Earliest evidence of herd-living and age segregation amongst dinosaurs
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 lim...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-99176-1 |
| _version_ | 1819259822094155776 |
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| author | Diego Pol Adriana C. Mancuso Roger M. H. Smith Claudia A. Marsicano Jahandar Ramezani Ignacio A. Cerda Alejandro Otero Vincent Fernandez |
| author_facet | Diego Pol Adriana C. Mancuso Roger M. H. Smith Claudia A. Marsicano Jahandar Ramezani Ignacio A. Cerda Alejandro Otero Vincent Fernandez |
| author_sort | Diego Pol |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T19:16:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ea4e46a7507e48f79771339199529e35 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T19:16:07Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-ea4e46a7507e48f79771339199529e352022-12-21T17:34:19ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222021-10-011111910.1038/s41598-021-99176-1Earliest evidence of herd-living and age segregation amongst dinosaursDiego Pol0Adriana C. Mancuso1Roger M. H. Smith2Claudia A. Marsicano3Jahandar Ramezani4Ignacio A. Cerda5Alejandro Otero6Vincent Fernandez7CONICET, Museo Paleontológico Egidio FeruglioIANIGLA, CCT-CONICET-MendozaEvolutionary Studies Institution, University of WitwatersrandCONICET-UBA IDEAN, Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos AiresDepartment of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCONICET, Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología Y Geología, Universidad Nacional de Río NegroCONICET, División Paleontología de Vertebrados, Museo de La PlataEuropean Synchrotron Radiation FacilityAbstract 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.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-99176-1 |
| spellingShingle | Diego Pol Adriana C. Mancuso Roger M. H. Smith Claudia A. Marsicano Jahandar Ramezani Ignacio A. Cerda Alejandro Otero Vincent Fernandez Earliest evidence of herd-living and age segregation amongst dinosaurs Scientific Reports |
| title | Earliest evidence of herd-living and age segregation amongst dinosaurs |
| title_full | Earliest evidence of herd-living and age segregation amongst dinosaurs |
| title_fullStr | Earliest evidence of herd-living and age segregation amongst dinosaurs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Earliest evidence of herd-living and age segregation amongst dinosaurs |
| title_short | Earliest evidence of herd-living and age segregation amongst dinosaurs |
| title_sort | earliest evidence of herd living and age segregation amongst dinosaurs |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-99176-1 |
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