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Extinction of herbivorous dinosaurs linked to Early Jurassic global warming event.
Proc Biol Sci. 2020 11 25; 287(1939):20202310.PB

Abstract

Sauropods, the giant long-necked dinosaurs, became the dominant group of large herbivores in terrestrial ecosystems after multiple related lineages became extinct towards the end of the Early Jurassic (190-174 Ma). The causes and precise timing of this key faunal change, as well as the origin of eusauropods (true sauropods), have remained ambiguous mainly due to the scarce dinosaurian fossil record of this time. The terrestrial sedimentary successions of the Cañadón Asfalto Basin in central Patagonia (Argentina) document this critical interval of dinosaur evolution. Here, we report a new dinosaur with a nearly complete skull that is the oldest eusauropod known to date and provide high-precision U-Pb geochronology that constrains in time the rise of eusauropods in Patagonia. We show that eusauropod dominance was established after a massive magmatic event impacting southern Gondwana (180-184 Ma) and coincided with severe perturbations to the climate and a drastic decrease in the floral diversity characterized by the rise of conifers with small scaly leaves. Floral and faunal records from other regions suggest these were global changes that impacted the terrestrial ecosystems during the Toarcian warming event and formed part of a second-order mass extinction event.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

CONICET, Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Trelew 9100, Chubut, Argentina.

Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

CONICET, Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Trelew 9100, Chubut, Argentina.

CONICET, Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Trelew 9100, Chubut, Argentina.

Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidady Medioambiente (CONICET-UNCo), San Carlos de Bariloche 8400, Río Negro, Argentina.

Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Department for Earth and Environmental Sciences, and GeoBioCenter, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 80333 Munich, Germany.

CONICET, Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Trelew 9100, Chubut, Argentina.

CONICET, Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Trelew 9100, Chubut, Argentina.

MeSH

AnimalsArgentinaBiological EvolutionClimateDinosaursEcosystemExtinction, BiologicalFossilsGlobal WarmingHerbivoryPhylogenySkull

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

33203331

Citation

Pol, D, et al. "Extinction of Herbivorous Dinosaurs Linked to Early Jurassic Global Warming Event." Proceedings. Biological Sciences, vol. 287, no. 1939, 2020, p. 20202310.

Pol D, Ramezani J, Gomez K, et al. Extinction of herbivorous dinosaurs linked to Early Jurassic global warming event. Proc Biol Sci. 2020;287(1939):20202310.

Pol, D., Ramezani, J., Gomez, K., Carballido, J. L., Carabajal, A. P., Rauhut, O. W. M., Escapa, I. H., & Cúneo, N. R. (2020). Extinction of herbivorous dinosaurs linked to Early Jurassic global warming event. Proceedings. Biological Sciences, 287(1939), 20202310. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.2310

Pol D, et al. Extinction of Herbivorous Dinosaurs Linked to Early Jurassic Global Warming Event. Proc Biol Sci. 2020 11 25;287(1939):20202310. PubMed PMID: 33203331.

* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case

TY - JOUR T1 - Extinction of herbivorous dinosaurs linked to Early Jurassic global warming event. AU - Pol,D, AU - Ramezani,J, AU - Gomez,K, AU - Carballido,J L, AU - Carabajal,A Paulina, AU - Rauhut,O W M, AU - Escapa,I H, AU - Cúneo,N R, Y1 - 2020/11/18/ PY - 2020/11/18/entrez PY - 2020/11/19/pubmed PY - 2021/1/7/medline KW - Eusauropoda KW - Pliensbachian KW - Sauropoda KW - Toarcian SP - 20202310 EP - 20202310 JF - Proceedings. Biological sciences JO - Proc Biol Sci VL - 287 IS - 1939 N2 - Sauropods, the giant long-necked dinosaurs, became the dominant group of large herbivores in terrestrial ecosystems after multiple related lineages became extinct towards the end of the Early Jurassic (190-174 Ma). The causes and precise timing of this key faunal change, as well as the origin of eusauropods (true sauropods), have remained ambiguous mainly due to the scarce dinosaurian fossil record of this time. The terrestrial sedimentary successions of the Cañadón Asfalto Basin in central Patagonia (Argentina) document this critical interval of dinosaur evolution. Here, we report a new dinosaur with a nearly complete skull that is the oldest eusauropod known to date and provide high-precision U-Pb geochronology that constrains in time the rise of eusauropods in Patagonia. We show that eusauropod dominance was established after a massive magmatic event impacting southern Gondwana (180-184 Ma) and coincided with severe perturbations to the climate and a drastic decrease in the floral diversity characterized by the rise of conifers with small scaly leaves. Floral and faunal records from other regions suggest these were global changes that impacted the terrestrial ecosystems during the Toarcian warming event and formed part of a second-order mass extinction event. SN - 1471-2954 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/33203331/Extinction_of_herbivorous_dinosaurs_linked_to_Early_Jurassic_global_warming_event_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -