Climatic constraints on the biogeographic history of Mesozoic dinosaurs

Advanced search
Browse by:

Department | Year

UCL Theses | Latest

Deposit your research

Climatic constraints on the biogeographic history of Mesozoic dinosaurs

Chiarenza, A; Mannion, P; Farnsworth, A; Carrano, M; Varela, S; (2022) Climatic constraints on the biogeographic history of Mesozoic dinosaurs. Current Biology , 32 (3) pp. 570-585. 10.1016/j.cub.2021.11.061. Green open access

[thumbnail of Mannion_Dinosaur climate_accepted MS.pdf]

Preview

Text
Mannion_Dinosaur climate_accepted MS.pdf - Accepted Version
Download (474kB) | Preview

Abstract

Dinosaurs dominated Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems globally. However, whereas a pole-to-pole geographic distribution characterized ornithischians and theropods, sauropods were restricted to lower latitudes. Here, we evaluate the role of climate in shaping these biogeographic patterns through the Jurassic–Cretaceous (201–66 mya), combining dinosaur fossil occurrences, past climate data from Earth System models, and habitat suitability modeling. Results show that, uniquely among dinosaurs, sauropods occupied climatic niches characterized by high temperatures and strongly bounded by minimum cold temperatures. This constrained the distribution and dispersal pathways of sauropods to tropical areas, excluding them from latitudinal extremes, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. The greater availability of suitable habitat in the southern continents, particularly in the Late Cretaceous, might be key to explaining the high diversity of sauropods there, relative to northern landmasses. Given that ornithischians and theropods show a flattened or bimodal latitudinal biodiversity gradient, with peaks at higher latitudes, the closer correspondence of sauropods to a subtropical concentration could hint at fundamental thermophysiological differences to the other two clades.

Type:	Article
Title:	Climatic constraints on the biogeographic history of Mesozoic dinosaurs
Open access status:	An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI:	10.1016/j.cub.2021.11.061
Publisher version:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.11.061
Language:	English
Additional information:	This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
UCL classification:	UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Earth Sciences
URI:	https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10139144