Rapid neck elongation in Sauropterygia (Reptilia: Diapsida) revealed by a new basal pachypleurosaur from the Lower Triassic of China.
BMC Ecol Evol
; 23(1): 44, 2023 08 31.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37648992
ABSTRACT
Neck elongation has appeared independently in several tetrapod groups, including giraffes and sauropod dinosaurs on land, birds and pterosaurs in the air, and sauropterygians (plesiosaurs and relatives) in the oceans. Long necks arose in Early Triassic sauropterygians, but the nature and rate of that elongation has not been documented. Here, we report a new species of pachypleurosaurid sauropterygian, Chusaurus xiangensis gen. et sp. nov., based on two new specimens from the Early Triassic Nanzhang-Yuan'an Fauna in the South China Block. The new species shows key features of its Middle Triassic relatives, but has a relatively short neck, measuring 0.48 of the trunk length, compared to > 0.8 from the Middle Triassic onwards. Comparative phylogenetic analysis shows that neck elongation occurred rapidly in all Triassic eosauropterygian lineages, probably driven by feeding pressure in a time of rapid re-establishment of new kinds of marine ecosystems.
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Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Dinossauros
Limite:
Animals
País/Região como assunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BMC Ecol Evol
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article