1
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Ősi A, Barrett PM, Nagy AL, Szenti I, Vásárhelyi L, Magyar J, Segesdi M, Csiki-Sava Z, Botfalvai G, Jó V. Trophic evolution in ornithopod dinosaurs revealed by dental wear. Nat Commun 2024; 15:7330. [PMID: 39187477 PMCID: PMC11347701 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51697-9] [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: 05/10/2024] [Accepted: 08/15/2024] [Indexed: 08/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Ornithopod dinosaurs evolved numerous craniodental innovations related to herbivory. Nonetheless, the relationship between occlusion, tooth wear rate, and tooth replacement rate has been neglected. Here, we reconstruct tooth wear rates by measuring tooth replacement rates and tooth wear volumes, and document their dental microwear. We demonstrate that total tooth volume and rates of tooth wear increased steadily during ornithopod evolution, with deeply-nested taxa wearing up to 3360 mm3 of tooth volume/day. Increased wear resulted in asymmetric tooth crown formation with uneven von Ebner line increment width by the Late Jurassic, and in faster tooth replacement rates in multiple lineages by the mid-Cretaceous. Microwear displays a contrasting pattern, with decreasing complexity and pit percentages in deeply-nested and later-occurring taxa. We hypothesize that early ornithopods were browsers and/or frugivores but deeply nested iguanodontians were bulk-feeders, eating tougher, less nutritious plants; these trends correlate with increasing body mass and longer gut passage times.
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Affiliation(s)
- Attila Ősi
- ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Department of Palaeontology, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, Budapest, 1117, Hungary.
- Hungarian Natural History Museum, Baross u. 13, Budapest, 1088, Hungary.
| | - Paul M Barrett
- Fossil Reptiles, Amphibians and Birds Section, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, United Kingdom
| | - András Lajos Nagy
- Department of Propulsion Technology, Széchenyi István University, Egyetem tér 1, 9026, Győr, Hungary
| | - Imre Szenti
- University of Szeged, Interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence, Department of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, Rerrich Béla tér 1., 6720, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Lívia Vásárhelyi
- University of Szeged, Interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence, Department of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, Rerrich Béla tér 1., 6720, Szeged, Hungary
| | - János Magyar
- ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Department of Palaeontology, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, Budapest, 1117, Hungary
- Hungarian Natural History Museum, Baross u. 13, Budapest, 1088, Hungary
| | - Martin Segesdi
- ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Department of Palaeontology, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, Budapest, 1117, Hungary
- Hungarian Natural History Museum, Baross u. 13, Budapest, 1088, Hungary
| | - Zoltán Csiki-Sava
- Faculty of Geology and Geophysics, University of Bucharest, 1 Nicolae Bălcescu Avenue, 010041, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Gábor Botfalvai
- ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Department of Palaeontology, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, Budapest, 1117, Hungary
- HUN-REN-MTM-ELTE Research Group for Paleontology, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, Budapest, H-1117, Hungary
| | - Viviána Jó
- ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Department of Physical Geography, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, Budapest, 1117, Hungary
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2
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Multi-proxy dentition analyses reveal niche partitioning between sympatric herbivorous dinosaurs. Sci Rep 2022; 12:20813. [PMID: 36460688 PMCID: PMC9718793 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-24816-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Dentitions of the sympatric herbivorous dinosaurs Hungarosaurus (Ankylosauria, Nodosauridae) and Mochlodon (Ornithopoda, Rhabdodontidae) (Santonian, Hungary) were analysed to investigate their dietary ecology, using several complementary methods-orientation patch count, tooth replacement rate, macrowear, tooth wear rate, traditional microwear, and dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA). Tooth formation time is similar in Hungarosaurus and Mochlodon, and traditional and DMTA microwear features suggest low-browsing habits for both taxa, consistent with their inferred stances and body sizes. However, Mochlodon possesses a novel adaptation for increasing dental durability: the dentine on the working side of the crown is double the thickness of that on the balancing side. Moreover, crown morphology, enamel thickness, macrowear orientation, and wear rate differ greatly between the two taxa. Consequently, these sympatric herbivores probably exploited plants of different toughness, implying dietary selectivity and niche partitioning. Hungarosaurus is inferred to have eaten softer vegetation, whereas Mochlodon likely fed on tougher material. Compared to the much heavier, quadrupedal Hungarosaurus, the bipedal Mochlodon wore down more than twice as much of its crown volume during the functional life of the tooth. This heavy tooth wear might correlate with more intensive food processing and, in turn, could reflect differences in the metabolic requirements of these animals.
