Shrinking dinosaurs and the evolution of endothermy in birds.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Rezende EL
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6938711 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Shrinking dinosaurs and the evolution of endothermy in birds.
Rezende Enrico L EL Bacigalupe Leonardo D LD Nespolo Roberto F RF Bozinovic Francisco F
Science advances 20200101 1
The evolution of endothermy represents a major transition in vertebrate history, yet how and why endothermy evolved in birds and mammals remains controversial. Here, we combine a heat transfer model with theropod body size data to reconstruct the evolution of metabolic rates along the bird stem lineage. Results suggest that a reduction in size constitutes the path of least resistance for endothermy to evolve, maximizing thermal niche expansion while obviating the costs of elevated energy require ...[more]
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