [PMID: 36538877 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Revised: 10/05/2022] [Accepted: 11/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Marine tetrapods occupy important roles in modern marine ecosystems and often gather in large aggregations driven by patchy prey distribution,1,2 social or reproductive behaviors,3,4 or oceanographic factors.5 Here, we show that similar grouping behaviors evolved in an early marine tetrapod lineage, documented by dozens of specimens of the giant ichthyosaur Shonisaurus in the Luning Formation in West Union Canyon, Nevada, USA.6,7 A concentration of at least seven skeletons closely preserved on a single bedding plane received the bulk of previous attention. However, many more specimens are preserved across ∼106 square meters and ∼200 stratigraphic meters of outcrop representing an estimated >105-6 years. Unlike other marine-tetrapod-rich deposits, this assemblage is essentially monotaxic; other vertebrate fossils are exceptionally scarce. Large individuals are disproportionately abundant, with the exception of multiple neonatal or embryonic specimens, indicating an unusual demographic composition apparently lacking intermediate-sized juveniles or subadults. Combined with geological evidence, our data suggest that dense aggregations of Shonisaurus inhabited this moderately deep, low-diversity, tropical marine environment for millennia during the latest Carnian Stage of the Late Triassic Period (237-227 Ma). Thus, philopatric grouping behavior in marine tetrapods, potentially linked to reproductive activity, has an antiquity of at least 230 million years.
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17
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Qiao Y, Liu J, Wolniewicz AS, Iijima M, Shen Y, Wintrich T, Li Q, Sander PM. A globally distributed durophagous marine reptile clade supports the rapid recovery of pelagic ecosystems after the Permo-Triassic mass extinction. Commun Biol 2022; 5:1242. [PMCID: PMC9663502 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04162-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
AbstractMarine ecosystem recovery after the Permo-Triassic mass extinction (PTME) has been extensively studied in the shallow sea, but little is known about the nature of this process in pelagic ecosystems. Omphalosauridae, an enigmatic clade of open-water durophagous marine reptiles, potentially played an important role in the recovery, but their fragmentary fossils and uncertain phylogenetic position have hindered our understanding of their role in the process. Here we report the large basal ichthyosauriform Sclerocormus from the Early Triassic of China that clearly demonstrates an omphalosaurid affinity, allowing for the synonymy of the recently erected Nasorostra with Omphalosauridae. The skull also reveals the anatomy of the unique feeding apparatus of omphalosaurids, likely an adaptation for feeding on hard-shelled pelagic invertebrates, especially ammonoids. Morphofunctional analysis of jaws shows that omphalosaurids occupy the morphospace of marine turtles. Our discovery adds another piece of evidence for an explosive radiation of marine reptiles into the ocean in the Early Triassic and the rapid recovery of pelagic ecosystems after the PTME.
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18
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Figgener C, Bernardo J, Plotkin PT. Marine turtles are only minimally sexually size dimorphic, a pattern that is distinct from most nonmarine aquatic turtles. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8963. [PMID: 35784046 PMCID: PMC9163671 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2020] [Revised: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Turtles have been prominent subjects of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) analyses due to their compact taxonomy, mating systems, and habitat diversity. In prior studies, marine turtles were grouped with fully aquatic non-marine turtles (NMATs). This is interesting because it is well-established that the marine environment imposes a distinct selective milieu on body form of vagile vertebrates, driven by convergent adaptations for energy-efficient propulsion and drag reduction. We generated a comprehensive database of adult marine turtle body sizes (38,569 observations across all species), which we then used to evaluate the magnitude of SSD in marine turtles and how it compares to SSD in NMAT. We find that marine turtles are only minimally sexually size dimorphic, whereas NMAT typically exhibit female-biased SSD. We argue that the reason for this difference is the sustained long-distance swimming that characterizes marine turtle ecology, which entails significant energetic costs incurred by both sexes. Hence, the ability of either sex to allocate proportionately more to growth than the other is likely constrained, meaning that sexual differences in growth and resultant body size are not possible. Consequently, grouping marine turtles with NMAT dilutes the statistical signature of different kinds of selection on SSD and should be avoided in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Figgener
- Marine Biology Interdisciplinary ProgramTexas A&M UniversityCollege StationTexasUSA
- Department of BiologyTexas A&M UniversityCollege StationTexasUSA
- Department of OceanographyTexas A&M UniversityCollege StationTexasUSA
- Costa Rican Alliance for Sea Turtle Conservation & Science (COASTS)GandocaCosta Rica
| | - Joseph Bernardo
- Marine Biology Interdisciplinary ProgramTexas A&M UniversityCollege StationTexasUSA
- Department of BiologyTexas A&M UniversityCollege StationTexasUSA
- Program in Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyTexas A&M UniversityCollege StationTexasUSA
| | - Pamela T. Plotkin
- Marine Biology Interdisciplinary ProgramTexas A&M UniversityCollege StationTexasUSA
- Department of OceanographyTexas A&M UniversityCollege StationTexasUSA
- Texas Sea GrantTexas A&M UniversityCollege StationTexasUSA
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19
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Theuerkauf J, Villavicencio CP, Adreani NM, Attisano A, Craig A, D'Amelio PB, Gula R, Lee ATK, Mentesana L, Quillfeldt P, Quirici V, Quispe R, Vásquez RA, Wingfield JC, Masello JF. Austral birds offer insightful complementary models in ecology and evolution. Trends Ecol Evol 2022; 37:759-767. [PMID: 35691772 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2021] [Revised: 05/09/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The Southern Hemisphere differs from the Northern Hemisphere in many aspects. However, most ecological and evolutionary research is conducted in the Northern Hemisphere and its conclusions are extrapolated to the entire globe. Therefore, unique organismal and evolutionary characteristics of the south are overlooked. We use ornithology to show the importance of including a southern perspective. We present examples of plumage pigmentation, brood-parasitic nestling ejection, flightlessness, female song, and female aggression modulated by progesterone as complementary models for investigating fundamental biological questions. More research in the Southern Hemisphere, together with increased cooperation among researchers across the hemispheres and within the Southern Hemisphere, will provide a greater global outlook into ecology and evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jörn Theuerkauf
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 00-679 Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Camila P Villavicencio
- Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, Department of Ecological Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Chile, 7800003 Santiago, Chile
| | - Nicolas M Adreani
- KLF Core Facility for Behaviour and Cognition, University of Vienna, 4645 Grünau im Almtal, Austria; Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, 82319 Seewiesen, Germany
| | - Alfredo Attisano
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 00-679 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Adrian Craig
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Makhanda 6140, South Africa
| | - Pietro B D'Amelio
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
| | - Roman Gula
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 00-679 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Alan T K Lee
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa; Centre for Functional Biodiversity, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville 3209, South Africa; BirdLife South Africa, Pinegowrie 2123, South Africa
| | - Lucía Mentesana
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, 82319 Seewiesen, Germany
| | - Petra Quillfeldt
- Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, 35392 Giessen, Germany
| | - Veronica Quirici
- Centro de Investigación para la Sustentabilidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andres Bello, 8370251 Santiago, Chile
| | - René Quispe
- Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Ocean Sciences, Universidad Catolica del Norte, 1781421 Coquimbo, Chile; Department of Animal Biological Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Chile, 8820808 Santiago, Chile
| | - Rodrigo A Vásquez
- Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, Department of Ecological Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Chile, 7800003 Santiago, Chile; Cape Horn International Center (CHIC), Puerto Williams, Magallanes, Chile
| | - John C Wingfield
- Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Juan F Masello
- Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, 35392 Giessen, Germany.