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3
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A New Mammal Skull from the Late Cretaceous of Romania and Phylogenetic Affinities of Kogaionid Multituberculates. J MAMM EVOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-021-09564-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
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4
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Griffin CT, Stocker MR, Colleary C, Stefanic CM, Lessner EJ, Riegler M, Formoso K, Koeller K, Nesbitt SJ. Assessing ontogenetic maturity in extinct saurian reptiles. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2020; 96:470-525. [PMID: 33289322 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2020] [Revised: 10/09/2020] [Accepted: 10/28/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Morphology forms the most fundamental level of data in vertebrate palaeontology because it is through interpretations of morphology that taxa are identified, creating the basis for broad evolutionary and palaeobiological hypotheses. Assessing maturity is one of the most basic aspects of morphological interpretation and provides the means to study the evolution of ontogenetic changes, population structure and palaeoecology, life-history strategies, and heterochrony along evolutionary lineages that would otherwise be lost to time. Saurian reptiles (the least-inclusive clade containing Lepidosauria and Archosauria) have remained an incredibly diverse, numerous, and disparate clade through their ~260-million-year history. Because of the great disparity in this group, assessing maturity of saurian reptiles is difficult, fraught with methodological and terminological ambiguity. We compiled a novel database of literature, assembling >900 individual instances of saurian maturity assessment, to examine critically how saurian maturity has been diagnosed. We review the often inexact and inconsistent terminology used in saurian maturity assessment (e.g. 'juvenile', 'mature') and provide routes for better clarity and cross-study coherence. We describe the various methods that have been used to assess maturity in every major saurian group, integrating data from both extant and extinct taxa to give a full account of the current state of the field and providing method-specific pitfalls, best practices, and fruitful directions for future research. We recommend that a new standard subsection, 'Ontogenetic Assessment', be added to the Systematic Palaeontology portions of descriptive studies to provide explicit ontogenetic diagnoses with clear criteria. Because the utility of different ontogenetic criteria is highly subclade dependent among saurians, even for widely used methods (e.g. neurocentral suture fusion), we recommend that phylogenetic context, preferably in the form of a phylogenetic bracket, be used to justify the use of a maturity assessment method. Different methods should be used in conjunction as independent lines of evidence when assessing maturity, instead of an ontogenetic diagnosis resting entirely on a single criterion, which is common in the literature. Critically, there is a need for data from extant taxa with well-represented growth series to be integrated with the fossil record to ground maturity assessments of extinct taxa in well-constrained, empirically tested methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher T Griffin
- Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, 926 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, U.S.A
| | - Michelle R Stocker
- Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, 926 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, U.S.A
| | - Caitlin Colleary
- Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, 926 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, U.S.A
- Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 1 Wade Oval Drive, Cleveland, OH, 44106, U.S.A
| | - Candice M Stefanic
- Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, 926 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, U.S.A
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, 100 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, U.S.A
| | - Emily J Lessner
- Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, 926 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, U.S.A
- Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, University of Missouri, 1 Hospital Drive, Columbia, MO, 65212, U.S.A
| | - Mitchell Riegler
- Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, 926 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, U.S.A
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, 241 Williamson Hall, Gainesville, FL, 32611, U.S.A
| | - Kiersten Formoso
- Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, 926 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, U.S.A
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, 3651 Trousdale Pkwy, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, U.S.A
- Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 W Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, U.S.A
| | - Krista Koeller
- Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, 926 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, U.S.A
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, 220 Bartram Hall, Gainesville, FL, 32611, U.S.A
| | - Sterling J Nesbitt
- Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, 926 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, U.S.A
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5
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Yang Y, Wu W, Dieudonné PE, Godefroit P. A new basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China. PeerJ 2020; 8:e9832. [PMID: 33194351 PMCID: PMC7485509 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.9832] [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: 05/18/2020] [Accepted: 08/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
A new basal ornithopod dinosaur, based on two nearly complete articulated skeletons, is reported from the Lujiatun Beds (Yixian Fm, Lower Cretaceous) of western Liaoning Province (China). Some of the diagnostic features of Changmiania liaoningensis nov. gen., nov. sp. are tentatively interpreted as adaptations to a fossorial behavior, including: fused premaxillae; nasal laterally expanded, overhanging the maxilla; shortened neck formed by only six cervical vertebrae; neural spines of the sacral vertebrae completely fused together, forming a craniocaudally-elongated continuous bar; fused scapulocoracoid with prominent scapular spine; and paired ilia symmetrically inclined dorsomedially, partially covering the sacrum in dorsal view. A phylogenetic analysis places Changmiania liaoningensis as the most basal ornithopod dinosaur described so far. It is tentatively hypothesized that both Changmiania liaoningensis specimens were suddenly entrapped in a collapsed underground burrow while they were resting, which would explain their perfect lifelike postures and the complete absence of weathering and scavenging traces. However, further behavioural inference remains problematic, because those specimens lack extensive sedimentological and taphonomic data, as it is also the case for most specimens collected in the Lujiatun Beds so far.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuqing Yang
