The First 50 Million Years Of Dinosaur Evolution: Macroevolutionary Pattern And Morphological Disparity

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Also Included In: Genetics
Article Date: 24 Sep 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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The rise of the dinosaurs between 230-180 million years ago was a pivotal event in earth history. The initial expansion of dinosaurs in the Triassic enabled them to dominate ecosystems for the next 110 million years, but much about the early history of these animals remains poorly known.

We find that the rise of the dinosaurs was a gradual and complex process in which dinosaurs weathered two mass extinction events. Dinosaurs expanded their morphospace--their range of body plans, diets, and lifestyles--about 228 million years ago after one extinction.

However, diversity (number of species) and abundance (number of individuals in an ecosystem) only drastically increased 200 million years ago, after an even more devastating extinction that eradicated several competitor groups.

Royal Society journal Biology Letters

Biology Letters publishes short, innovative and cutting-edge research articles and opinion pieces accessible to scientists from across the biological sciences. The journal is characterised by stringent peer-review, rapid publication and broad dissemination of succinct high-quality research communications.

www.publishing.royalsociety.org/biologyletters

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