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20
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MacLaren JA, Bennion RF, Bardet N, Fischer V. Global ecomorphological restructuring of dominant marine reptiles prior to the Cretaceous-Palaeogene mass extinction. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20220585. [PMID: 35611532 PMCID: PMC9130788 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Mosasaurid squamates were the dominant amniote predators in marine ecosystems during most of the Late Cretaceous. Here, we use a suite of biomechanically rooted, functionally descriptive ratios in a framework adapted from population ecology to investigate how the morphofunctional disparity of mosasaurids evolved prior to the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K/Pg) mass extinction. Our results suggest that taxonomic turnover in mosasaurid community composition from Campanian to Maastrichtian is reflected by a notable global increase in morphofunctional disparity, especially driving the North American record. Ecomorphospace occupation becomes polarized during the Late Maastrichtian, with morphofunctional disparity plateauing in the Southern Hemisphere and decreasing in the Northern Hemisphere. We show that these changes are not strongly associated with mosasaurid size, but rather with the functional capacities of their skulls. Our novel approach indicates that mosasaurid morphofunctional disparity was in decline in multiple provincial communities before the K/Pg mass extinction, highlighting region-specific patterns of disparity evolution and the importance of assessing vertebrate extinctions both globally and locally. Ecomorphological differentiation in mosasaurid communities, coupled with declines in other formerly abundant marine reptile groups, indicates widespread restructuring of higher trophic levels in marine food webs was well underway when the K/Pg mass extinction took place.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie A. MacLaren
- Evolution and Diversity Dynamics Lab, UR Geology, Université de Liège, 14 Allée du 6 Août, Liège 4000, Belgium,Functional Morphology Lab, Department of Biology, Universiteit Antwerpen, Gebouw D, Campus Drie Eiken, Universiteitsplein 1, Wilrijk, Antwerpen 2610, Belgium
| | - Rebecca F. Bennion
- Evolution and Diversity Dynamics Lab, UR Geology, Université de Liège, 14 Allée du 6 Août, Liège 4000, Belgium,O.D Terre et Histoire de la Vie, Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Rue Vautier 29, Brussels 1000, Belgium
| | - Nathalie Bardet
- CR2P – Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie de Paris, UMR 7207 CNRS-MNHN-SU, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 57 Rue Cuvier, CP38, Paris 75005, France
| | - Valentin Fischer
- Evolution and Diversity Dynamics Lab, UR Geology, Université de Liège, 14 Allée du 6 Août, Liège 4000, Belgium
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21
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Abstract
SignificanceAdaptation to more severe ambient temperature fluctuations can be considered one of the key innovations of terrestrial tetrapods. Our study shows the formation of the functional MHR1-3 domain in transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (TRPM8) bestowed the channel with cold sensitivity during the water-to-land transition. The evolved MHR1-3 domain found in terrestrial tetrapods serves as an independent apparatus with cold sensitivity. Furthermore, this domain with independent cold sensitivity is necessary for the regulatory mechanism of the pore domain, where the efficacy of cold activation is largely altered by evolutionary tuning of the hydrophobicity of several residues during the diversification of terrestrial tetrapods. Our findings advance the understanding of cold-sensing emergence during evolution and the thermodynamic basis of TRPM8 cold activation.
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22
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Lezama-García K, Mota-Rojas D, Martínez-Burnes J, Villanueva-García D, Domínguez-Oliva A, Gómez-Prado J, Mora-Medina P, Casas-Alvarado A, Olmos-Hernández A, Soto P, Muns R. Strategies for Hypothermia Compensation in Altricial and Precocial Newborn Mammals and Their Monitoring by Infrared Thermography. Vet Sci 2022; 9:vetsci9050246. [PMID: 35622774 PMCID: PMC9145389 DOI: 10.3390/vetsci9050246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2022] [Revised: 05/18/2022] [Accepted: 05/18/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Thermoregulation in newborn mammals is an essential species-specific mechanism of the nervous system that contributes to their survival during the first hours and days of their life. When exposed to cold weather, which is a risk factor associated with mortality in neonates, pathways such as the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA) are activated to achieve temperature control, increasing the circulating levels of catecholamine and cortisol. Consequently, alterations in blood circulation and mechanisms to produce or to retain heat (e.g., vasoconstriction, piloerection, shivering, brown adipocyte tissue activation, and huddling) begin to prevent hypothermia. This study aimed to discuss the mechanisms of thermoregulation in newborn domestic mammals, highlighting the differences between altricial and precocial species. The processes that employ brown adipocyte tissue, shivering, thermoregulatory behaviors, and dermal vasomotor control will be analyzed to understand the physiology and the importance of implementing techniques to promote thermoregulation and survival in the critical post-birth period of mammals. Also, infrared thermography as a helpful method to perform thermal measurements without animal interactions does not affect these parameters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karina Lezama-García
- PhD Program in Biological and Health Sciences [Doctorado en Ciencias Biológicas y de la Salud], Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City 04960, Mexico;
| | - Daniel Mota-Rojas
- Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, DPAA, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City 04960, Mexico; (A.D.-O.); (J.G.-P.); (A.C.-A.); (P.S.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Julio Martínez-Burnes
- Animal Health Group, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Victoria City 87000, Tamaulipas, Mexico;
| | - Dina Villanueva-García
- Division of Neonatology, National Institute of Health, Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez, Doctor Márquez 162, Mexico City 06720, Mexico;
| | - Adriana Domínguez-Oliva
- Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, DPAA, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City 04960, Mexico; (A.D.-O.); (J.G.-P.); (A.C.-A.); (P.S.)
| | - Jocelyn Gómez-Prado
- Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, DPAA, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City 04960, Mexico; (A.D.-O.); (J.G.-P.); (A.C.-A.); (P.S.)
| | - Patricia Mora-Medina
- Department of Livestock Science, FESC, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Cuautitlán Izcalli 54714, Mexico;
| | - Alejandro Casas-Alvarado
- Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, DPAA, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City 04960, Mexico; (A.D.-O.); (J.G.-P.); (A.C.-A.); (P.S.)
| | - Adriana Olmos-Hernández
- Division of Biotechnology—Bioterio and Experimental Surgery, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación-Luis Guillermo Ibarra Ibarra (INR-LGII), Mexico City 14389, Mexico;
| | - Paola Soto
- Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, DPAA, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City 04960, Mexico; (A.D.-O.); (J.G.-P.); (A.C.-A.); (P.S.)
| | - Ramon Muns
- Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Livestock Production Sciences Unit, Hillsborough BT26 6DR, Northern Ireland, UK;
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23
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A long-tailed marine reptile from China provides new insights into the Middle Triassic pachypleurosaur radiation. Sci Rep 2022; 12:7396. [PMID: 35513463 PMCID: PMC9072359 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-11309-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Pachypleurosaurs (Pachypleurosauroidea) are a group of small to medium-sized, lizard-like marine reptiles in the Early to Middle Triassic, including Pachypleurosauridae, Keichousauridae and closely related taxa. The group is generally considered as a sauropterygian radiation, but its phylogenetic interrelationships remain highly debated. Here, we present a new pachypleurosaurid, Honghesaurus longicaudalis gen. et sp. nov., from the early Middle Triassic (Anisian, ~ 244 Ma) marine deposits in Luxi, Yunnan, China. The discovery documents the first really long-tailed pachypleurosaur with totally 121 (69 caudal) vertebrae, providing new evidence for the vertebral multiplication and ecological adaption of this group. The long trunk associated with an incredibly long tail could provide Honghesaurus the advantage of maneuverability and energy efficiency for lateral undulatory swimming. Honghesaurus, although possessing a series of autapomorphies, fills the morphological gap between Qianxisaurus from the Ladinian Xingyi Biota and Wumengosaurus from the Anisian Panxian Biota. Phylogenetic studies unite these three pachypleurosaurids as a monophyletic clade above European pachypleurosaurid clades and provide new insights into the interrelationships of this group. Our scenario of pachypleurosaurian phylogeny combined with the stratigraphic data imply that the Tethys Ocean was a west–east corridor for dispersal of pachypleurosaurids from Europe into South China.
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Dasnon A, Delord K, Chaigne A, Barbraud C. Fisheries bycatch mitigation measures as an efficient tool for the conservation of seabird populations. J Appl Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Anaïs Dasnon
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS UMR7372, 79360 Villiers en Bois France
- Réserve Naturelle Nationale des Terres Australes Françaises, TAAF, rue Gabriel Dejean, 97458 Saint‐Pierre France
| | - Karine Delord
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS UMR7372, 79360 Villiers en Bois France
| | - Adrien Chaigne
- Réserve Naturelle Nationale des Terres Australes Françaises, TAAF, rue Gabriel Dejean, 97458 Saint‐Pierre France
| | - Christophe Barbraud
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS UMR7372, 79360 Villiers en Bois France
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Gutarra S, Stubbs TL, Moon BC, Palmer C, Benton MJ. Large size in aquatic tetrapods compensates for high drag caused by extreme body proportions. Commun Biol 2022; 5:380. [PMID: 35484197 PMCID: PMC9051157 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03322-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2021] [Accepted: 03/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Various Mesozoic marine reptile lineages evolved streamlined bodies and efficient lift-based swimming, as seen in modern aquatic mammals. Ichthyosaurs had low-drag bodies, akin to modern dolphins, but plesiosaurs were strikingly different, with long hydrofoil-like limbs and greatly variable neck and trunk proportions. Using computational fluid dynamics, we explore the effect of this extreme morphological variation. We find that, independently of their body fineness ratio, plesiosaurs produced more drag than ichthyosaurs and modern cetaceans of equal mass due to their large limbs, but these differences were not significant when body size was accounted for. Additionally, necks longer than twice the trunk length can substantially increase the cost of forward swimming, but this effect was cancelled out by the evolution of big trunks. Moreover, fast rates in the evolution of neck proportions in the long-necked elasmosaurs suggest that large trunks might have released the hydrodynamic constraints on necks thus allowing their extreme enlargement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susana Gutarra
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK.
- Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK.
| | - Thomas L Stubbs
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Benjamin C Moon
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Colin Palmer
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
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26
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Figueirido B, Serrano FJ, Pérez-Ramos A, Esteban JM, Ferrón HG, Martín-Serra A. Body-axis organization in tetrapods: a model-system to disentangle the developmental origins of convergent evolution in deep time. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20220047. [PMID: 35382583 PMCID: PMC8984341 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Convergent evolution is a central concept in evolutionary theory but the underlying mechanism has been largely debated since On the Origin of Species. Previous hypotheses predict that developmental constraints make some morphologies more likely to arise than others and natural selection discards those of the lowest fitness. However, the quantification of the role and strength of natural selection and developmental constraint in shaping convergent phenotypes on macroevolutionary timescales is challenging because the information regarding performance and development is not directly available. Accordingly, current knowledge of how embryonic development and natural selection drive phenotypic evolution in vertebrates has been extended from studies performed at short temporal scales. We propose here the organization of the tetrapod body-axis as a model system to investigate the developmental origins of convergent evolution over hundreds of millions of years. The quantification of the primary developmental mechanisms driving body-axis organization (i.e. somitogenesis, homeotic effects and differential growth) can be inferred from vertebral counts, and recent techniques of three-dimensional computational biomechanics have the necessary potential to reveal organismal performance even in fossil forms. The combination of both approaches offers a novel and robust methodological framework to test competing hypotheses on the functional and developmental drivers of phenotypic evolution and evolutionary convergence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Borja Figueirido
- Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, 29071-Málaga, Spain
| | - Francisco J. Serrano
- Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, 29071-Málaga, Spain
- Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County; Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
| | - Alejandro Pérez-Ramos
- Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, 29071-Málaga, Spain
| | - Juan Miguel Esteban
- Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, 29071-Málaga, Spain
| | - Humberto G. Ferrón
- Instituto Cavanilles de Biodiversidad y Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de Valencia, 46980-Paterna, Valencia, Spain
| | - Alberto Martín-Serra
- Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, 29071-Málaga, Spain
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Román-Palacios C, Moraga-López D, Wiens JJ. The origins of global biodiversity on land, sea and freshwater. Ecol Lett 2022; 25:1376-1386. [PMID: 35334149 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2022] [Revised: 02/06/2022] [Accepted: 02/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Many biodiversity studies focus on explaining high tropical species richness, but an equally dramatic yet understudied pattern involves the divergent richness of land, sea and freshwater. Here, we reveal the origins of these richness differences among habitats across animals and plants. Most plant and animal species are terrestrial, although these habitats cover only ~28% of Earth's surface. Marine habitats have fewer species over a larger area (~70%). Freshwater habitats have relatively high richness and exceptional phylogenetic diversity given their tiny area (2%). The relative richness of habitats is related to variation in diversification rates. Based on ancestral reconstructions of habitat, we find that most marine species are descended from marine ancestors and most terrestrial species from freshwater ancestors. Yet, most extant animal richness in freshwater is derived from terrestrial ancestors. Overall, our results reveal the origins of fundamental but neglected biodiversity patterns, and highlight the conservation importance of freshwater habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Daniela Moraga-López
- Departamento de Ecología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - John J Wiens
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
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28
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Subaqueous foraging among carnivorous dinosaurs. Nature 2022; 603:852-857. [PMID: 35322229 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04528-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2021] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Secondary aquatic adaptations evolved independently more than 30 times from terrestrial vertebrate ancestors1,2. For decades, non-avian dinosaurs were believed to be an exception to this pattern. Only a few species have been hypothesized to be partly or predominantly aquatic3-11. However, these hypotheses remain controversial12,13, largely owing to the difficulty of identifying unambiguous anatomical adaptations for aquatic habits in extinct animals. Here we demonstrate that the relationship between bone density and aquatic ecologies across extant amniotes provides a reliable inference of aquatic habits in extinct species. We use this approach to evaluate the distribution of aquatic adaptations among non-avian dinosaurs. We find strong support for aquatic habits in spinosaurids, associated with a marked increase in bone density, which precedes the evolution of more conspicuous anatomical modifications, a pattern also observed in other aquatic reptiles and mammals14-16. Spinosaurids are revealed to be aquatic specialists with surprising ecological disparity, including subaqueous foraging behaviour in Spinosaurus and Baryonyx, and non-diving habits in Suchomimus. Adaptation to aquatic environments appeared in spinosaurids during the Early Cretaceous, following their divergence from other tetanuran theropods during the Early Jurassic17.
