The locomotor ecomorphology of Mesozoic marine reptiles

Susana Gutarra; Thomas L. Stubbs; Benjamin C. Moon; Beatrice H. Heighton; Michael J. Benton

doi:10.1111/pala.12645

The locomotor ecomorphology of Mesozoic marine reptiles

Susana Gutarra^*
, Thomas L. Stubbs
, Benjamin C. Moon
, Beatrice H. Heighton
, Michael J. Benton

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction provided ecological opportunities for many groups of reptiles, marking the beginning of reptile dominance of the Mesozoic oceans. Clades such as ichthyosaurs, thalattosuchians, sauropterygians, mosasaurs and turtles evolved a remarkable diversity of ecological niches and became important components of aquatic ecosystems. Locomotion is a key aspect of ecology, crucial for many biological functions such as foraging and migration. However, the evolution of locomotory adaptations across all Mesozoic marine reptiles remains poorly understood. Here we present multivariate and disparity analyses based on body proportions, body size and post-cranial proxies for locomotion in 125 species of Mesozoic marine reptiles. Our analysis highlights key anatomical transformations in the evolution of swimming modes, characterizing two divergent evolutionary paths in the transition from drag-based to lift-based propulsion in both the axial and appendicular spectrum. Analyses against geological time do not show evidence for an explosive radiation after the end-Permian extinction, pointing instead to a gradual increase in locomotory disparity during the whole Mesozoic, which reached the highest levels in the Cretaceous. Our analysis also provides insight into the evolution of locomotion in particular clades. Some notable findings are the high aquatic specialization in the earliest ichthyosauromorphs and the morphospace overlap between mosasauroids and ichthyosauromorphs.

Original language	English
Article number	e12645
Journal	Palaeontology
Volume	66
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12645
Publication status	Published - 1 Mar 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank curators, researchers and staff of various museums and institutions for facilitating the access to fossil specimens: Erin Maxwell, Alexander Kupfer, Christiane Zeitler, Stefan Merker, and Cartsten Leidenroth (Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Germany); Ingmar Werneburg and Henrik Stöhr (Palaeontological Collection in Tübingen, Germany); Juliane Hinz (Institut für Geowissenschaften Abt. Biogeologie in Tübingen, Germany); Christian Klug and Torsten Scheyer, (Paläontologisches Institut und Museum of Zurich University, Switzerland); Cristiano Dal Sasso and Gabriele Bindellini (Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano, Italy); Hilary Ketchum and Eliza Howlett (Oxford University Museum of Natural History, UK); Caroline Buttler (National Museum of Wales, UK); Daniela Schwarz (Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany). We are also grateful to the following for providing photographic material: Steve Zhang (University of Bristol); Qi Zhao (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, China); Darrin Pagnac and Kayleigh Johnson (Department of Geology of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, USA); Emily Bamforth and Ryan McKellar (Royal Sasketchawan Museum, Canada); Fabio Bona (Museo Civico dei Fossili di Besano, Italy); Yves Laurent (Musée d'Histoire naturelle, Toulouse, France); Sven Sachs (Naturkunde‐Museum Bielefeld, Germany); Hans‐Volker Karl (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany); Mike Everhart and Laura E. Wilson (Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, USA); María E. Páramo Fonseca (Universidad Nacional de Colombia); Oliver Hampe (Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany) and Jamie McLaren (Université de Liege, Belgium). We also thank Imran Rahman, Colin Palmer and Stephan Lautenschlager for comments and suggestions on an early version of this manuscript, and to Alexandra Houssaye, an anonymous reviewer and editors Laura Porro and Sally Thomas for their valuable contributions to improving this paper. SG was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council and the GW4+DTP (grant no. NE/L002434/1), with additional support from CASE partner National Museum of Wales; BCM and TLS are funded by NERC grant NE/P013724/1 and M.J.B by ERC grant 788203 (INNOVATION).

