Nanuqsaurus, standing in the background, and pachyrhinosaurus, skull in the foreground, were amongst the dinosaur species included in a new research study led by scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Reading that casts doubt on Bergmanns rule. Credit: James HavensWhen you toss dinosaurs into the mix, sometimes you discover that a guideline just isnt. A brand-new study led by researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Reading calls into question Bergmanns guideline, an 1800s-era clinical principle stating that animals in high-latitude, cooler environments tend to be larger than close relatives residing in warmer climates.The fossil record shows otherwise.” Our study shows that the advancement of diverse body sizes in mammals and dinosaurs can not be reduced to simply being a function of latitude or temperature level,” stated Lauren Wilson, a UAF college student and a lead author of a paper published in the journal Nature Communications. “We discovered that Bergmanns rule is just relevant to a subset of homeothermic animals (those that keep stable body temperature levels), and just when you consider temperature level, ignoring all other weather variables. This suggests that Bergmanns rule is really the exception instead of the guideline.” Examination of Bergmanns Rule in Dinosaurs and Modern SpeciesThe study started as an easy concern Wilson gone over with her undergraduate consultant: Does Bergmanns guideline use to dinosaurs?After examining hundreds of information points obtained from the fossil record, the answer seemed a solid “no.” The dataset consisted of the northernmost dinosaurs known to scientists, those in Alaskas Prince Creek Formation. They experienced freezing temperature levels and snowfall. In spite of this, the scientists found no significant increase in body size for any of the Arctic dinosaurs.Next the researchers tried the same assessment with contemporary mammals and birds, the descendants of ancient mammals and dinosaurs. The results were mainly the exact same: Latitude was not a predictor of body size in contemporary bird and mammal species. There was a small relationship between the body size of modern-day birds and temperature, but the same was not the case for ancient birds.The researchers state the research study is a fine example of how researchers can and ought to utilize the fossil record to evaluate current-day clinical guidelines and hypotheses.” The fossil record offers a window into totally various communities and environment conditions, enabling us to evaluate the applicability of these ecological rules in an entire brand-new way,” stated Jacob Gardner, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Reading and the other lead author of the paper.Scientific rules must apply to fossil organisms in the same way they do modern-day organisms, stated Pat Druckenmiller, director of the University of Alaska Museum of the North and among the co-authors of the paper.” You cant understand modern environments if you neglect their evolutionary roots,” he stated. “You need to aim to the past to comprehend how things became what they are today.” Reference: “Global latitudinal gradients and the evolution of body size 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.
Nanuqsaurus, standing in the background, and pachyrhinosaurus, skull in the foreground, were among the dinosaur species included in a new research study led by scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Reading that calls into question Bergmanns rule.” Examination of Bergmanns Rule in Dinosaurs and Modern SpeciesThe research study started as an easy concern Wilson gone over with her undergraduate advisor: Does Bergmanns guideline apply to dinosaurs?After evaluating hundreds of information points obtained from the fossil record, the response seemed a solid “no.” The fossil record provides a window into completely different communities and environment conditions, enabling us to assess the applicability of these environmental rules in a whole brand-new way,” said Jacob Gardner, a postdoctoral scientist at the University of Reading and the other lead author of the paper.Scientific rules must apply to fossil organisms in the same way they do modern organisms, said Pat Druckenmiller, director of the University of Alaska Museum of the North and one of the co-authors of the paper.