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Laboury A, Bennion RF, Thuy B, Weis R, Fischer V. Anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of Temnodontosaurus zetlandicus (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria). Zool J Linn Soc 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Parvipelvia is a major clade of ichthyosaurians that diversified during the Triassic-Jurassic transition. The interrelationships of early parvipelvians remain unclear and many genera are loosely diagnosed, such as Temnodontosaurus, an ecologically important genus from the Early Jurassic of Western Europe. One taxon concentrates many taxonomic issues: ‘Ichthyosaurus’ acutirostris was previously assigned to Temnodontosaurus and for which ‘Ichthyosaurus’ zetlandicus represents a junior synonym. We redescribe the holotype of ‘Ichthyosaurus’ zetlandicus (CAMSM J35176) and a new specimen probably attributable to this taxon (MNHNL TU885) from the Toarcian of Luxembourg. We find that Temnodontosaurus zetlandicus comb. nov. is a valid species that should be referred to the genus Temnodontosaurus, sharing a number of traits with Temnodontosaurus nuertingensis and Temnodontosaurus trigonodon, despite having a distinct cranial architecture. Our phylogenetic analyses under both implied weighting maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference recover T. zetlandicus as closely related to several species currently assigned to Temnodontosaurus. Species included in Temnodontosaurus form a polyphyletic yet well-clustered group among basal neoichthyosaurians, demonstrating that the monophyly of this genus needs to be thoroughly investigated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Laboury
- Evolution & Diversity Dynamics Lab, University of Liège, 14 Allée du 6 Août, Liège 4000, Belgium
| | - Rebecca F Bennion
- Evolution & Diversity Dynamics Lab, University of Liège, 14 Allée du 6 Août, Liège 4000, Belgium
- Palaeontology Department, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 29, Rue Vautier, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Ben Thuy
- Palaeontology Departement, Natural History Museum Luxembourg, 25 Rue Münster, L-2160 Luxembourg, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg
| | - Robert Weis
- Palaeontology Departement, Natural History Museum Luxembourg, 25 Rue Münster, L-2160 Luxembourg, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg
| | - Valentin Fischer
- Evolution & Diversity Dynamics Lab, University of Liège, 14 Allée du 6 Août, Liège 4000, Belgium
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Kienle SS, Cuthbertson RD, Reidenberg JS. Comparative examination of pinniped craniofacial musculature and its role in aquatic feeding. J Anat 2022; 240:226-252. [PMID: 34697793 PMCID: PMC8742965 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Revised: 08/20/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Secondarily aquatic tetrapods have many unique morphologic adaptations for life underwater compared with their terrestrial counterparts. A key innovation during the land-to-water transition was feeding. Pinnipeds, a clade of air-breathing marine carnivorans that include seals, sea lions, and walruses, have evolved multiple strategies for aquatic feeding (e.g., biting, suction feeding). Numerous studies have examined the pinniped skull and dental specializations for underwater feeding. However, data on the pinniped craniofacial musculoskeletal system and its role in aquatic feeding are rare. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to conduct a comparative analysis of pinniped craniofacial musculature and examine the function of the craniofacial musculature in facilitating different aquatic feeding strategies. We performed anatomic dissections of 35 specimens across six pinniped species. We describe 32 pinniped craniofacial muscles-including facial expression, mastication, tongue, hyoid, and soft palate muscles. Pinnipeds broadly conform to mammalian patterns of craniofacial muscle morphology. Pinnipeds also exhibit unique musculoskeletal morphologies-in muscle position, attachments, and size-that likely represent adaptations for different aquatic feeding strategies. Suction feeding specialists (bearded and northern elephant seals) have a significantly larger masseter than biters. Further, northern elephant seals have large and unique tongue and hyoid muscle morphologies compared with other pinniped species. These morphologic changes likely help generate and withstand suction pressures necessary for drawing water and prey into the mouth. In contrast, biting taxa (California sea lions, harbor, ringed, and Weddell seals) do not exhibit consistent craniofacial musculoskeletal adaptations that differentiate them from suction feeders. Generally, we discover that all pinnipeds have well-developed and robust craniofacial musculature. Pinniped head musculature plays an important role in facilitating different aquatic feeding strategies. Together with behavioral and kinematic studies, our data suggest that pinnipeds' robust facial morphology allows animals to switch feeding strategies depending on the environmental context-a critical skill in a heterogeneous and rapidly changing underwater habitat.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Roxanne D. Cuthbertson
- Department of Biology and Marine BiologyUniversity of North Carolina WilmingtonWilmingtonNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Joy S. Reidenberg
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiCenter for Anatomy and Functional MorphologyNew YorkNew YorkUSA
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31
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Evolution: Back to heavy bones in salty seas. Curr Biol 2022; 32:R42-R44. [PMID: 35015995 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.11.049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
In amniote vertebrates that transitioned from land to sea, bone mass typically increases and later decreases as active swimming evolves. A new study now has found that heavy bones re-evolved in some fossil marine mammals, suggesting that this trajectory can be reversed.
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32
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OUP accepted manuscript. Zool J Linn Soc 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
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33
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Delsett LL, Pyenson ND. Early and fast rise of Mesozoic ocean giants. Science 2021; 374:1554-1555. [PMID: 34941421 DOI: 10.1126/science.abm3751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
[Figure: see text].
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Affiliation(s)
- Lene Liebe Delsett
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.,Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Nicholas D Pyenson
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.,Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Seattle, WA, USA
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34
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Sander PM, Griebeler EM, Klein N, Juarbe JV, Wintrich T, Revell LJ, Schmitz L. Early giant reveals faster evolution of large body size in ichthyosaurs than in cetaceans. Science 2021; 374:eabf5787. [PMID: 34941418 DOI: 10.1126/science.abf5787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
[Figure: see text].