Funding Information:
We thank curators, researchers and staff of various museums and institutions for facilitating the access to fossil specimens: Erin Maxwell, Alexander Kupfer, Christiane Zeitler, Stefan Merker, and Cartsten Leidenroth (Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Germany); Ingmar Werneburg and Henrik Stöhr (Palaeontological Collection in Tübingen, Germany); Juliane Hinz (Institut für Geowissenschaften Abt. Biogeologie in Tübingen, Germany); Christian Klug and Torsten Scheyer, (Paläontologisches Institut und Museum of Zurich University, Switzerland); Cristiano Dal Sasso and Gabriele Bindellini (Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano, Italy); Hilary Ketchum and Eliza Howlett (Oxford University Museum of Natural History, UK); Caroline Buttler (National Museum of Wales, UK); Daniela Schwarz (Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany). We are also grateful to the following for providing photographic material: Steve Zhang (University of Bristol); Qi Zhao (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, China); Darrin Pagnac and Kayleigh Johnson (Department of Geology of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, USA); Emily Bamforth and Ryan McKellar (Royal Sasketchawan Museum, Canada); Fabio Bona (Museo Civico dei Fossili di Besano, Italy); Yves Laurent (Musée d'Histoire naturelle, Toulouse, France); Sven Sachs (Naturkunde-Museum Bielefeld, Germany); Hans-Volker Karl (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany); Mike Everhart and Laura E. Wilson (Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, USA); María E. Páramo Fonseca (Universidad Nacional de Colombia); Oliver Hampe (Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany) and Jamie McLaren (Université de Liege, Belgium). We also thank Imran Rahman, Colin Palmer and Stephan Lautenschlager for comments and suggestions on an early version of this manuscript, and to Alexandra Houssaye, an anonymous reviewer and editors Laura Porro and Sally Thomas for their valuable contributions to improving this paper. SG was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council and the GW4+DTP (grant no. NE/L002434/1), with additional support from CASE partner National Museum of Wales; BCM and TLS are funded by NERC grant NE/P013724/1 and M.J.B by ERC grant 788203 (INNOVATION).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Palaeontology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Palaeontological Association.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 14 Life Below Water

Keywords

aquatic tetrapod
disparity
locomotion
locomotory morphospace
marine reptile
Mesozoic

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10.1111/pala.12645Licence: CC BY

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Cite this

@article{51c0b156b162482f802fe46fcefc87fa,

title = "The locomotor ecomorphology of Mesozoic marine reptiles",

abstract = "The aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction provided ecological opportunities for many groups of reptiles, marking the beginning of reptile dominance of the Mesozoic oceans. Clades such as ichthyosaurs, thalattosuchians, sauropterygians, mosasaurs and turtles evolved a remarkable diversity of ecological niches and became important components of aquatic ecosystems. Locomotion is a key aspect of ecology, crucial for many biological functions such as foraging and migration. However, the evolution of locomotory adaptations across all Mesozoic marine reptiles remains poorly understood. Here we present multivariate and disparity analyses based on body proportions, body size and post-cranial proxies for locomotion in 125 species of Mesozoic marine reptiles. Our analysis highlights key anatomical transformations in the evolution of swimming modes, characterizing two divergent evolutionary paths in the transition from drag-based to lift-based propulsion in both the axial and appendicular spectrum. Analyses against geological time do not show evidence for an explosive radiation after the end-Permian extinction, pointing instead to a gradual increase in locomotory disparity during the whole Mesozoic, which reached the highest levels in the Cretaceous. Our analysis also provides insight into the evolution of locomotion in particular clades. Some notable findings are the high aquatic specialization in the earliest ichthyosauromorphs and the morphospace overlap between mosasauroids and ichthyosauromorphs.",

keywords = "aquatic tetrapod, disparity, locomotion, locomotory morphospace, marine reptile, Mesozoic",

