Topic
Dinosaur behavior
About: Dinosaur behavior is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 11 publications have been published within this topic receiving 225 citations.
Papers
TL;DR: The hypothesis of mammal-like cooperative pack hunting in D. antirrhopus and other nonavian theropods is assessed by examining the behaviors of extant diapsids and it is concluded that this hypothesis is both unparsimonious and unlikely for these taxa and that the null hypothesis should therefore be that nonavIAN theropod dinosaurs were solitary hunters or, at most, foraged in loose associations.
Abstract: Since the 1969 description of Deinonychus antirrhopus Ostrom, cooperative pack hunting behavior for this species and, subsequently, for many other nonavian theropods, has attained wide acceptance. In this paper we assess the hypothesis of mammal-like cooperative pack hunting in D. antirrhopus and other nonavian theropods by examining the behaviors of extant diapsids. Through phylogenetic inference and character optimization, we conclude that this hypothesis is both unparsimonious and unlikely for these taxa and that the null hypothesis should therefore be that nonavian theropod dinosaurs were solitary hunters or, at most, foraged in loose associations. Moreover, we present new evidence from the D. antirrhopus type locality of probable intraspecific aggression in this species. Additionally, our study suggests that some evidence that has previously been proposed in support of highly gregarious, mammal-like behavior in nonavian theropods (e.g., certain theropod-dominated fossil assemblages, preserve...
65 citations
TL;DR: A swimming dinosaur trackway with 12 consecutive footprints from the Early Cretaceous Cameros Basin, La Rioja, Spain has been found in this paper, which strongly suggests a fl oating animal clawing the sediment as it swam.
Abstract: A fundamental question remaining unanswered in dinosaur behavior is whether they had the ability to swim. We report the discovery of an exceptional swimming dinosaur trackway, with 12 consecutive footprints, in lacustrine nearshore sediment from the Early Cretaceous Cameros Basin, La Rioja, Spain. The singular morphology of these footprints strongly suggests a fl oating animal clawing the sediment as it swam. Diagnostic traits of theropod dinosaur footprints are identifi able in these peculiar elongated S-shaped ichnites. Paleoenvironmental reconstruction indicates an upper shoreface setting with a maximum water depth of ~3 m, substantiating the swimming hypothesis. Ichnological analysis of the trackway shows that this theropod used a pelvic paddle motion, similar to that of modern bipeds, and swam with amplifi ed asymmetrical walking movements to maintain direction into a leftward water current. After recent hints of swimming dinosaurs, this new evidence persuasively demonstrates that some non-avian theropod dinosaurs were swimmers.
57 citations
TL;DR: The most plausible alternative interpretation is that the tracks are underprint expressions of brontosaur trackways made during terrestrial progression as mentioned in this paper, which indicates that thin beds of sediment ‘buoy up’ or support animals above underlayers just as effectively as several meters of water.
Abstract: Reevaluation of published information and discussion reveals serious shortcomings in the swimming‐sauropod interpretation proposed by Roland Bird in 1944. The most plausible alternative interpretation is that the tracks are underprint expressions of brontosaur trackways made during terrestrial progression. This circumstance indicates that thin beds of sediment ‘buoy up’ or support animals above underlayers just as effectively as several meters of water. Evidence supporting the underprint interpretation includes footprint depth and completeness, differential manus‐pes size (heteropody) in sauropods, trackway configurations, and the relationship between tracks and sedimentary structures, none of which has been considered in sufficient detail in previous studies. The underprint interpretation also lends support to the theory that brontosaurs were terrestrial and not aquatic in their adaptations, and shows how important it is to interpret footprint evidence with caution.
50 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report five parallel theropod trackways of large track size (average length of 28 cm) in the Cenomanian Candeleros Formation from northwestern Patagonia, Argentina.
26 citations
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TL;DR: The male-only nest care system of some birds may have its evolutionary origins in theropod dinosaur behavior.
Abstract: The male-only nest care system of some birds may have its evolutionary origins in theropod dinosaur behavior
19 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 |
| 2012 | 1 |
| 2008 | 2 |
| 2007 | 2 |
| 2005 | 1 |
| 1999 | 1 |