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Affiliation(s)
- P Martin Sander
- Abteilung Paläontologie, Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany.,The Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
| | - Eva Maria Griebeler
- Institut für Organismische und Molekulare Evolutionsbiologie, Evolutionäre Ökologie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany
| | - Nicole Klein
- Abteilung Paläontologie, Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany
| | - Jorge Velez Juarbe
- Department of Mammalogy, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
| | - Tanja Wintrich
- Abteilung Paläontologie, Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany.,Anatomisches Institut, Universität Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany
| | - Liam J Revell
- Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02125, USA.,Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Concepción, Chile
| | - Lars Schmitz
- The Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA.,W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Scripps, and Pitzer Colleges, Claremont, CA 91711, USA
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35
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Favilla AB, Horning M, Costa DP. Advances in thermal physiology of diving marine mammals: The dual role of peripheral perfusion. Temperature (Austin) 2021; 9:46-66. [PMID: 35655662 PMCID: PMC9154795 DOI: 10.1080/23328940.2021.1988817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Revised: 09/28/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The ability to maintain a high core body temperature is a defining characteristic of all mammals, yet their diverse habitats present disparate thermal challenges that have led to specialized adaptations. Marine mammals inhabit a highly conductive environment. Their thermoregulatory capabilities far exceed our own despite having limited avenues of heat transfer. Additionally, marine mammals must balance their thermoregulatory demands with those associated with diving (i.e. oxygen conservation), both of which rely on cardiovascular adjustments. This review presents the progress and novel efforts in investigating marine mammal thermoregulation, with a particular focus on the role of peripheral perfusion. Early studies in marine mammal thermal physiology were primarily performed in the laboratory and provided foundational knowledge through in vivo experiments and ex vivo measurements. However, the ecological relevance of these findings remains unknown because comparable efforts on free-ranging animals have been limited. We demonstrate the utility of biologgers for studying their thermal adaptations in the context in which they evolved. Our preliminary results from freely diving northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) reveal blubber's dynamic nature and the complex interaction between thermoregulation and the dive response due to the dual role of peripheral perfusion. Further exploring the potential use of biologgers for measuring physiological variables relevant to thermal physiology in other marine mammal species will enhance our understanding of the relative importance of morphology, physiology, and behavior for thermoregulation and overall homeostasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arina B. Favilla
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, United States
| | - Markus Horning
- Wildlife Technology Frontiers, Seward, AK, United States
| | - Daniel P. Costa
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, United States
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Churchill M, Baltz C. Evolution of orbit size in toothed whales (Artiodactyla: Odontoceti). J Anat 2021; 239:1419-1437. [PMID: 34287886 PMCID: PMC8602015 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2021] [Revised: 07/05/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
For many marine tetrapods, vision is important for finding food and navigating underwater, and eye size has increased to improve the capture of light in dim ocean depths. Odontocete whales, in contrast, rely instead on echolocation for navigation and prey capture. We tested whether the evolution of echolocation has influenced the orbit size, a proxy for eye size, and examined how orbit size evolved over time. We also assessed variation in orbit size amongst whales and tested how body size, diving ability, sound production, foraging habitat, and prey capture strategy influenced the orbit size using phylogenetic independent contrasts and phylogenetic ANOVAs. Using measurements of orbit length and bizygomatic width, we calculated proportional orbit size for 70 extant and 29 extinct whale taxa, with an emphasis on Odontoceti. We then performed ancestral character state reconstruction on a time-calibrated composite phylogeny. Our analysis revealed that there was no shift in proportional orbit size from archaeocetes through stem odontocetes, indicating that the evolution of echolocation did not influence the orbit size. Proportional orbit size increased in Ziphiidae, Phocoenidae, and Cephalorhynchus. Proportional orbit size decreased in Balaenidae, Physeteridae, Platanistidae, and Lipotidae. Body size, diving ability, foraging environment, and prey capture strategy had a significant influence on orbit size, but only without phylogenetic correction. An increase in orbit size is associated with deep diving behavior in beaked whales, while progenesis and retention of juvenile features into adulthood explain the pattern observed in Phocoenidae and Cephalorhynchus. Decrease in proportional orbit size is associated with adaptation toward murky freshwater environments in odontocetes and skim feeding in balaenids. Our study reveals that the evolution of echolocation had little effect on orbit size, which is variable in whales, and that adaptation for different feeding modes and habitat explains some of this variance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan Churchill
- Department of BiologyUniversity of Wisconsin OshkoshOshkoshWIUSA
| | - Colin Baltz
- Department of BiologyUniversity of Wisconsin OshkoshOshkoshWIUSA
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37
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An injured pachypleurosaur (Diapsida: Sauropterygia) from the Middle Triassic Luoping Biota indicating predation pressure in the Mesozoic. Sci Rep 2021; 11:21818. [PMID: 34750442 PMCID: PMC8575933 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-01309-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The Middle Triassic Luoping Biota in south-west China represents the inception of modern marine ecosystems, with abundant and diverse arthropods, fishes and marine reptiles, indicating recovery from the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. Here we report a new specimen of the predatory marine reptile Diandongosaurus, based on a nearly complete skeleton. The specimen is larger than most other known pachypleurosaurs, and the body shape, caniniform teeth, clavicle with anterior process, and flat distal end of the anterior caudal ribs show its affinities with Diandongosaurus acutidentatus, while the new specimen is approximately three times larger than the holotype. The morphological characters indicate that the new specimen is an adult of D. acutidentatus, allowing for ontogenetic variation. The fang-like teeth and large body size confirm it was a predator, but the amputated hind limb on the right side indicate itself had been predated by an unknown hunter. Predation on such a large predator reveals that predation pressure in the early Mesozoic was intensive, a possible early hint of the Mesozoic Marine Revolution.
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38
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Gutarra S, Rahman IA. The locomotion of extinct secondarily aquatic tetrapods. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2021; 97:67-98. [PMID: 34486794 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Revised: 08/14/2021] [Accepted: 08/18/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The colonisation of freshwater and marine ecosystems by land vertebrates has repeatedly occurred in amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals over the course of 300 million years. Functional interpretations of the fossil record are crucial to understanding the forces shaping these evolutionary transitions. Secondarily aquatic tetrapods have acquired a suite of anatomical, physiological and behavioural adaptations to locomotion in water. However, much of this information is lost for extinct clades, with fossil evidence often restricted to osteological data and a few extraordinary specimens with soft tissue preservation. Traditionally, functional morphology in fossil secondarily aquatic tetrapods was investigated through comparative anatomy and correlation with living functional analogues. However, in the last two decades, biomechanics in palaeobiology has experienced a remarkable methodological shift. Anatomy-based approaches are increasingly rigorous, informed by quantitative techniques for analysing shape. Moreover, the incorporation of physics-based methods has enabled objective tests of functional hypotheses, revealing the importance of hydrodynamic forces as drivers of evolutionary innovation and adaptation. Here, we present an overview of the latest research on the locomotion of extinct secondarily aquatic tetrapods, with a focus on amniotes, highlighting the state-of-the-art experimental approaches used in this field. We discuss the suitability of these techniques for exploring different aspects of locomotory adaptation, analysing their advantages and limitations and laying out recommendations for their application, with the aim to inform future experimental strategies. Furthermore, we outline some unexplored research avenues that have been successfully deployed in other areas of palaeobiomechanical research, such as the use of dynamic models in feeding mechanics and terrestrial locomotion, thus providing a new methodological synthesis for the field of locomotory biomechanics in extinct secondarily aquatic vertebrates. Advances in imaging technology and three-dimensional modelling software, new developments in robotics, and increased availability and awareness of numerical methods like computational fluid dynamics make this an exciting time for analysing form and function in ancient vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susana Gutarra
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, U.K.,Department of Earth Sciences, the Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, U.K
| | - Imran A Rahman
- Department of Earth Sciences, the Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, U.K.,Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PW, U.K