- College of Resources and Civil Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.,College of Paleontology, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.,Key Laboratory for Evolution of Past Life and Change of Environment, Province of Liaoning, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
| | - Wenhao Wu
- Key Laboratory for Evolution of Past Life and Environment in Northeast Asia, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China.,Research Center of Paleontology and Stratigraphy, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Paul-Emile Dieudonné
- Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología, CONICET, Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, Rio Negro, Argentina
| | - Pascal Godefroit
- Directorate 'Earth and History of Life', Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium
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6
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Campione NE, Evans DC. The accuracy and precision of body mass estimation in non-avian dinosaurs. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2020; 95:1759-1797. [PMID: 32869488 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2019] [Revised: 07/06/2020] [Accepted: 07/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Inferring the body mass of fossil taxa, such as non-avian dinosaurs, provides a powerful tool for interpreting physiological and ecological properties, as well as the ability to study these traits through deep time and within a macroevolutionary context. As a result, over the past 100 years a number of studies advanced methods for estimating mass in dinosaurs and other extinct taxa. These methods can be categorized into two major approaches: volumetric-density (VD) and extant-scaling (ES). The former receives the most attention in non-avian dinosaurs and advanced appreciably over the last century: from initial physical scale models to three-dimensional (3D) virtual techniques that utilize scanned data obtained from entire skeletons. The ES approach is most commonly applied to extinct members of crown clades but some equations are proposed and utilized in non-avian dinosaurs. Because both approaches share a common goal, they are often viewed in opposition to one another. However, current palaeobiological research problems are often approach specific and, therefore, the decision to utilize a VD or ES approach is largely question dependent. In general, biomechanical and physiological studies benefit from the full-body reconstruction provided through a VD approach, whereas large-scale evolutionary and ecological studies require the extensive data sets afforded by an ES approach. This study summarizes both approaches to body mass estimation in stem-group taxa, specifically non-avian dinosaurs, and provides a comparative quantitative framework to reciprocally illuminate and corroborate VD and ES approaches. The results indicate that mass estimates are largely consistent between approaches: 73% of VD reconstructions occur within the expected 95% prediction intervals of the ES relationship. However, almost three quarters of outliers occur below the lower 95% prediction interval, indicating that VD mass estimates are, on average, lower than would be expected given their stylopodial circumferences. Inconsistencies (high residual and per cent prediction deviation values) are recovered to a varying degree among all major dinosaurian clades along with an overall tendency for larger deviations between approaches among small-bodied taxa. Nonetheless, our results indicate a strong corroboration between recent iterations of the VD approach based on 3D specimen scans suggesting that our current understanding of size in dinosaurs, and hence its biological correlates, has improved over time. We advance that VD and ES approaches have fundamentally (metrically) different advantages and, hence, the comparative framework used and advocated here combines the accuracy afforded by ES with the precision provided by VD and permits the rapid identification of discrepancies with the potential to open new areas of discussion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolás E Campione
- Palaeoscience Research Centre, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, 2351, Australia
| | - David C Evans
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks St, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B2, Canada.,Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2C6, Canada
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7
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Li Y, Ruta M, Wills MA. Craniodental and Postcranial Characters of Non-Avian Dinosauria Often Imply Different Trees. Syst Biol 2020; 69:638-659. [PMID: 31769837 PMCID: PMC7302058 DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syz077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2018] [Revised: 11/08/2019] [Accepted: 11/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the increasing importance of molecular sequence data, morphology still makes an important contribution to resolving the phylogeny of many groups, and is the only source of data for most fossils. Most systematists sample morphological characters as broadly as possible on the principle of total evidence. However, it is not uncommon for sampling to be focused on particular aspects of anatomy, either because characters therein are believed to be more informative, or because preservation biases restrict what is available. Empirically, the optimal trees from partitions of morphological data sets often represent significantly different hypotheses of relationships. Previous work on hard-part versus soft-part characters across animal phyla revealed significant differences in about a half of sampled studies. Similarly, studies of the craniodental versus postcranial characters of vertebrates revealed significantly different trees in about one-third of cases, with the highest rates observed in non-avian dinosaurs. We test whether this is a generality here with a much larger sample of 81 published data matrices across all major dinosaur groups. Using the incongruence length difference test and two variants of the incongruence relationship difference test, we found significant incongruence in about 50% of cases. Incongruence is not uniformly distributed across major dinosaur clades, being highest (63%) in Theropoda and lowest (25%) in Thyreophora. As in previous studies, our partition tests show some sensitivity to matrix dimensions and the amount and distribution of missing entries. Levels of homoplasy and retained synapomorphy are similar between partitions, such that incongruence must partly reflect differences in patterns of homoplasy between partitions, which may itself be a function of modularity and mosaic evolution. Finally, we implement new tests to determine which partition yields trees most similar to those from the entire matrix. Despite no bias across dinosaurs overall, there are striking differences between major groups. The craniodental characters of Ornithischia and the postcranial characters of Saurischia yield trees most similar to the "total evidence" trees derived from the entire matrix. Trees from these same character partitions also tend to be most stratigraphically congruent: a mutual consilience suggesting that those partitions yield more accurate trees. [Dinosauria; homoplasy; partition homogeneity.].
