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Nanuqsaurus, standing within the background, and pachyrhinosaurus, cranium within the foreground, have been among the many dinosaur species included in a brand new research led by scientists on the College of Alaska Fairbanks and the College of Studying that calls into query Bergmann’s rule. Credit score: James Havens
Once you throw dinosaurs into the combination, typically you discover {that a} rule merely isn’t.
A brand new research led by scientists on the College of Alaska Fairbanks and the College of Studying calls into query Bergmann’s rule, an 1800s-era scientific precept stating that animals in high-latitude, cooler climates are typically bigger than shut family dwelling in hotter climates.
The fossil report reveals in any other case.
“Our research reveals that the evolution of various physique sizes in dinosaurs and mammals can’t be diminished to easily being a operate of latitude or temperature,” mentioned Lauren Wilson, a UAF graduate scholar and a lead writer of a paper printed within the journal Nature Communications. “We discovered that Bergmann’s rule is just relevant to a subset of homeothermic animals (people who preserve steady physique temperatures), and solely when you think about temperature, ignoring all different climatic variables. This implies that Bergmann’s ‘rule’ is de facto the exception reasonably than the rule.”
Examination of Bergmann’s Rule in Dinosaurs and Trendy Species
The research began as a easy query Wilson mentioned together with her undergraduate advisor: Does Bergmann’s rule apply to dinosaurs?
After evaluating lots of of knowledge factors gleaned from the fossil report, the reply appeared a stable “no.”
The dataset included the northernmost dinosaurs recognized to scientists, these in Alaska’s Prince Creek Formation. They skilled freezing temperatures and snowfall. Regardless of this, the researchers discovered no notable enhance in physique measurement for any of the Arctic dinosaurs.
Subsequent the researchers tried the identical analysis with fashionable mammals and birds, the descendants of prehistoric mammals and dinosaurs. The outcomes have been largely the identical: Latitude was not a predictor of physique measurement in fashionable chook and mammal species. There was a small relationship between the physique measurement of contemporary birds and temperature, however the identical was not the case for prehistoric birds.
The researchers say the research is an effective instance of how scientists can and may use the fossil report to check current-day scientific guidelines and hypotheses.
“The fossil report offers a window into fully completely different ecosystems and local weather circumstances, permitting us to evaluate the applicability of those ecological guidelines in a complete new means,” mentioned Jacob Gardner, a postdoctoral researcher on the College of Studying and the opposite lead writer of the paper.
Scientific guidelines ought to apply to fossil organisms in the identical means they do fashionable organisms, mentioned Pat Druckenmiller, director of the College of Alaska Museum of the North and one of many co-authors of the paper.
“You’ll be able to’t perceive fashionable ecosystems if you happen to ignore their evolutionary roots,” he mentioned. “It’s a must to look to the previous to grasp how issues grew to become what they’re right now.”
Reference: “International latitudinal gradients and the evolution of physique measurement in dinosaurs and mammals” by Lauren N. Wilson, Jacob D. Gardner, John P. Wilson, Alex Farnsworth, Zackary R. Perry, Patrick S. Druckenmiller, Gregory M. Erickson and Chris L. Organ, 5 April 2024, Nature Communications.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46843-2