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Higham TE, Ferry LA, Schmitz L, Irschick DJ, Starko S, Anderson PSL, Bergmann PJ, Jamniczky HA, Monteiro LR, Navon D, Messier J, Carrington E, Farina SC, Feilich KL, Hernandez LP, Johnson MA, Kawano SM, Law CJ, Longo SJ, Martin CH, Martone PT, Rico-Guevara A, Santana SE, Niklas KJ. Linking ecomechanical models and functional traits to understand phenotypic diversity. Trends Ecol Evol 2021; 36:860-873. [PMID: 34218955 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Revised: 05/13/2021] [Accepted: 05/20/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Physical principles and laws determine the set of possible organismal phenotypes. Constraints arising from development, the environment, and evolutionary history then yield workable, integrated phenotypes. We propose a theoretical and practical framework that considers the role of changing environments. This 'ecomechanical approach' integrates functional organismal traits with the ecological variables. This approach informs our ability to predict species shifts in survival and distribution and provides critical insights into phenotypic diversity. We outline how to use the ecomechanical paradigm using drag-induced bending in trees as an example. Our approach can be incorporated into existing research and help build interdisciplinary bridges. Finally, we identify key factors needed for mass data collection, analysis, and the dissemination of models relevant to this framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy E Higham
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
| | - Lara A Ferry
- School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Arizona State University, Glendale, AZ 85306, USA
| | - Lars Schmitz
- W.M. Keck Science Department, 925 N. Mills Avenue, Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, CA, 91711, USA
| | - Duncan J Irschick
- Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Samuel Starko
- Botany Department and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada; Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada
| | - Philip S L Anderson
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Philip J Bergmann
- Biology Department, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610, USA
| | - Heather A Jamniczky
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Leandro R Monteiro
- Laboratório de Ciências Ambientais, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense. Av. Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, cep 28013-602, Brazil
| | - Dina Navon
- Human Genetics Institute of NJ, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Julie Messier
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave. W., Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Emily Carrington
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Stacy C Farina
- Department of Biology, Howard University, 415 College Street NW, Washington, DC 20059, USA
| | - Kara L Feilich
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, 1027 E 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - L Patricia Hernandez
- Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Michele A Johnson
- Department of Biology, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA
| | - Sandy M Kawano
- Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Chris J Law
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; Department of Mammalogy and Division of Paleontology, Richard Gilder Graduate School, American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, New York 10024, USA
| | - Sarah J Longo
- Department of Biological Sciences, Towson University, Towson, MD 21252, USA
| | - Christopher H Martin
- Integrative Biology and Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
| | - Patrick T Martone
- Botany Department and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | | | | | - Karl J Niklas
- School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
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Gough WT, Smith HJ, Savoca MS, Czapanskiy MF, Fish FE, Potvin J, Bierlich KC, Cade DE, Di Clemente J, Kennedy J, Segre P, Stanworth A, Weir C, Goldbogen JA. Scaling of oscillatory kinematics and Froude efficiency in baleen whales. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:jeb237586. [PMID: 34109418 PMCID: PMC8317509 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.237586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2020] [Accepted: 06/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
High efficiency lunate-tail swimming with high-aspect-ratio lifting surfaces has evolved in many vertebrate lineages, from fish to cetaceans. Baleen whales (Mysticeti) are the largest swimming animals that exhibit this locomotor strategy, and present an ideal study system to examine how morphology and the kinematics of swimming scale to the largest body sizes. We used data from whale-borne inertial sensors coupled with morphometric measurements from aerial drones to calculate the hydrodynamic performance of oscillatory swimming in six baleen whale species ranging in body length from 5 to 25 m (fin whale, Balaenoptera physalus; Bryde's whale, Balaenoptera edeni; sei whale, Balaenoptera borealis; Antarctic minke whale, Balaenoptera bonaerensis; humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae; and blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus). We found that mass-specific thrust increased with both swimming speed and body size. Froude efficiency, defined as the ratio of useful power output to the rate of energy input ( Sloop, 1978), generally increased with swimming speed but decreased on average with increasing body size. This finding is contrary to previous results in smaller animals, where Froude efficiency increased with body size. Although our empirically parameterized estimates for swimming baleen whale drag were higher than those of a simple gliding model, oscillatory locomotion at this scale exhibits generally high Froude efficiency as in other adept swimmers. Our results quantify the fine-scale kinematics and estimate the hydrodynamics of routine and energetically expensive swimming modes at the largest scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- William T. Gough
- Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA
| | - Hayden J. Smith
- Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA
- Department of Physics, Southwestern University, Georgetown, TX 78626, USA
| | - Matthew S. Savoca
- Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA
| | - Max F. Czapanskiy
- Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA
| | - Frank E. Fish
- Department of Biology, West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19383, USA
| | - Jean Potvin
- Department of Physics, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO 63103, USA
| | - K. C. Bierlich
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - David E. Cade
- Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA
- Long Marine Laboratory, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | | | - John Kennedy
- Department of Physics, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO 63103, USA
| | - Paolo Segre
- Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA
| | | | - Caroline Weir
- Falklands Conservation, Stanley FIQQ 1ZZ, Falkland Islands
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41
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Joyce WG, Mäuser M, Evers SW. Two turtles with soft tissue preservation from the platy limestones of Germany provide evidence for marine flipper adaptations in Late Jurassic thalassochelydians. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0252355. [PMID: 34081728 PMCID: PMC8174742 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Late Jurassic deposits across Europe have yielded a rich fauna of extinct turtles. Although many of these turtles are recovered from marine deposits, it is unclear which of these taxa are habitually marine and which may be riverine species washed into nearby basins, as adaptations to open marine conditions are yet to be found. Two new fossils from the Late Jurassic of Germany provide unusually strong evidence for open marine adaptations. The first specimen is a partial shell and articulated hind limb from the Late Jurassic (early Tithonian) platy limestones of Schernfeld near Eichstätt, which preserves the integument of the hind limb as an imprint. The skin is fully covered by flat, polygonal scales, which stiffen the pes into a paddle. Although taxonomic attribution is not possible, similarities are apparent with Thalassemys. The second specimen is a large, articulated skeleton with hypertrophied limbs referable to Thalassemys bruntrutana from the Late Jurassic (early Late Kimmeridgian) platy limestone of Wattendorf, near Bamberg. Even though the skin is preserved as a phosphatic film, the scales are not preserved. This specimen can nevertheless be inferred to have had paddles stiffened by scales based on the pose in which they are preserved, the presence of epibionts between the digits, and by full morphological correspondence to the specimen from Schernfeld. An analysis of scalation in extant turtles demonstrated that elongate flippers stiffed by scales are a marine adaptation, in contrast to the elongate but flexible flippers of riverine turtles. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that Thalassemys bruntrutana is referable to the mostly Late Jurassic turtle clade Thalassochelydia. The marine adapted flippers of this taxon therefore evolved convergently with those of later clades of marine turtles. Although thalassochelydian fossils are restricted to Europe, with one notable exception from Argentina, their open marine adaptations combined with the interconnectivity of Jurassic oceans predict that the clade must have been even more wide-spread during that time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Walter G. Joyce
- Departement für Geowissenschaften, Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Switzerland
| | - Matthias Mäuser
- Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns, Naturkunde-Museum Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany
| | - Serjoscha W. Evers
- Departement für Geowissenschaften, Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Switzerland