author = "Susana Gutarra and Stubbs, \{Thomas L.\} and Moon, \{Benjamin C.\} and Heighton, \{Beatrice H.\} and Benton, \{Michael J.\}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank curators, researchers and staff of various museums and institutions for facilitating the access to fossil specimens: Erin Maxwell, Alexander Kupfer, Christiane Zeitler, Stefan Merker, and Cartsten Leidenroth (Staatliches Museum f{\"u}r Naturkunde Stuttgart, Germany); Ingmar Werneburg and Henrik St{\"o}hr (Palaeontological Collection in T{\"u}bingen, Germany); Juliane Hinz (Institut f{\"u}r Geowissenschaften Abt. Biogeologie in T{\"u}bingen, Germany); Christian Klug and Torsten Scheyer, (Pal{\"a}ontologisches Institut und Museum of Zurich University, Switzerland); Cristiano Dal Sasso and Gabriele Bindellini (Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano, Italy); Hilary Ketchum and Eliza Howlett (Oxford University Museum of Natural History, UK); Caroline Buttler (National Museum of Wales, UK); Daniela Schwarz (Museum f{\"u}r Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany). We are also grateful to the following for providing photographic material: Steve Zhang (University of Bristol); Qi Zhao (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, China); Darrin Pagnac and Kayleigh Johnson (Department of Geology of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, USA); Emily Bamforth and Ryan McKellar (Royal Sasketchawan Museum, Canada); Fabio Bona (Museo Civico dei Fossili di Besano, Italy); Yves Laurent (Mus{\'e}e d'Histoire naturelle, Toulouse, France); Sven Sachs (Naturkunde‐Museum Bielefeld, Germany); Hans‐Volker Karl (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany); Mike Everhart and Laura E. Wilson (Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, USA); Mar{\'i}a E. P{\'a}ramo Fonseca (Universidad Nacional de Colombia); Oliver Hampe (Museum f{\"u}r Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany) and Jamie McLaren (Universit{\'e} de Liege, Belgium). We also thank Imran Rahman, Colin Palmer and Stephan Lautenschlager for comments and suggestions on an early version of this manuscript, and to Alexandra Houssaye, an anonymous reviewer and editors Laura Porro and Sally Thomas for their valuable contributions to improving this paper. SG was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council and the GW4+DTP (grant no. NE/L002434/1), with additional support from CASE partner National Museum of Wales; BCM and TLS are funded by NERC grant NE/P013724/1 and M.J.B by ERC grant 788203 (INNOVATION). Funding Information: We thank curators, researchers and staff of various museums and institutions for facilitating the access to fossil specimens: Erin Maxwell, Alexander Kupfer, Christiane Zeitler, Stefan Merker, and Cartsten Leidenroth (Staatliches Museum f{\"u}r Naturkunde Stuttgart, Germany); Ingmar Werneburg and Henrik St{\"o}hr (Palaeontological Collection in T{\"u}bingen, Germany); Juliane Hinz (Institut f{\"u}r Geowissenschaften Abt. Biogeologie in T{\"u}bingen, Germany); Christian Klug and Torsten Scheyer, (Pal{\"a}ontologisches Institut und Museum of Zurich University, Switzerland); Cristiano Dal Sasso and Gabriele Bindellini (Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano, Italy); Hilary Ketchum and Eliza Howlett (Oxford University Museum of Natural History, UK); Caroline Buttler (National Museum of Wales, UK); Daniela Schwarz (Museum f{\"u}r Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany). We are also grateful to the following for providing photographic material: Steve Zhang (University of Bristol); Qi Zhao (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, China); Darrin Pagnac and Kayleigh Johnson (Department of Geology of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, USA); Emily Bamforth and Ryan McKellar (Royal Sasketchawan Museum, Canada); Fabio Bona (Museo Civico dei Fossili di Besano, Italy); Yves Laurent (Mus{\'e}e d'Histoire naturelle, Toulouse, France); Sven Sachs (Naturkunde-Museum Bielefeld, Germany); Hans-Volker Karl (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany); Mike Everhart and Laura E. Wilson (Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, USA); Mar{\'i}a E. P{\'a}ramo Fonseca (Universidad Nacional de Colombia); Oliver Hampe (Museum f{\"u}r Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany) and Jamie McLaren (Universit{\'e} de Liege, Belgium). We also thank Imran Rahman, Colin Palmer and Stephan Lautenschlager for comments and suggestions on an early version of this manuscript, and to Alexandra Houssaye, an anonymous reviewer and editors Laura Porro and Sally Thomas for their valuable contributions to improving this paper. SG was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council and the GW4+DTP (grant no. NE/L002434/1), with additional support from CASE partner National Museum of Wales; BCM and TLS are funded by NERC grant NE/P013724/1 and M.J.B by ERC grant 788203 (INNOVATION). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors. Palaeontology published by John Wiley \& Sons Ltd on behalf of The Palaeontological Association.",

year = "2023",

month = mar,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1111/pala.12645",

language = "English",

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T1 - The locomotor ecomorphology of Mesozoic marine reptiles

