Evolution: how dinosaurs dominated the Earth (Evolution)

by David Turell , Wednesday, November 27, 2024, 19:33 (3 hours, 6 minutes ago) @ David Turell

A study of dinosaur poop and vomit:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03889-y

"Faeces and vomit fossils from dinosaurs reveal how evolved dinosaurs to rule Earth. The study, which was published in Nature on 27 November, analysed hundreds of pieces of fossilized digestive material, called bromalites, to reconstruct what dinosaurs ate and how this changed1. The fossils reveal that the rise of the dinosaurs, over millions of years during the Triassic period, was influenced by factors including climate change and other species’ extinction.

***

"Analysis of the digestive materials allowed the researchers to “reconstruct these food webs, so who was eating whom in all these assemblages and see this trend over such a long period of time”, Qvarnström says.

***

"The team found that the number and variety of the contents of the fossils increased over time, suggesting that larger dinosaurs with more diverse feeding habits began to gain prominence in the late Triassic period (between 237 million and 201 million years ago). By comparing the fossils with plant data from the period, the researchers found that dinosaurs’ rise was shaped by chance and by adaptations. For example, climate change led to increased humidity, which changed the vegetation available. Dinosaurs were able to better adapt to this shifting climate and change in diet than other land animals.

***

“'What we learnt was that the rise of dinosaurs, it took quite a long time, and it was really complex,” says Qvarnström.

"This is “an impressive piece of work”, says Suresh Singh, who studies palaeoecological dynamics at the University of Bristol, UK. He adds that this is the first time he’s seen bromalite-focused research applied at such scale.

"Singh says dinosaurs are an important source of data for understanding of how life responds to different pressures, for example climate change."

Comment. the dinosaurs were around for a very long period, matching the Trilobites. Our current period is very small in comparison. However we will hopefully match them.