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Affiliation(s)
- Yimeng Li
- Department of Biology & Biochemistry, The Milner Centre for Evolution, The University of Bath, The Avenue, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
| | - Marcello Ruta
- School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Joseph Banks Laboratories, Green Lane, Lincoln LN6 7DL, UK
| | - Matthew A Wills
- Department of Biology & Biochemistry, The Milner Centre for Evolution, The University of Bath, The Avenue, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
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8
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Andrzejewski KA, Winkler DA, Jacobs LL. A new basal ornithopod (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Early Cretaceous of Texas. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0207935. [PMID: 30860999 PMCID: PMC6413910 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0207935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2018] [Accepted: 02/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Material from a minimum of twenty-nine individuals of a new ornithopod, represented by nearly every skeletal element, was recovered from the Proctor Lake locality in the Twin Mountains Formation (Aptian) of north-central Texas. This material includes various ontogenetic stages, providing insight into the growth patterns of this species. The new ornithopod, Convolosaurus marri gen. et sp. nov., is recovered outside of Iguanodontia, but forms a clade with Iguanodontia exclusive of Hypsilophodon foxii. The presence and morphology of four premaxillary teeth along with a combination of both basal and derived characters distinguish this taxon from all other ornithopods. Basal characters present in C. marri including the presence of premaxillary teeth, the shape of the dentary teeth, and position of the pterygoid wing on the quadrate, whereas the presence of opisthocoelous cervical vertebrae, large proximal caudal neural spines, and curved maxillary tooth roots suggest C. marri is more derived than 80% of the basal neornithischians included in this analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate A. Andrzejewski
- Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, United States America
| | - Dale A. Winkler
- Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, United States America
| | - Louis L. Jacobs
- Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, United States America
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9
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Godefroit P, Garcia G, Gomez B, Stein K, Cincotta A, Lefèvre U, Valentin X. Extreme tooth enlargement in a new Late Cretaceous rhabdodontid dinosaur from Southern France. Sci Rep 2017; 7:13098. [PMID: 29074952 PMCID: PMC5658417 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-13160-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2017] [Accepted: 09/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Rhabdodontidae is a successful clade of ornithopod dinosaurs, characteristic of Late Cretaceous continental faunas in Europe. A new rhabdodontid from the late Campanian, of southern France, Matheronodon provincialis gen. et sp. nov., is characterized by the extreme enlargement of both its maxillary and dentary teeth, correlated to a drastic reduction in the number of maxillary teeth (4 per generation in MMS/VBN-02-102). The interalveolar septa on the maxilla are alternately present or resorbed ventrally so as to be able to lodge such enlarged teeth. The rhabdodontid dentition and masticatory apparatus were adapted for producing a strict and powerful shearing action, resembling a pair of scissors. With their relatively simple dentition, contrasting with the sophisticated dental batteries in contemporary hadrosaurids, Matheronodon and other rhabdodontids are tentatively interpreted as specialized consumers of tough plant parts rich in sclerenchyma fibers, such as Sabalites and Pandanites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pascal Godefroit
- Directorate 'Earth and History of Life', Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 1000, Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Géraldine Garcia
- Université de Poitiers, IPHEP, UMR CNRS 7262, 86073, Poitiers, France
| | - Bernard Gomez
- Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon: Terre, Planète, Environnement, UMR CNRS 5276, 69622, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Koen Stein
- Chemistry Department: Analytical, Environmental and Geo-chemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Aude Cincotta
- Directorate 'Earth and History of Life', Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 1000, Brussels, Belgium.,Department of Geology, University of Namur, 5000, Namur, Belgium
| | - Ulysse Lefèvre
- Directorate 'Earth and History of Life', Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 1000, Brussels, Belgium.,Department of Geology, Liège University, 4000, Liège, Belgium
| | - Xavier Valentin
- Université de Poitiers, IPHEP, UMR CNRS 7262, 86073, Poitiers, France.,Palaios Association, 86300, Valdivienne, France
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10
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Brusatte SL, Dumbravă M, Vremir M, Csiki-Sava Z, Totoianu R, Norell MA. A Catalog ofZalmoxes(Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) Specimens from the Upper Cretaceous Nălaţ-Vad Locality, Haţeg Basin, Romania. AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES 2017. [DOI: 10.1206/3884.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Mihai Dumbravă
- Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Mátyás Vremir
- Department of Natural Sciences, Transylvanian Museum Society, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Zoltán Csiki-Sava
- Laboratory of Paleontology, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Radu Totoianu
- “Ioan Raica” Municipal Museum of Sebeş, Sebeş, Romania
| | - Mark A. Norell
- Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York
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11
