Abstract
Dinosaurs thrived and reproduced in various regions worldwide, including the Arctic. In order to understand their nesting in diverse or extreme environments, the relationships between nests, nesting environments, and incubation methods in extant archosaurs were investigated. Statistical analyses reveal that species of extant covered nesters (i.e., crocodylians and megapodes) preferentially select specific sediments/substrates as a function of their nesting style and incubation heat sources. Relationships between dinosaur eggs and the sediments in which they occur reveal that hadrosaurs and some sauropods (i.e., megaloolithid eggs) built organic-rich mound nests that relied on microbial decay for incubation, whereas other sauropods (i.e., faveoloolithid eggs) built sandy in-filled hole nests that relied on solar or potentially geothermal heat for incubation. Paleogeographic distribution of mound nests and sandy in-filled hole nests in dinosaurs reveals these nest types produced sufficient incubation heat to be successful up to mid latitudes (≤47°), 10° higher than covered nesters today. However, only mound nesting and likely brooding could have produced sufficient incubation heat for nesting above the polar circle (>66°). As a result, differences in nesting styles may have placed restrictions on the reproduction of dinosaurs and their dispersal at high latitudes.
Highlights
Dinosaurs nested in a variety of regions and environments as indicated by the geologic and paleogeographic occurrences of their egg remains worldwide[1,2,3]
Paired-samples T-tests revealed that nest temperature derived from both microbial respiration and solar radiation is significantly different from ambient air temperature (t = 7.26, d.f. = 16, p < 0.01 for nests that derive heat from microbial respiration and t = 3.93, d.f. = 8, p < 0.01 for nests that derive heat from solar radiation)
We have statistically shown that species that build mound nests preferentially use plant materials or soil[13,15], whereas those that utilize in-filled hole nests preferentially build in sand[17,18,19,20]
Summary
Dinosaurs nested in a variety of regions and environments as indicated by the geologic and paleogeographic occurrences of their egg remains worldwide[1,2,3]. With egg remains recovered from low (18°) to high (up to 77°) paleolatitudes[2,4], this range indicates that dinosaurs successfully incubated their eggs in various climates, presumably using brooding behaviors or various styles of nests like living archosaurs (i.e., crocodylians and birds). Covered nesters (i.e., crocodylians and megapode birds), for which the eggs are enclosed in nest materials during incubation, are presumably restricted to nesting at low latitudes (≤37°) because, in part, they rely on heat sources like solar radiation for incubation[5,6]. Covered nesting appears to have been a common behavior among non-avian dinosaurs, for taxa outside of maniraptoran theropods[7,8,9,10,11] These dinosaurs likely used either in-filled holes in sand or mound nests consisting of organic nest materials to incubate their eggs as in living crocodylians and megapodes. Paleolatitudinal occurrences of nesting sites among non-avian dinosaurs are examined in order to infer how dinosaurs nested at various latitudes, including in the Arctic region
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