Assessing ontogenetic maturity in extinct saurian reptiles

CT Griffin, MR Stocker, C Colleary… - Biological …, 2021 - Wiley Online Library
Morphology forms the most fundamental level of data in vertebrate palaeontology because it
is through interpretations of morphology that taxa are identified, creating the basis for broad …

Chthonic severance: dinosaur eggs of the Mesozoic, the significance of partially buried eggs and contact incubation precursors

JD Hogan, DJ Varricchio - Philosophical Transactions of …, 2023 - royalsocietypublishing.org
For most dinosaurs, clutches consisted of a single layer of spherical to sub-spherical, highly
porous eggs that were probably fully buried. Both eggs and clutch form change drastically …

Fossil biomolecules reveal an avian metabolism in the ancestral dinosaur

J Wiemann, I Menéndez, JM Crawford, M Fabbri… - Nature, 2022 - nature.com
Birds and mammals independently evolved the highest metabolic rates among living
animals. Their metabolism generates heat that enables active thermoregulation, shaping the …

[图书][B] The secret social lives of reptiles

JS Doody, V Dinets, GM Burghardt - 2021 - books.google.com
Covering diverse species from garter snakes to Komodo dragons, this book delves into the
evolutionary origins and fascinating details of the mysterious social lives of reptiles. Reptiles …

Evidence for heterothermic endothermy and reptile-like eggshell mineralization in Troodon, a non-avian maniraptoran theropod

M Tagliavento, AJ Davies… - Proceedings of the …, 2023 - National Acad Sciences
The dinosaur–bird transition involved several anatomical, biomechanical, and physiological
modifications of the theropod bauplan. Non-avian maniraptoran theropods, such as …

[HTML][HTML] Evolution of the avian eggshell biomineralization protein toolkit–new insights from multi-omics

N Le Roy, L Stapane, J Gautron, MT Hincke - Frontiers in Genetics, 2021 - frontiersin.org
The avian eggshell is a remarkable biomineral, which is essential for avian reproduction; its
properties permit embryonic development in the desiccating terrestrial environment, and …

Phylogenetic and physiological signals in metazoan fossil biomolecules

J Wiemann, JM Crawford, DEG Briggs - Science Advances, 2020 - science.org
Proteins, lipids, and sugars establish animal form and function. However, the preservation of
biological signals in fossil organic matter is poorly understood. Here, we used high …

[HTML][HTML] An exquisitely preserved in-ovo theropod dinosaur embryo sheds light on avian-like prehatching postures

L Xing, K Niu, W Ma, DK Zelenitsky, TR Yang… - Iscience, 2022 - cell.com
Despite the discovery of many dinosaur eggs and nests over the past 100 years, articulated
in-ovo embryos are remarkably rare. Here we report an exceptionally preserved, articulated …

Pushing Raman spectroscopy over the edge: purported signatures of organic molecules in fossil animals are instrumental artefacts

J Alleon, G Montagnac, B Reynard, T Brulé… - …, 2021 - Wiley Online Library
Widespread preservation of fossilized biomolecules in many fossil animals has recently
been reported in six studies, based on Raman microspectroscopy. Here, we show that the …

[HTML][HTML] Extended embryo retention and viviparity in the first amniotes

B Jiang, Y He, A Elsler, S Wang, JN Keating… - Nature Ecology & …, 2023 - nature.com
The amniotic egg with its complex fetal membranes was a key innovation in vertebrate
evolution that enabled the great diversification of reptiles, birds and mammals. It is debated …