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Bertozzo F, Dalla Vecchia FM, Fabbri M. The Venice specimen of Ouranosaurus nigeriensis (Dinosauria, Ornithopoda). PeerJ 2017. [PMID: 28649466 PMCID: PMC5480399 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Ouranosaurus nigeriensis is an iconic African dinosaur taxon that has been described on the basis of two nearly complete skeletons from the Lower Cretaceous Gadoufaoua locality of the Ténéré desert in Niger. The entire holotype and a few bones attributed to the paratype formed the basis of the original description by Taquet (1976). A mounted skeleton that appears to correspond to O. nigeriensis has been on public display since 1975, exhibited at the Natural History Museum of Venice. It was never explicitly reported whether the Venice specimen represents a paratype and therefore, the second nearly complete skeleton reported in literature or a third unreported skeleton. The purpose of this paper is to disentangle the complex history of the various skeletal remains that have been attributed to Ouranosaurus nigeriensis (aided by an unpublished field map of the paratype) and to describe in detail the osteology of the Venice skeleton. The latter includes the paratype material (found in 1970 and collected in 1972), with the exception of the left femur, the right coracoid and one manus ungual phalanx I, which were replaced with plaster copies, and (possibly) other manus phalanges. Some other elements (e.g., the first two chevrons, the right femur, the right tibia, two dorsal vertebrae and some pelvic bones) were likely added from other individual/s. The vertebral column of the paratype was articulated and provides a better reference for the vertebral count of this taxon than the holotype. Several anatomical differences are observed between the holotype and the Venice specimen. Most of them can be ascribed to intraspecific variability (individual or ontogenetic), but some are probably caused by mistakes in the preparation or assemblage of the skeletal elements in both specimens. The body length of the Venice skeleton is about 90% the linear size of the holotype. Osteohistological analysis (the first for this taxon) of some long bones, a rib and a dorsal neural spine reveals that the Venice specimen is a sub-adult; this conclusion is supported by somatic evidence of immaturity. The dorsal ‘sail’ formed by the elongated neural spines of the dorsal, sacral and proximal caudal vertebrae characterizes this taxon among ornithopods; a display role is considered to be the most probable function for this bizarre structure. Compared to the mid-1970s, new information from the Venice specimen and many iguanodontian taxa known today allowed for an improved diagnosis of O. nigeriensis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filippo Bertozzo
- Earth System Science-AMGC, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, Brussels/Bruxelles, Belgium
| | - Fabio Marco Dalla Vecchia
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Sabadell, Spain.,Current affiliation: Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio del Friuli Venezia Giulia, Nucleo Operativo di Udine, Udine, Italy
| | - Matteo Fabbri
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States of America
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12
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Virág A, Ősi A. Morphometry, Microstructure, and Wear Pattern of Neornithischian Dinosaur Teeth From the Upper Cretaceous Iharkút Locality (Hungary). Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2017; 300:1439-1463. [PMID: 28371453 DOI: 10.1002/ar.23592] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2016] [Revised: 11/05/2016] [Accepted: 12/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Teeth of iguanodontian ornithopods and ceratopsians could be remarkably similar, thus the referral of isolated dental material to particular neornithischian clades can be highly problematic. These groups are represented by the rhabdodontid Mochlodon vorosi and the basal coronosaurian Ajkaceratops kozmai in the Upper Cretaceous Csehbánya Formation at Iharkút (western Hungary). Whereas teeth of Mochlodon are common elements at the locality, no dental material belonging to Ajkaceratops was identified until now. Here we used mathematical statistical approaches, as well as tooth wear and dental microstructure analysis in order to decide whether the teeth previously referred to Mochlodon can be treated as a homogenous sample, or some remains belong rather to Ajkaceratops. According to our results, there was a striking morphological and structural convergence between the teeth of both taxa. However, the wear study revealed the existence of two different patterns within the sample. One is characterized by straight and parallel microstriations that suggest orthal movements during the jaw closure. This pattern was associated with Mochlodon. The other pattern appeared only on a few teeth, and it can be differentiated by its distinctive curved microstriations that indicate circumpalinal chewing. Because curved striations have never been described in ornithopods, but are found in several neoceratopsians, this pattern was associated here with Ajkaceratops. Here we present the first teeth that can provisionally be referred to the latter genus. We believe that the methodology discussed in this article will facilitate distinguishing ceratopsian and ornithopod teeth in other localities as well. Anat Rec, 300:1439-1463, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Attila Virág
- MTA-ELTE Lendület Dinosaur Research Group, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/c, Budapest, 1117, Hungary.,MTA-MTM-ELTE Research Group for Paleontology, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/c, Budapest, 1117, Hungary
| | - Attila Ősi
- MTA-ELTE Lendület Dinosaur Research Group, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/c, Budapest, 1117, Hungary.,Department of Paleontology, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/c, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, 1117, Hungary
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Prondvai E. Medullary bone in fossils: function, evolution and significance in growth curve reconstructions of extinct vertebrates. J Evol Biol 2016; 30:440-460. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2016] [Revised: 11/12/2016] [Accepted: 11/15/2016] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- E. Prondvai
