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Earliest evidence of herd-living and age segregation amongst dinosaurs.
Sci Rep. 2021 10 21; 11(1):20023.SR

Abstract

Sauropodomorph dinosaurs dominated the herbivorous niches during the first 40 million years of dinosaur history (Late Triassic-Early Jurassic), yet palaeobiological factors that influenced their evolutionary success are not fully understood. For instance, knowledge on their behaviour is limited, although herding in sauropodomorphs has been well documented in derived sauropods from the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous. Here we report an exceptional fossil occurrence from Patagonia that includes over 100 eggs and skeletal specimens of 80 individuals of the early sauropodomorph Mussaurus patagonicus, ranging from embryos to fully-grown adults, with an Early Jurassic age as determined by high-precision U-Pb zircon geochronology. Most specimens were found in a restricted area and stratigraphic interval, with some articulated skeletons grouped in clusters of individuals of approximately the same age. Our new discoveries indicate the presence of social cohesion throughout life and age-segregation within a herd structure, in addition to colonial nesting behaviour. These findings provide the earliest evidence of complex social behaviour in Dinosauria, predating previous records by at least 40 My. The presence of sociality in different sauropodomorph lineages suggests a possible Triassic origin of this behaviour, which may have influenced their early success as large terrestrial herbivores.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Pol D
CONICET, Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Av. Fontana 140, 9100, Trelew, Argentina. dpol@mef.org.ar.
Mancuso AC
IANIGLA, CCT-CONICET-Mendoza, Adrián Ruiz Leal S/N - Parque Gral. San Martín 5500, C.C.330, Mendoza, Argentina.
Smith RMH
Evolutionary Studies Institution, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Marsicano CA
CONICET-UBA IDEAN, Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Intendente Güiraldes 2160, Ciudad Universitaria C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Ramezani J
Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
Cerda IA
CONICET, Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología Y Geología, Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, Museo Carlos Ameghino, Belgrano 1700, Paraje Pichi Ruca (Predio Marabunta), Cipolletti, Río Negro, Argentina.
Otero A
CONICET, División Paleontología de Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n (1900) La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Fernandez V
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 avenue des Martyrs, 38000, Grenoble, France.

MeSH

AnimalsArgentinaBehavior, AnimalBiological EvolutionDinosaursEggsFossilsGeographyPaleontologyPhylogenyTime Factors

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Language

eng

PubMed ID

34675327

Citation

Pol, Diego, et al. "Earliest Evidence of Herd-living and Age Segregation Amongst Dinosaurs." Scientific Reports, vol. 11, no. 1, 2021, p. 20023.
Pol D, Mancuso AC, Smith RMH, et al. Earliest evidence of herd-living and age segregation amongst dinosaurs. Sci Rep. 2021;11(1):20023.
Pol, D., Mancuso, A. C., Smith, R. M. H., Marsicano, C. A., Ramezani, J., Cerda, I. A., Otero, A., & Fernandez, V. (2021). Earliest evidence of herd-living and age segregation amongst dinosaurs. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 20023. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-99176-1
Pol D, et al. Earliest Evidence of Herd-living and Age Segregation Amongst Dinosaurs. Sci Rep. 2021 10 21;11(1):20023. PubMed PMID: 34675327.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Earliest evidence of herd-living and age segregation amongst dinosaurs. AU - Pol,Diego, AU - Mancuso,Adriana C, AU - Smith,Roger M H, AU - Marsicano,Claudia A, AU - Ramezani,Jahandar, AU - Cerda,Ignacio A, AU - Otero,Alejandro, AU - Fernandez,Vincent, Y1 - 2021/10/21/ PY - 2021/02/12/received PY - 2021/09/21/accepted PY - 2021/10/22/entrez PY - 2021/10/23/pubmed PY - 2022/1/27/medline SP - 20023 EP - 20023 JF - Scientific reports JO - Sci Rep VL - 11 IS - 1 N2 - Sauropodomorph dinosaurs dominated the herbivorous niches during the first 40 million years of dinosaur history (Late Triassic-Early Jurassic), yet palaeobiological factors that influenced their evolutionary success are not fully understood. For instance, knowledge on their behaviour is limited, although herding in sauropodomorphs has been well documented in derived sauropods from the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous. Here we report an exceptional fossil occurrence from Patagonia that includes over 100 eggs and skeletal specimens of 80 individuals of the early sauropodomorph Mussaurus patagonicus, ranging from embryos to fully-grown adults, with an Early Jurassic age as determined by high-precision U-Pb zircon geochronology. Most specimens were found in a restricted area and stratigraphic interval, with some articulated skeletons grouped in clusters of individuals of approximately the same age. Our new discoveries indicate the presence of social cohesion throughout life and age-segregation within a herd structure, in addition to colonial nesting behaviour. These findings provide the earliest evidence of complex social behaviour in Dinosauria, predating previous records by at least 40 My. The presence of sociality in different sauropodomorph lineages suggests a possible Triassic origin of this behaviour, which may have influenced their early success as large terrestrial herbivores. SN - 2045-2322 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/34675327/Earliest_evidence_of_herd_living_and_age_segregation_amongst_dinosaurs_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -