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Evolution of dinosaur epidermal structures.

Paul M Barrett1, David C Evans2, Nicolás E Campione3

  • 1Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK p.barrett@nhm.ac.uk.

Biology Letters
|June 5, 2015
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Most dinosaurs likely did not inherit complex feather-like structures from their common ancestor. Scales, not protofeathers, were likely the ancestral dinosaur skin covering, with filamentous structures evolving independently in some groups.

Keywords:
Dinosauriafeathersintegumentphylogenyscales

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Area of Science:

  • Paleontology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Dinosaurian Integument

Background:

  • Exceptional preservation of non-avian dinosaurs reveals integumentary filaments/feathers, suggesting a feathered dinosaur common ancestor.
  • This hypothesis significantly impacts understanding dinosaur biology but lacks rigorous testing.
  • Feather-like structures in dinosaurs are a key area of evolutionary research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To rigorously test the hypothesis that the dinosaur common ancestor possessed complex integumentary structures homologous to feathers.
  • To reconstruct the phylogenetic distribution and evolutionary history of epidermal structures in dinosaurs.

Main Methods:

  • Compilation of a comprehensive database of dinosaur skin traces.
  • Application of maximum-likelihood methods for phylogenetic analysis.
  • Reconstruction of the evolutionary history of integumentary structures.

Main Results:

  • Most analyses found no compelling evidence for protofeathers in the dinosaur common ancestor.
  • Scales were typically recovered as the plesiomorphic (ancestral) epidermal state.
  • Results were sensitive to the outgroup condition, specifically pterosaurs.

Conclusions:

  • The hypothesis of a feathered dinosaur common ancestor is not strongly supported by current data.
  • Filamentous integument in ornithischians may represent independent evolutionary acquisitions, not homologous to theropod feathers.
  • Further research is needed to clarify the evolutionary origins of dinosaur integument.