- Evolutionary Morphology of Vertebrates; Ghent University; Gent Belgium
- MTA - ELTE Lendület Dinosaur Research Group; Eötvös Loránd University; Budapest Hungary
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Strickson E, Prieto-Márquez A, Benton MJ, Stubbs TL. Dynamics of dental evolution in ornithopod dinosaurs. Sci Rep 2016; 6:28904. [PMID: 27412496 PMCID: PMC4944125 DOI: 10.1038/srep28904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2016] [Accepted: 06/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Ornithopods were key herbivorous dinosaurs in Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems, with a variety of tooth morphologies. Several clades, especially the ‘duck-billed’ hadrosaurids, became hugely diverse and abundant almost worldwide. Yet their evolutionary dynamics have been disputed, particularly whether they diversified in response to events in plant evolution. Here we focus on their remarkable dietary adaptations, using tooth and jaw characters to examine changes in dental disparity and evolutionary rate. Ornithopods explored different areas of dental morphospace throughout their evolution, showing a long-term expansion. There were four major evolutionary rate increases, the first among basal iguanodontians in the Middle-Late Jurassic, and the three others among the Hadrosauridae, above and below the split of their two major clades, in the middle of the Late Cretaceous. These evolutionary bursts do not correspond to times of plant diversification, including the radiation of the flowering plants, and suggest that dental innovation rather than coevolution with major plant clades was a major driver in ornithopod evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward Strickson
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Albert Prieto-Márquez
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Michael J Benton
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Thomas L Stubbs
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
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Dieudonné PE, Tortosa T, Torcida Fernández-Baldor F, Canudo JI, Díaz-Martínez I. An Unexpected Early Rhabdodontid from Europe (Lower Cretaceous of Salas de los Infantes, Burgos Province, Spain) and a Re-Examination of Basal Iguanodontian Relationships. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0156251. [PMID: 27333279 PMCID: PMC4917257 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2015] [Accepted: 05/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Disarticulated and incomplete remains from a new diminutive ornithopod are described. They come from the Cameros Basin in the north of Spain and were collected from the red clays of the Castrillo de la Reina Formation, ranging from Upper Barremian to Lower Aptian. The new ornithopod described here is slender and one of the smallest ever reported. An up-to-date phylogenetic analysis recovers this taxon as a basal iguanodontian. Its unique combination of characters makes it more derived than slender ornithopods like Hyphilophodon and Gasparinisaura, and bring very interesting insights into the basal iguanodontian phylogeny. Though possessing a minimum of three premaxillary teeth, this taxon also bears an extensor ilio-tibialis groove on the distal part of its femur. Moreover, its dentary and maxillary teeth are unique, remarkably similar to those regarded as having a "rhabdomorphan" affinity. This unknown taxon is suggested to be a stem taxon within Rhabdodontidae, a successful clade of basal iguanodonts from the Late Cretaceous of Europe. The Gondwanan ornithopods share the strongest affinities with this family, and we confirm Muttaburrasaurus as a sister taxon of the Rhabdodontidae within a newly defined clade, the Rhabdodontomorpha.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul-Emile Dieudonné
- Grupo Aragosaurus−IUCA, Área de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Thierry Tortosa
- Réserve Naturelle Nationale Sainte-Victoire, Conseil Départemental des Bouches-du-Rhône, 52 avenue de Saint-Just, 13256 Marseille Cedex 20, France
| | - Fidel Torcida Fernández-Baldor
- Museo de Dinosaurios de Salas de los Infantes and Colectivo Arqueológico−Paleontológico Salense (CAS), Plaza Jesús Aparicio 9, 09600 Salas de los Infantes, Burgos, Spain
| | - José Ignacio Canudo
- Grupo Aragosaurus−IUCA, Área de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Ignacio Díaz-Martínez
- CONICET—Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología, Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, General Roca 1242, 8332 Fisque Menuco (General Roca), Río Negro, Argentina
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Baron MG, Norman DB, Barrett PM. Postcranial anatomy ofLesothosaurus diagnosticus(Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Lower Jurassic of southern Africa: implications for basal ornithischian taxonomy and systematics. Zool J Linn Soc 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew G. Baron
- Department of Earth Science; University of Cambridge; Downing Street Cambridge CB2 3EQ UK
- Department of Earth Sciences; The Natural History Museum; Cromwell Road London SW7 5BD UK
| | - David B. Norman
- Department of Earth Science; University of Cambridge; Downing Street Cambridge CB2 3EQ UK
| | - Paul M. Barrett
- Department of Earth Sciences; The Natural History Museum; Cromwell Road London SW7 5BD UK
