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Macroevolutionary trends in the Dinosauria: Cope's rule.

D W E Hone1, T M Keesey, D Pisani

  • 1Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK. david.hone@bristol.ac.uk

Journal of Evolutionary Biology
|April 22, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Cope's rule, the tendency for body size to increase over evolutionary time, was observed in dinosaurs. Later dinosaur genera were approximately 25% larger than earlier ones, supporting this evolutionary trend.

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Area of Science:

  • Paleontology
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • Cope's rule describes the general tendency for body size to increase within a lineage over evolutionary time.
  • Understanding evolutionary trends like Cope's rule provides insights into macroevolutionary patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the applicability of Cope's rule in dinosaurs.
  • To quantify the rate of body size change in dinosaur lineages.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized 65 phylogenetically independent comparisons between earlier and later dinosaur genera.
  • Analyzed body size changes across different dinosaur clades and time periods.

Main Results:

  • Demonstrated that Cope's rule applied to dinosaurs, with later genera averaging 25% longer than earlier genera.

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  • Observed that smaller lineages were more prone to size increase, while larger lineages tended to decrease in size.
  • The estimated rate of size increase within lineages was significantly higher than the overall faunal rate.

    • Conclusions:

    • Cope's rule is a significant evolutionary trend in dinosaurs.
    • The discrepancy between within-lineage and faunal rates suggests potential opposing selective pressures (e.g., within-lineage selection for larger size vs. clade selection for smaller size).
    • Phylogenetic analyses are crucial for understanding the dynamics of evolutionary trends.