AU - Gutarra, Susana

AU - Stubbs, Thomas L.

AU - Moon, Benjamin C.

AU - Heighton, Beatrice H.

AU - Benton, Michael J.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank curators, researchers and staff of various museums and institutions for facilitating the access to fossil specimens: Erin Maxwell, Alexander Kupfer, Christiane Zeitler, Stefan Merker, and Cartsten Leidenroth (Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Germany); Ingmar Werneburg and Henrik Stöhr (Palaeontological Collection in Tübingen, Germany); Juliane Hinz (Institut für Geowissenschaften Abt. Biogeologie in Tübingen, Germany); Christian Klug and Torsten Scheyer, (Paläontologisches Institut und Museum of Zurich University, Switzerland); Cristiano Dal Sasso and Gabriele Bindellini (Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano, Italy); Hilary Ketchum and Eliza Howlett (Oxford University Museum of Natural History, UK); Caroline Buttler (National Museum of Wales, UK); Daniela Schwarz (Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany). We are also grateful to the following for providing photographic material: Steve Zhang (University of Bristol); Qi Zhao (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, China); Darrin Pagnac and Kayleigh Johnson (Department of Geology of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, USA); Emily Bamforth and Ryan McKellar (Royal Sasketchawan Museum, Canada); Fabio Bona (Museo Civico dei Fossili di Besano, Italy); Yves Laurent (Musée d'Histoire naturelle, Toulouse, France); Sven Sachs (Naturkunde‐Museum Bielefeld, Germany); Hans‐Volker Karl (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany); Mike Everhart and Laura E. Wilson (Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, USA); María E. Páramo Fonseca (Universidad Nacional de Colombia); Oliver Hampe (Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany) and Jamie McLaren (Université de Liege, Belgium). We also thank Imran Rahman, Colin Palmer and Stephan Lautenschlager for comments and suggestions on an early version of this manuscript, and to Alexandra Houssaye, an anonymous reviewer and editors Laura Porro and Sally Thomas for their valuable contributions to improving this paper. SG was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council and the GW4+DTP (grant no. NE/L002434/1), with additional support from CASE partner National Museum of Wales; BCM and TLS are funded by NERC grant NE/P013724/1 and M.J.B by ERC grant 788203 (INNOVATION). Funding Information: We thank curators, researchers and staff of various museums and institutions for facilitating the access to fossil specimens: Erin Maxwell, Alexander Kupfer, Christiane Zeitler, Stefan Merker, and Cartsten Leidenroth (Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Germany); Ingmar Werneburg and Henrik Stöhr (Palaeontological Collection in Tübingen, Germany); Juliane Hinz (Institut für Geowissenschaften Abt. Biogeologie in Tübingen, Germany); Christian Klug and Torsten Scheyer, (Paläontologisches Institut und Museum of Zurich University, Switzerland); Cristiano Dal Sasso and Gabriele Bindellini (Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano, Italy); Hilary Ketchum and Eliza Howlett (Oxford University Museum of Natural History, UK); Caroline Buttler (National Museum of Wales, UK); Daniela Schwarz (Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany). We are also grateful to the following for providing photographic material: Steve Zhang (University of Bristol); Qi Zhao (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, China); Darrin Pagnac and Kayleigh Johnson (Department of Geology of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, USA); Emily Bamforth and Ryan McKellar (Royal Sasketchawan Museum, Canada); Fabio Bona (Museo Civico dei Fossili di Besano, Italy); Yves Laurent (Musée d'Histoire naturelle, Toulouse, France); Sven Sachs (Naturkunde-Museum Bielefeld, Germany); Hans-Volker Karl (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany); Mike Everhart and Laura E. Wilson (Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, USA); María E. Páramo Fonseca (Universidad Nacional de Colombia); Oliver Hampe (Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany) and Jamie McLaren (Université de Liege, Belgium). We also thank Imran Rahman, Colin Palmer and Stephan Lautenschlager for comments and suggestions on an early version of this manuscript, and to Alexandra Houssaye, an anonymous reviewer and editors Laura Porro and Sally Thomas for their valuable contributions to improving this paper. SG was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council and the GW4+DTP (grant no. NE/L002434/1), with additional support from CASE partner National Museum of Wales; BCM and TLS are funded by NERC grant NE/P013724/1 and M.J.B by ERC grant 788203 (INNOVATION). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Palaeontology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Palaeontological Association.

PY - 2023/3/1

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N2 - The aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction provided ecological opportunities for many groups of reptiles, marking the beginning of reptile dominance of the Mesozoic oceans. Clades such as ichthyosaurs, thalattosuchians, sauropterygians, mosasaurs and turtles evolved a remarkable diversity of ecological niches and became important components of aquatic ecosystems. Locomotion is a key aspect of ecology, crucial for many biological functions such as foraging and migration. However, the evolution of locomotory adaptations across all Mesozoic marine reptiles remains poorly understood. Here we present multivariate and disparity analyses based on body proportions, body size and post-cranial proxies for locomotion in 125 species of Mesozoic marine reptiles. Our analysis highlights key anatomical transformations in the evolution of swimming modes, characterizing two divergent evolutionary paths in the transition from drag-based to lift-based propulsion in both the axial and appendicular spectrum. Analyses against geological time do not show evidence for an explosive radiation after the end-Permian extinction, pointing instead to a gradual increase in locomotory disparity during the whole Mesozoic, which reached the highest levels in the Cretaceous. Our analysis also provides insight into the evolution of locomotion in particular clades. Some notable findings are the high aquatic specialization in the earliest ichthyosauromorphs and the morphospace overlap between mosasauroids and ichthyosauromorphs.

AB - The aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction provided ecological opportunities for many groups of reptiles, marking the beginning of reptile dominance of the Mesozoic oceans. Clades such as ichthyosaurs, thalattosuchians, sauropterygians, mosasaurs and turtles evolved a remarkable diversity of ecological niches and became important components of aquatic ecosystems. Locomotion is a key aspect of ecology, crucial for many biological functions such as foraging and migration. However, the evolution of locomotory adaptations across all Mesozoic marine reptiles remains poorly understood. Here we present multivariate and disparity analyses based on body proportions, body size and post-cranial proxies for locomotion in 125 species of Mesozoic marine reptiles. Our analysis highlights key anatomical transformations in the evolution of swimming modes, characterizing two divergent evolutionary paths in the transition from drag-based to lift-based propulsion in both the axial and appendicular spectrum. Analyses against geological time do not show evidence for an explosive radiation after the end-Permian extinction, pointing instead to a gradual increase in locomotory disparity during the whole Mesozoic, which reached the highest levels in the Cretaceous. Our analysis also provides insight into the evolution of locomotion in particular clades. Some notable findings are the high aquatic specialization in the earliest ichthyosauromorphs and the morphospace overlap between mosasauroids and ichthyosauromorphs.

KW - aquatic tetrapod

KW - disparity

KW - locomotion

KW - locomotory morphospace

KW - marine reptile

KW - Mesozoic

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U2 - 10.1111/pala.12645

DO - 10.1111/pala.12645

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

AN - SCOPUS:85153714131

SN - 0031-0239

VL - 66

JO - Palaeontology

JF - Palaeontology

IS - 2

M1 - e12645

ER -

The locomotor ecomorphology of Mesozoic marine reptiles

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

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Cite this

The locomotor ecomorphology of Mesozoic marine reptiles

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Handle.net

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Equipment

HPC (High Performance Computing) and HTC (High Throughput Computing) Facilities

Cite this