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Motani R, Vermeij GJ. Ecophysiological steps of marine adaptation in extant and extinct non-avian tetrapods. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2021; 96:1769-1798. [PMID: 33904243 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2020] [Revised: 04/10/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Marine reptiles and mammals are phylogenetically so distant from each other that their marine adaptations are rarely compared directly. We reviewed ecophysiological features in extant non-avian marine tetrapods representing 31 marine colonizations to test whether there is a common pattern across higher taxonomic groups, such as mammals and reptiles. Marine adaptations in tetrapods can be roughly divided into aquatic and haline adaptations, each of which seems to follow a sequence of three steps. In combination, these six categories exhibit five steps of marine adaptation that apply across all clades except snakes: Step M1, incipient use of marine resources; Step M2, direct feeding in the saline sea; Step M3, water balance maintenance without terrestrial fresh water; Step M4, minimized terrestrial travel and loss of terrestrial feeding; and Step M5, loss of terrestrial thermoregulation and fur/plumage. Acquisition of viviparity is not included because there is no known case where viviparity evolved after a tetrapod lineage colonized the sea. A similar sequence is found in snakes but with the haline adaptation step (Step M3) lagging behind aquatic adaptation (haline adaptation is Step S5 in snakes), most likely because their unique method of water balance maintenance requires a supply of fresh water. The same constraint may limit the maximum body size of fully marine snakes. Steps M4 and M5 in all taxa except snakes are associated with skeletal adaptations that are mechanistically linked to relevant ecophysiological features, allowing assessment of marine adaptation steps in some fossil marine tetrapods. We identified four fossil clades containing members that reached Step M5 outside of stem whales, pinnipeds, sea cows and sea turtles, namely Eosauropterygia, Ichthyosauromorpha, Mosasauroidea, and Thalattosuchia, while five other clades reached Step M4: Saurosphargidae, Placodontia, Dinocephalosaurus, Desmostylia, and Odontochelys. Clades reaching Steps M4 and M5, both extant and extinct, appear to have higher species diversity than those only reaching Steps M1 to M3, while the total number of clades is higher for the earlier steps. This suggests that marine colonizers only diversified greatly after they minimized their use of terrestrial resources, with many lineages not reaching these advanced steps. Historical patterns suggest that a clade does not advance to Steps M4 and M5 unless these steps are reached early in the evolution of the clade. Intermediate forms before a clade reached Steps M4 and M5 tend to become extinct without leaving extant descendants or fossil evidence. This makes it difficult to reconstruct the evolutionary history of marine adaptation in many clades. Clades that reached Steps M4 and M5 tend to last longer than other marine tetrapod clades, sometimes for more than 100 million years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryosuke Motani
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, U.S.A
| | - Geerat J Vermeij
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, U.S.A
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43
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Fischer V, Weis R, Thuy B. Refining the marine reptile turnover at the Early-Middle Jurassic transition. PeerJ 2021; 9:e10647. [PMID: 33665003 PMCID: PMC7906043 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.10647] [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: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Even though a handful of long-lived reptilian clades dominated Mesozoic marine ecosystems, several biotic turnovers drastically changed the taxonomic composition of these communities. A seemingly slow paced, within-geological period turnover took place across the Early–Middle Jurassic transition. This turnover saw the demise of early neoichthyosaurians, rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurians and early plesiosauroids in favour of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurians and cryptoclidid and pliosaurid plesiosaurians, clades that will dominate the Late Jurassic and, for two of them, the entire Early Cretaceous as well. The fossil record of this turnover is however extremely poor and this change of dominance appears to be spread across the entire middle Toarcian–Bathonian interval. We describe a series of ichthyosaurian and plesiosaurian specimens from successive geological formations in Luxembourg and Belgium that detail the evolution of marine reptile assemblages across the Early–Middle Jurassic transition within a single area, the Belgo–Luxembourgian sub-basin. These fossils reveal the continuing dominance of large rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurians, microcleidid plesiosaurians and Temnodontosaurus-like ichthyosaurians up to the latest Toarcian, indicating that the structuration of the upper tier of Western Europe marine ecosystems remained essentially constant up to the very end of the Early Jurassic. These fossils also suddenly record ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurians and cryptoclidid plesiosaurians by the early Bajocian. These results from a geographically-restricted area provide a clearer picture of the shape of the marine reptile turnover occurring at the early–Middle Jurassic transition. This event appears restricted to the sole Aalenian stage, reducing the uncertainty of its duration, at least for ichthyosaurians and plesiosaurians, to 4 instead of 14 million years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentin Fischer
- Evolution & Diversity Dynamics Lab, UR Geology, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Robert Weis
- Department of palaeontology, Natural History Museum Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg
| | - Ben Thuy
- Department of palaeontology, Natural History Museum Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg
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Berenbrink M. The role of myoglobin in the evolution of mammalian diving capacity – The August Krogh principle applied in molecular and evolutionary physiology. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2021; 252:110843. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2020.110843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
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Research on the Factors of Competition in the Green Procurement Processes: A Case Study for the Conditions of Romania Using PLS-SEM Methodology. MATHEMATICS 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/math9010016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
In this paper, starting from the conceptual model of the rational behavior theory developed by Icek Ajzen, the authors develop a behavioral model of rational expectations of the managerial decisions in order to determine the influence of the behavior of the undertakings on a competitive environmental market. The data were collected between 1 May 2019–30 June 2019 with the help of a questionnaire addressed to the employees and managers of the companies engaged in the green procurement processes in Romania. The sample volume was 160 and the data was analyzed with partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method and by using the statistical software Smart-PLS 3.2.8. Starting from the relevant economic literature in the field of rational behavior, the article identifies the behavioral indicators that underlie the decision to invest in this market. These indicators are the independent variables that model the impact of rational behavioral theory on managerial decisions. The conclusions of the study confirm the theoretical aspects presented in the article, emphasizing that the managerial decisions based on rational behavior theory are the direct result of the cooperation of several factors, such as the strategic vision, innovation, regulation, and the level of competences of the human factor.
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Watanabe J, Field DJ, Matsuoka H. Wing Musculature Reconstruction in Extinct Flightless Auks ( Pinguinus and Mancalla) Reveals Incomplete Convergence with Penguins (Spheniscidae) Due to Differing Ancestral States. Integr Org Biol 2020; 3:obaa040. [PMID: 34258512 PMCID: PMC8271220 DOI: 10.1093/iob/obaa040] [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] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite longstanding interest in convergent evolution, factors that result in deviations from fully convergent phenotypes remain poorly understood. In birds, the evolution of flightless wing-propelled diving has emerged as a classic example of convergence, having arisen in disparate lineages including penguins (Sphenisciformes) and auks (Pan-Alcidae, Charadriiformes). Nevertheless, little is known about the functional anatomy of the wings of flightless auks because all such taxa are extinct, and their morphology is almost exclusively represented by skeletal remains. Here, in order to re-evaluate the extent of evolutionary convergence among flightless wing-propelled divers, wing muscles and ligaments were reconstructed in two extinct flightless auks, representing independent transitions to flightlessness: Pinguinus impennis (a crown-group alcid), and Mancalla (a stem-group alcid). Extensive anatomical data were gathered from dissections of 12 species of extant charadriiforms and 4 aequornithine waterbirds including a penguin. The results suggest that the wings of both flightless auk taxa were characterized by an increased mechanical advantage of wing elevator/retractor muscles, and decreased mobility of distal wing joints, both of which are likely advantageous for wing-propelled diving and parallel similar functional specializations in penguins. However, the conformations of individual muscles and ligaments underlying these specializations differ markedly between penguins and flightless auks, instead resembling those in each respective group's close relatives. Thus, the wings of these flightless wing-propelled divers can be described as convergent as overall functional units, but are incompletely convergent at lower levels of anatomical organization-a result of retaining differing conditions from each group's respective volant ancestors. Detailed investigations such as this one may indicate that, even in the face of similar functional demands, courses of phenotypic evolution are dictated to an important degree by ancestral starting points.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junya Watanabe
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, UK.,Department of Geology and Mineralogy, Kyoto University, Sakyoku Kitashirakawa Oiwakecho, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan
| | - Daniel J Field
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, UK
| | - Hiroshige Matsuoka
- Department of Geology and Mineralogy, Kyoto University, Sakyoku Kitashirakawa Oiwakecho, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan
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Jiang DY, Motani R, Tintori A, Rieppel O, Ji C, Zhou M, Wang X, Lu H, Li ZG. Evidence Supporting Predation of 4-m Marine Reptile by Triassic Megapredator. iScience 2020; 23:101347. [PMID: 32822565 PMCID: PMC7520894 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2020] [Revised: 06/09/2020] [Accepted: 07/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Air-breathing marine predators have been essential components of the marine ecosystem since the Triassic. Many of them are considered the apex predators but without direct evidence-dietary inferences are usually based on circumstantial evidence, such as tooth shape. Here we report a fossil that likely represents the oldest evidence for predation on megafauna, i.e., animals equal to or larger than humans, by marine tetrapods-a thalattosaur (∼4 m in total length) in the stomach of a Middle Triassic ichthyosaur (∼5 m). The predator has grasping teeth yet swallowed the body trunk of the prey in one to several pieces. There were many more Mesozoic marine reptiles with similar grasping teeth, so megafaunal predation was likely more widespread than presently conceived. Megafaunal predation probably started nearly simultaneously in multiple lineages of marine reptiles in the Illyrian (about 242-243 million years ago).