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Csiki-Sava Z, Buffetaut E, Ősi A, Pereda-Suberbiola X, Brusatte SL. Island life in the Cretaceous - faunal composition, biogeography, evolution, and extinction of land-living vertebrates on the Late Cretaceous European archipelago. Zookeys 2015; 469:1-161. [PMID: 25610343 PMCID: PMC4296572 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.469.8439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 136] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2014] [Accepted: 11/20/2014] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The Late Cretaceous was a time of tremendous global change, as the final stages of the Age of Dinosaurs were shaped by climate and sea level fluctuations and witness to marked paleogeographic and faunal changes, before the end-Cretaceous bolide impact. The terrestrial fossil record of Late Cretaceous Europe is becoming increasingly better understood, based largely on intensive fieldwork over the past two decades, promising new insights into latest Cretaceous faunal evolution. We review the terrestrial Late Cretaceous record from Europe and discuss its importance for understanding the paleogeography, ecology, evolution, and extinction of land-dwelling vertebrates. We review the major Late Cretaceous faunas from Austria, Hungary, France, Spain, Portugal, and Romania, as well as more fragmentary records from elsewhere in Europe. We discuss the paleogeographic background and history of assembly of these faunas, and argue that they are comprised of an endemic 'core' supplemented with various immigration waves. These faunas lived on an island archipelago, and we describe how this insular setting led to ecological peculiarities such as low diversity, a preponderance of primitive taxa, and marked changes in morphology (particularly body size dwarfing). We conclude by discussing the importance of the European record in understanding the end-Cretaceous extinction and show that there is no clear evidence that dinosaurs or other groups were undergoing long-term declines in Europe prior to the bolide impact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoltán Csiki-Sava
- Department of Geology, Faculty of Geology and Geophysics, University of Bucharest, 1 N. Bălcescu Blvd, 010041 Bucharest, Romania
| | - Eric Buffetaut
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 8538, Laboratoire de Géologie de l’Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Attila Ősi
- MTA-ELTE Lendület Dinosaur Research Group, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/c, Budapest, 1117, Hungary
| | - Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola
- Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Apartado 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Stephen L. Brusatte
- School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Grant Institute, King’s Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, UK
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Blanco A, Puértolas-Pascual E, Marmi J, Vila B, Sellés AG. Allodaposuchus palustris sp. nov. from the upper cretaceous of Fumanya (South-Eastern Pyrenees, Iberian Peninsula): systematics, palaeoecology and palaeobiogeography of the enigmatic allodaposuchian crocodylians. PLoS One 2014; 9:e115837. [PMID: 25551630 PMCID: PMC4281157 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0115837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2014] [Accepted: 12/01/2014] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
The controversial European genus Allodaposuchus is currently composed of two species (A. precedens, A. subjuniperus) and it has been traditionally considered a basal eusuchian clade of crocodylomorphs. In the present work, the new species A. palustris is erected on the base of cranial and postcranial remains from the lower Maastrichtian of the southern Pyrenees. Phylogenetic analyses here including both cranial and postcranial data support the hypothesis that Allodaposuchus is included within Crocodylia. The studied specimen suggests little change in postcranial skeleton along the evolutionary history of crocodylians, except for some bone elements such as the axis, the first caudal vertebra and the ilium. The specimen was found in an organic mudstone corresponding to a coastal wetland environment. Thus, A. palustris from Fumanya is the first Allodaposuchus reported in lacustrine-palustrine settings that expand the ecological range for this genus. The S-DIVA palaeobiogeographic reconstruction of ancestral area suggests that early members of Crocodylia rapidly widespread for the Northern Hemisphere landmasses no later than the Campanian, leading the apparition of endemic groups. In that way "Allodaposuchia" represents an endemic European clade probably originated in the Ibero-Armorican domain in the late Campanian and dispersed by the Southern European archipelago prior to the early Maastrichtian.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Blanco
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, C/Escola Industrial 23, E-08201, Sabadell, Spain
| | - Eduardo Puértolas-Pascual
- Grupo Aragosaurus–IUCA, Área de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Josep Marmi
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, C/Escola Industrial 23, E-08201, Sabadell, Spain
| | - Bernat Vila
- Grupo Aragosaurus–IUCA, Área de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Albert G. Sellés
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, C/Escola Industrial 23, E-08201, Sabadell, Spain
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Norman DB. On the history, osteology, and systematic position of the Wealden (Hastings group) dinosaurHypselospinus fittoni(Iguanodontia: Styracosterna). Zool J Linn Soc 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- David B. Norman
- Department of Earth Sciences; University of Cambridge; Downing Street Cambridge CB2 3EQ UK
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Averianov A. Review of taxonomy, geographic distribution, and paleoenvironments of Azhdarchidae (Pterosauria). Zookeys 2014:1-107. [PMID: 25152671 PMCID: PMC4141157 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.432.7913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2014] [Accepted: 08/01/2014] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The taxonomy, geographic distribution, and paleoenvironmental context of azhdarchid pterosaurs are reviewed. All purported pteranodontid, tapejarid, and azhdarchid specimens from the Cenomanian Kem Kem beds of Morocco are referred to a single azhdarchid taxon, Alanqa saharica. The four proposed autapomorphies of Eurazhdarcho langendorfensis from the lower Maastrichtian Sebeş Formation of Romania are based on misinterpretations of material and this taxon is likely a subjective junior synonym of Hatzegopteryx thambema. Among 54 currently reported azhdarchid occurrences (51 skeletal remains and 3 tracks) 13% are from lacustrine deposits, 17% from fluvial plain deposits, 17% from coastal plain deposits, 18% from estuarine and lagoonal deposits, and 35% from costal marine deposits. Azhdarchids likely inhabited a variety of environments, but were abundant near large lakes and rivers and most common in nearshore marine paleoenvironments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Averianov
- Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab. 1, 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russia and Department of Sedimentary Geology, Geological Faculty, Saint Petersburg State University, 16 liniya VO 29, 199178 Saint Petersburg, Russia
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Benson RBJ, Campione NE, Carrano MT, Mannion PD, Sullivan C, Upchurch P, Evans DC. Rates of dinosaur body mass evolution indicate 170 million years of sustained ecological innovation on the avian stem lineage. PLoS Biol 2014; 12:e1001853. [PMID: 24802911 PMCID: PMC4011683 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 191] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2013] [Accepted: 03/28/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Large-scale adaptive radiations might explain the runaway success of a minority of extant vertebrate clades. This hypothesis predicts, among other things, rapid rates of morphological evolution during the early history of major groups, as lineages invade disparate ecological niches. However, few studies of adaptive radiation have included deep time data, so the links between extant diversity and major extinct radiations are unclear. The intensively studied Mesozoic dinosaur record provides a model system for such investigation, representing an ecologically diverse group that dominated terrestrial ecosystems for 170 million years. Furthermore, with 10,000 species, extant dinosaurs (birds) are the most speciose living tetrapod clade. We assembled composite trees of 614-622 Mesozoic dinosaurs/birds, and a comprehensive body mass dataset using the scaling relationship of limb bone robustness. Maximum-likelihood modelling and the node height test reveal rapid evolutionary rates and a predominance of rapid shifts among size classes in early (Triassic) dinosaurs. This indicates an early burst niche-filling pattern and contrasts with previous studies that favoured gradualistic rates. Subsequently, rates declined in most lineages, which rarely exploited new ecological niches. However, feathered maniraptoran dinosaurs (including Mesozoic birds) sustained rapid evolution from at least the Middle Jurassic, suggesting that these taxa evaded the effects of niche saturation. This indicates that a long evolutionary history of continuing ecological innovation paved the way for a second great radiation of dinosaurs, in birds. We therefore demonstrate links between the predominantly extinct deep time adaptive radiation of non-avian dinosaurs and the phenomenal diversification of birds, via continuing rapid rates of evolution along the phylogenetic stem lineage. This raises the possibility that the uneven distribution of biodiversity results not just from large-scale extrapolation of the process of adaptive radiation in a few extant clades, but also from the maintenance of evolvability on vast time scales across the history of life, in key lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roger B. J. Benson
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Nicolás E. Campione
- Departments of Earth Sciences (Palaeobiology) and Organismal Biology (Evolution and Development), Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Matthew T. Carrano
- Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, United States of America
| | - Philip D. Mannion
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Corwin Sullivan
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing, China
| | - Paul Upchurch
- Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - David C. Evans
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada
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Brusatte SL, Vremir M, Csiki-Sava Z, Turner AH, Watanabe A, Erickson GM, Norell MA. The Osteology of Balaur bondoc, an Island-Dwelling Dromaeosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Romania. BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 2013. [DOI: 10.1206/798.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Makádi L, Caldwell MW, Ősi A. The first freshwater mosasauroid (Upper Cretaceous, Hungary) and a new clade of basal mosasauroids. PLoS One 2012; 7:e51781. [PMID: 23284766 PMCID: PMC3526648 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051781] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2012] [Accepted: 11/12/2012] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Mosasauroids are conventionally conceived of as gigantic, obligatorily aquatic marine lizards (1000s of specimens from marine deposited rocks) with a cosmopolitan distribution in the Late Cretaceous (90-65 million years ago [mya]) oceans and seas of the world. Here we report on the fossilized remains of numerous individuals (small juveniles to large adults) of a new taxon, Pannoniasaurus inexpectatus gen. et sp. nov. from the Csehbánya Formation, Hungary (Santonian, Upper Cretaceous, 85.3-83.5 mya) that represent the first known mosasauroid that lived in freshwater environments. Previous to this find, only one specimen of a marine mosasauroid, cf. Plioplatecarpus sp., is known from non-marine rocks in Western Canada. Pannoniasaurus inexpectatus gen. et sp. nov. uniquely possesses a plesiomorphic pelvic anatomy, a non-mosasauroid but pontosaur-like tail osteology, possibly limbs like a terrestrial lizard, and a flattened, crocodile-like skull. Cladistic analysis reconstructs P. inexpectatus in a new clade of mosasauroids: (Pannoniasaurus (Tethysaurus (Yaguarasaurus, Russellosaurus))). P. inexpectatus is part of a mixed terrestrial and freshwater faunal assemblage that includes fishes, amphibians turtles, terrestrial lizards, crocodiles, pterosaurs, dinosaurs and birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- László Makádi
- Department of Paleontology and Geology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary.
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