Dataset Information

Biomechanics of running indicates endothermy in bipedal dinosaurs.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: One of the great unresolved controversies in paleobiology is whether extinct dinosaurs were endothermic, ectothermic, or some combination thereof, and when endothermy first evolved in the lineage leading to birds. Although it is well established that high, sustained growth rates and, presumably, high activity levels are ancestral for dinosaurs and pterosaurs (clade Ornithodira), other independent lines of evidence for high metabolic rates, locomotor costs, or endothermy are needed. For example, some studies have suggested that, because large dinosaurs may have been homeothermic due to their size alone and could have had heat loss problems, ectothermy would be a more plausible metabolic strategy for such animals. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we describe two new biomechanical approaches for reconstructing the metabolic rate of 14 extinct bipedal dinosauriforms during walking and running. These methods, well validated for extant animals, indicate that during walking and slow running the metabolic rate of at least the larger extinct dinosaurs exceeded the maximum aerobic capabilities of modern ectotherms, falling instead within the range of modern birds and mammals. Estimated metabolic rates for smaller dinosaurs are more ambiguous, but generally approach or exceed the ectotherm boundary. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results support the hypothesis that endothermy was widespread in at least larger non-avian dinosaurs. It was plausibly ancestral for all dinosauriforms (perhaps Ornithodira), but this is perhaps more strongly indicated by high growth rates than by locomotor costs. The polarity of the evolution of endothermy indicates that rapid growth, insulation, erect postures, and perhaps aerobic power predated advanced "avian" lung structure and high locomotor costs.

SUBMITTER: Pontzer H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2772121 | biostudies-literature | 2009

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Biomechanics of running indicates endothermy in bipedal dinosaurs.

Pontzer Herman H Allen Vivian V Hutchinson John R JR

PloS one 20091111 11

<h4>Background</h4>One of the great unresolved controversies in paleobiology is whether extinct dinosaurs were endothermic, ectothermic, or some combination thereof, and when endothermy first evolved in the lineage leading to birds. Although it is well established that high, sustained growth rates and, presumably, high activity levels are ancestral for dinosaurs and pterosaurs (clade Ornithodira), other independent lines of evidence for high metabolic rates, locomotor costs, or endothermy are ne ...[more]

PMID: 19911059

Similar Datasets

Project description:Birds are a diverse and agile lineage of vertebrates that all use bipedal locomotion for at least part of their life. Thus birds provide a valuable opportunity to investigate how biomechanics and sensorimotor control are integrated for agile bipedal locomotion. This review summarizes recent work using terrain perturbations to reveal neuromechanical control strategies used by ground birds to achieve robust, stable, and agile running. Early experiments in running guinea fowl aimed to reveal the immediate intrinsic mechanical response to an unexpected drop ("pothole") in terrain. When navigating the pothole, guinea fowl experience large changes in leg posture in the perturbed step, which correlates strongly with leg loading and perturbation recovery. Analysis of simple theoretical models of running has further confirmed the crucial role of swing-leg trajectory control for regulating foot contact timing and leg loading in uneven terrain. Coupling between body and leg dynamics results in an inherent trade-off in swing leg retraction rate for fall avoidance versus injury avoidance. Fast leg retraction minimizes injury risk, but slow leg retraction minimizes fall risk. Subsequent experiments have investigated how birds optimize their control strategies depending on the type of perturbation (pothole, step, obstacle), visibility of terrain, and with ample practice negotiating terrain features. Birds use several control strategies consistently across terrain contexts: (1) independent control of leg angular cycling and leg length actuation, which facilitates dynamic stability through simple control mechanisms, (2) feedforward regulation of leg cycling rate, which tunes foot-contact timing to maintain consistent leg loading in uneven terrain (minimizing fall and injury risks), (3) load-dependent muscle actuation, which rapidly adjusts stance push-off and stabilizes body mechanical energy, and (4) multi-step recovery strategies that allow body dynamics to transiently vary while tightly regulating leg loading to minimize risks of fall and injury. In future work, it will be interesting to investigate the learning and adaptation processes that allow animals to adjust neuromechanical control mechanisms over short and long timescales.

Dataset Information

Biomechanics of running indicates endothermy in bipedal dinosaurs.

Publications

Biomechanics of running indicates endothermy in bipedal dinosaurs.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets