Hematological convergence between Mesozoic marine reptiles (Sauropterygia) and extant aquatic amniotes elucidates diving adaptations in plesiosaurs
Plesiosaurs are a prominent group of Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the more inclusive clades Pistosauroidea and Sauropterygia. In the Middle Triassic, the early pistosauroid ancestors of plesiosaurs left their ancestral coastal habitats and increasingly adapted to a life in the open ocean....
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PeerJ Inc.
2019-11-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/8022.pdf |
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| author | Corinna V. Fleischle P. Martin Sander Tanja Wintrich Kai R. Caspar |
| author_facet | Corinna V. Fleischle P. Martin Sander Tanja Wintrich Kai R. Caspar |
| author_sort | Corinna V. Fleischle |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Plesiosaurs are a prominent group of Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the more inclusive clades Pistosauroidea and Sauropterygia. In the Middle Triassic, the early pistosauroid ancestors of plesiosaurs left their ancestral coastal habitats and increasingly adapted to a life in the open ocean. This ecological shift was accompanied by profound changes in locomotion, sensory ecology and metabolism. However, investigations of physiological adaptations on the cellular level related to the pelagic lifestyle are lacking so far. Using vascular canal diameter, derived from osteohistological thin-sections, we show that inferred red blood cell size significantly increases in pistosauroids compared to more basal sauropterygians. This change appears to have occurred in conjunction with the dispersal to open marine environments, with cell size remaining consistently large in plesiosaurs. Enlarged red blood cells likely represent an adaptation of plesiosaurs repeated deep dives in the pelagic habitat and mirror conditions found in extant marine mammals and birds. Our results emphasize physiological aspects of adaptive convergence among fossil and extant marine amniotes and add to our current understanding of plesiosaur evolution. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:23:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8e225c49333540fda489eb6e59cb7ab1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:23:00Z |
| publishDate | 2019-11-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
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| spelling | doaj.art-8e225c49333540fda489eb6e59cb7ab12023-12-03T07:14:21ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592019-11-017e802210.7717/peerj.8022Hematological convergence between Mesozoic marine reptiles (Sauropterygia) and extant aquatic amniotes elucidates diving adaptations in plesiosaursCorinna V. Fleischle0P. Martin Sander1Tanja Wintrich2Kai R. Caspar3Section Paleontology, Institute of Geosciences, University of Bonn, Bonn, GermanySection Paleontology, Institute of Geosciences, University of Bonn, Bonn, GermanySection Paleontology, Institute of Geosciences, University of Bonn, Bonn, GermanySection Paleontology, Institute of Geosciences, University of Bonn, Bonn, GermanyPlesiosaurs are a prominent group of Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the more inclusive clades Pistosauroidea and Sauropterygia. In the Middle Triassic, the early pistosauroid ancestors of plesiosaurs left their ancestral coastal habitats and increasingly adapted to a life in the open ocean. This ecological shift was accompanied by profound changes in locomotion, sensory ecology and metabolism. However, investigations of physiological adaptations on the cellular level related to the pelagic lifestyle are lacking so far. Using vascular canal diameter, derived from osteohistological thin-sections, we show that inferred red blood cell size significantly increases in pistosauroids compared to more basal sauropterygians. This change appears to have occurred in conjunction with the dispersal to open marine environments, with cell size remaining consistently large in plesiosaurs. Enlarged red blood cells likely represent an adaptation of plesiosaurs repeated deep dives in the pelagic habitat and mirror conditions found in extant marine mammals and birds. Our results emphasize physiological aspects of adaptive convergence among fossil and extant marine amniotes and add to our current understanding of plesiosaur evolution.https://peerj.com/articles/8022.pdfPlesiosauriaAdaptive convergenceAquatic adaptationSauropterygiaBone histologyErythrocytes |
| spellingShingle | Corinna V. Fleischle P. Martin Sander Tanja Wintrich Kai R. Caspar Hematological convergence between Mesozoic marine reptiles (Sauropterygia) and extant aquatic amniotes elucidates diving adaptations in plesiosaurs PeerJ Plesiosauria Adaptive convergence Aquatic adaptation Sauropterygia Bone histology Erythrocytes |
| title | Hematological convergence between Mesozoic marine reptiles (Sauropterygia) and extant aquatic amniotes elucidates diving adaptations in plesiosaurs |
| title_full | Hematological convergence between Mesozoic marine reptiles (Sauropterygia) and extant aquatic amniotes elucidates diving adaptations in plesiosaurs |
| title_fullStr | Hematological convergence between Mesozoic marine reptiles (Sauropterygia) and extant aquatic amniotes elucidates diving adaptations in plesiosaurs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hematological convergence between Mesozoic marine reptiles (Sauropterygia) and extant aquatic amniotes elucidates diving adaptations in plesiosaurs |
| title_short | Hematological convergence between Mesozoic marine reptiles (Sauropterygia) and extant aquatic amniotes elucidates diving adaptations in plesiosaurs |
| title_sort | hematological convergence between mesozoic marine reptiles sauropterygia and extant aquatic amniotes elucidates diving adaptations in plesiosaurs |
| topic | Plesiosauria Adaptive convergence Aquatic adaptation Sauropterygia Bone histology Erythrocytes |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/8022.pdf |
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