Abstract
The view of spinosaurs as dinosaurs of semi-aquatic habits and strongly associated with marginal and coastal habitats are deeply rooted in both scientific and popular knowledge, but it was never statistically tested. Inspired by a previous analysis of other dinosaur clades and major paleoenvironmental categories, here we present our own statistical evaluation of the association between coastal and terrestrial paleoenvironments and spinosaurids, along with other two theropod taxa: abelisaurids and carcharodontosaurids. We also included a taphonomic perspective and classified the occurrences in categories related to potential biases in order to better address our interpretations. Our main results can be summarized as follows: 1) the taxon with the largest amount of statistical evidence showing it positively associated to coastal paleoenvironments is Spinosauridae; 2) abelisaurids and carcharodontosaurids had more statistical evidence showing them positively associated with terrestrial paleoenvironments; 3) it is likely that spinosaurids also occupied spatially inland areas in a way somehow comparable at least to carcharodontosaurids; 4) abelisaurids may have been more common than the other two taxa in inland habitats.
Highlights
Paleontology, as a science which deals with ancient life, was never solely a descriptive activity; some attempts to “resurrect” extinct organisms can be found since its earliest days. This task must rely on empirical evidence, comparisons with modern analogues, and biomechanical modeling [1], along with methodological frameworks, like the Extant Phylogenetic Bracket [2], and new technologies, like computed tomography and isotopic analyses [3,4,5,6,7,8]
The Chi-square tests were used to identify associations between clades and paleoenvironments. They were able to corroborate previous hypotheses of overrepresentation of nodosaurid ankylosaurs and hadrosaurid ornithopods in marine sediments [12, 13], whilst they found that marginocephalians, ankylosaurid ankylosaurs, sauropods, and supposedly herbivorous theropods were positively associated with terrestrial paleoenvironments
All tests for the terrestrial paleoenvironments obtained p-values greater than 0.05, so all of them failed to reject H0 –the faunal composition in terrestrial paleoenvironments did not differ significantly from that predicted by simple probability models
Summary
Paleontology, as a science which deals with ancient life, was never solely a descriptive activity; some attempts to “resurrect” extinct organisms can be found since its earliest days This task must rely on empirical evidence, comparisons with modern analogues, and biomechanical modeling [1], along with methodological frameworks, like the Extant Phylogenetic Bracket [2], and new technologies, like computed tomography and isotopic analyses [3,4,5,6,7,8]. Butler and Barrett [15] designed a simple but logical way of testing the relationships between paleoenvironments and Cretaceous herbivorous dinosaur taxa They first collected occurrence data of all these taxa and classified them by their respective paleoenvironments, i.e., terrestrial, coastal, and marine. They were able to corroborate previous hypotheses of overrepresentation of nodosaurid ankylosaurs and hadrosaurid ornithopods in marine sediments [12, 13], whilst they found that marginocephalians, ankylosaurid ankylosaurs, sauropods, and supposedly herbivorous theropods were positively associated with terrestrial paleoenvironments
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
