Assessing dinosaur growth patterns: a microscopic revolution
Open accessAbstract
Some of the longest standing questions in dinosaur paleontology pertain to their development. Did dinosaurs grow at slow rates similar to extant reptiles or rapidly similar to living birds and mammals? How did some forms attain gigantic proportions? Conversely, how did birds (avian dinosaurs) become miniaturized? New data on dinosaur longevity garnered from bone microstructure (i.e. osteohistology) are making it possible to assess basic life-history parameters of the dinosaurs such as growth rates and timing of developmental events. Analyses of these data in an evolutionary context are enabling the identification of developmental patterns that lead to size changes within the Dinosauria. Furthermore, this rich new database is providing inroads for studying individual and population biology. All in all, paleohistological research is proving to be the most promising avenue towards gaining a comprehensive understanding of dinosaur biology.
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These values are consistent with expectations for outgroup non-avialan dinosaurs of comparable size.
“These values are also consistent with expectations for outgroup non-avialan dinosaurs of comparable size [6].”
From Was Dinosaurian Physiology Inherited by Birds? Reconciling Slow Growth in Archaeopteryx (2009) · cites this paper as [6]
Histological character suites meet expectations for same-sized non-avialan theropods known to mature in no less than two years.
“histological character suites that meet expectations for same-sized non-avialan theropods known to mature in no less than two years [6].”
From Was Dinosaurian Physiology Inherited by Birds? Reconciling Slow Growth in Archaeopteryx (2009) · cites this paper as [6]
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Campione, N. E., & Evans, D. C. (2012) · BMC Biology · doi:10.1186/1741-7007-10-60 · Cited by 475 · see citing works
Was Dinosaurian Physiology Inherited by Birds? Reconciling Slow Growth in Archaeopteryx
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“Evidence for this includes: 1) the finding of exceptionally slow growing bone tissues suggesting prolonged development relative to living birds, 2) estimates that Archaeopteryx somatically matured in no less than 970 days (Figure 9) (there were 375 days in a Late Jurassic year; [37]), 3) growth lines that not only bri…”
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- Authors
- Erickson, G. M.
- Affiliations
- Florida State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Erickson, Gregory M.
- ORCID
- Erickson, Gregory M.
- Venue
- Trends in Ecology & Evolution
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2005-12
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 677-684
- ISSN
- 0169-5347 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2051845578
- Cited by
- 257
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 0.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Locations
- Trends in Ecology & Evolution (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- reroDoc Digital Library (submittedVersion)
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Urology › Comparative Animal Anatomy Studies
- Keywords
- bone histology, bone microarchitecture, developmental timing, gigantism, miniaturization, dinosaur evolution, population biology
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