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This is actually a re-write of a previous blog post that got lost in the void of cyberspace when I clicked the “save” button.
Needless to say, I’m not feeling as driven to write everything all over again. As such, I’m just going to touch on the highlights.
I’ve been in internet connection hell for the past 2 weeks, so I’m a bit behind on the reptile news. This latest one comes from about a week ago.
Study finds that dinosaurs had sex as youths.
A study by Gregory Erickson and colleagues has found that dinosaurs did not wait until they were fully grown up, before engaging in sex.
Though the finding is touted as a surprise, the reality is far from that. The scientists in question studied the bone microstructure of 7 theropods that were found near eggs (therefore, expected to be the parents of said eggs). These theropods were also of close relation to birds (clades: Oviraptorosauria and Deinonychosauria). What they found was that a members of each clade showed signs that they were still growing while watching their eggs.
In the grand scheme of things, this is not surprising. Sexual maturity hits reptiles, mammals, fish and amphibians before full body size is achieved. It is often represented as a time when maximal growth rate ends (as resources get diverted to egg/sperm production).
The only exceptions to this rule are Avians. Birds reach full adult size extremely fast (1 year, or less for most species). Sexual maturity trails way behind at 2-4 years in many of the larger animals. The reasoning behind this is due to the mechanical limitations of flight in birds. The musculature required to sustain flight, is not available in birds until they reach adult size. As flight is the main means of escape from predators, it behooves birds to reach flight status as quick as possible.
Well, needless to say, few dinosaurs flew (Microraptor gui being the only example I can think of), so the pressure to hit adult size was just not there for dinosaurs.
In the end this report can be filed under: Assumed and Now Validated.
This finding, along with many other findings over the past couple of years just helps to remind us that birds evolved from dinosaurs; not the other way around.
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Reference
Erickson, G.M., Curry Rogers, K., Varricchio, D.J., Norell, M.A., Xu, X. 2007. Growth Patterns in Brooding Dinosaurs Reveals the Timing of Sexual Maturity in Non-Avian Dinosaurs and Genesis of the Avian Condition. Biology Letters Published Online. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0254
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