Quantitative histological models suggest endothermy in plesiosaurs

PeerJ

article

Corinna V. Fleischle¹  Tanja Wintrich¹  P. Martin Sander¹ 

[1] Steinmann-Institut für Geologie, Mineralogie und Paläontologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn;Dinosaur Institute

关键词: Bone histology;    Plesiosauria;    Vascular density;    Phylogenetic eigenvector maps;    Metabolism;    Bone growth rate;    Phylogenetic comparative methods;    Marine reptile;    Endothermy;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.4955

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Background Plesiosaurs are marine reptiles that arose in the Late Triassic and survived to the Late Cretaceous. They have a unique and uniform bauplan and are known for their very long neck and hydrofoil-like flippers. Plesiosaurs are among the most successful vertebrate clades in Earth’s history. Based on bone mass decrease and cosmopolitan distribution, both of which affect lifestyle, indications of parental care, and oxygen isotope analyses, evidence for endothermy in plesiosaurs has accumulated. Recent bone histological investigations also provide evidence of fast growth and elevated metabolic rates. However, quantitative estimations of metabolic rates and bone growth rates in plesiosaurs have not been attempted before. Methods Phylogenetic eigenvector maps is a method for estimating trait values from a predictor variable while taking into account phylogenetic relationships. As predictor variable, this study employs vascular density, measured in bone histological sections of fossil eosauropterygians and extant comparative taxa. We quantified vascular density as primary osteon density, thus, the proportion of vascular area (including lamellar infillings of primary osteons) to total bone area. Our response variables are bone growth rate (expressed as local bone apposition rate) and resting metabolic rate (RMR). Results Our models reveal bone growth rates and RMRs for plesiosaurs that are in the range of birds, suggesting that plesiosaurs were endotherm. Even for basal eosauropterygians we estimate values in the range of mammals or higher. Discussion Our models are influenced by the availability of comparative data, which are lacking for large marine amniotes, potentially skewing our results. However, our statistically robust inference of fast growth and fast metabolism is in accordance with other evidence for plesiosaurian endothermy. Endothermy may explain the success of plesiosaurs consisting in their survival of the end-Triassic extinction event and their global radiation and dispersal.

【 授权许可】

CC BY