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Affiliation(s)
- Da-Yong Jiang
- Laboratory of Orogenic Belt and Crustal Evolution, Ministry of Education; Department of Geology and Geological Museum, School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Yiheyuan Street. 5, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
| | - Ryosuke Motani
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Andrea Tintori
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Mangiagalli, 34-20133 Milano, Italy
| | - Olivier Rieppel
- Integrative Research Center, The Field Museum, Chicago, IL 60605-2496, USA
| | - Cheng Ji
- Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing East Road 39, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210008, People's Republic of China
| | - Min Zhou
- Laboratory of Orogenic Belt and Crustal Evolution, Ministry of Education; Department of Geology and Geological Museum, School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Yiheyuan Street. 5, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
| | - Xue Wang
- Laboratory of Orogenic Belt and Crustal Evolution, Ministry of Education; Department of Geology and Geological Museum, School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Yiheyuan Street. 5, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
| | - Hao Lu
- Laboratory of Orogenic Belt and Crustal Evolution, Ministry of Education; Department of Geology and Geological Museum, School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Yiheyuan Street. 5, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhi-Guang Li
- The Geoscience Museum, Hebei GEO University, No. 136 East Huai'an Road, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050031, People's Republic of China
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Favilla AB, Costa DP. Thermoregulatory Strategies of Diving Air-Breathing Marine Vertebrates: A Review. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.555509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Fernández MS, Vlachos E, Buono MR, Alzugaray L, Campos L, Sterli J, Herrera Y, Paolucci F. Fingers zipped up or baby mittens? Two main tetrapod strategies to return to the sea. Biol Lett 2020; 16:20200281. [PMID: 32750267 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The application of network methodology in anatomical structures offers new insights on the connectivity pattern of skull bones, skeletal elements and their muscles. Anatomical networks helped to improve our understanding of the water-to-land transition and how the pectoral fins were transformed into limbs via their modular disintegration. Here, we apply the same methodology to tetrapods secondarily adapted to the marine environment. We find that these animals achieved their return to the sea with four types of morphological changes, which can be grouped into two different main strategies. In all marine mammals and the majority of the reptiles, the fin is formed by the persistence of superficial and interdigital connective tissues, like a 'baby mitten', whereas the underlying connectivity pattern of the bones does not influence the formation of the forefin. On the contrary, ichthyosaurs 'zipped up' their fingers and transformed their digits into carpal-like elements, forming a homogeneous and better-integrated forefin. These strategies led these vertebrates into three different macroevolutionary paths exploring the possible spectrum of morphological adaptations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta S Fernández
- CONICET - División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, B1900AVW La Plata, Argentina
| | - Evangelos Vlachos
- CONICET - Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Av. Fontana 140, 9100 Trelew, Chubut, Argentina
| | - Mónica R Buono
- Instituto Patagónico de Geología y Paleontología, CCT CONICET-CENPAT, Bvd. Brown 2915, U9120ACD Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina
| | - Lucia Alzugaray
- Instituto Patagónico de Geología y Paleontología, CCT CONICET-CENPAT, Bvd. Brown 2915, U9120ACD Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina
| | - Lisandro Campos
- CONICET - División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, B1900AVW La Plata, Argentina
| | - Juliana Sterli
- CONICET - Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Av. Fontana 140, 9100 Trelew, Chubut, Argentina
| | - Yanina Herrera
- CONICET - División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, B1900AVW La Plata, Argentina
| | - Florencia Paolucci
- CONICET - División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, B1900AVW La Plata, Argentina
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50
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Huang JD, Motani R, Jiang DY, Ren XX, Tintori A, Rieppel O, Zhou M, Hu YC, Zhang R. Repeated evolution of durophagy during ichthyosaur radiation after mass extinction indicated by hidden dentition. Sci Rep 2020; 10:7798. [PMID: 32385319 PMCID: PMC7210957 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-64854-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2020] [Accepted: 04/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Marine tetrapods quickly diversified and were established as marine top predators after the end-Permian Mass extinction (EPME). Ichthyosaurs were the forerunner of this rapid radiation but the main drivers of the diversification are poorly understood. Cartorhynchus lenticarpus is a basal ichthyosauriform with the least degree of aquatic adaptation, holding a key to identifying such a driver. The unique specimen appeared edentulous based on what was exposed but a CT scanning revealed that the species indeed had rounded teeth that are nearly perpendicular to the jaw rami, and thus completely concealed in lateral view. There are three dental rows per jaw ramus, and the root lacks infoldings of the dentine typical of ichthyopterygians. The well-developed and worn molariform dentition with three tooth rows supports the previous inference that the specimen is not of a juvenile. The premaxilla and the corresponding part of the dentary are edentulous. Molariform dentition evolved three to five times independently within Ichthyosauriformes in the Early and Middle Triassic. Convergent exploitation of hard-shelled invertebrates by different subclades of ichthyosauriforms likely fueled the rapid taxonomic diversification of the group after EPME.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian-Dong Huang
- Department of Research, Anhui Geological Museum, Jiahe Road 999, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, China
| | - Ryosuke Motani
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, One Shields Avenue, 95616, Davis, California, USA.
| | - Da-Yong Jiang
- Department of Geology and Geological Museum, Peking University, Yiheyuan Street. 5, Beijing, 100871, P.R. China.,State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology), Chinese Academy of Science, Nanjing, 210008, P. R. China
| | - Xin-Xin Ren
- Department of Research, Anhui Geological Museum, Jiahe Road 999, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, China
| | - Andrea Tintori
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Mangiagalli 34-20133, Milano, Italy
| | - Olivier Rieppel
- Center of Integrative Research, The Field Museum, Chicago, IL, 60605-2496, USA
| | - Min Zhou
- Department of Geology and Geological Museum, Peking University, Yiheyuan Street. 5, Beijing, 100871, P.R. China
| | - Yuan-Chao Hu
- Department of Research, Anhui Geological Museum, Jiahe Road 999, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, China
| | - Rong Zhang
- Department of Research, Anhui Geological Museum, Jiahe Road 999, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, China
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