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Dinosaurian growth patterns and rapid avian growth rates

Nature volume 412, pages 429–433 (2001)Cite this article

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 16 December 2015

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Abstract

Did dinosaurs grow in a manner similar to extant reptiles, mammals or birds, or were they unique1? Are rapid avian growth rates an innovation unique to birds, or were they inherited from dinosaurian precursors2? We quantified growth rates for a group of dinosaurs spanning the phylogenetic and size diversity for the clade and used regression analysis to characterize the results. Here we show that dinosaurs exhibited sigmoidal growth curves similar to those of other vertebrates, but had unique growth rates with respect to body mass. All dinosaurs grew at accelerated rates relative to the primitive condition seen in extant reptiles. Small dinosaurs grew at moderately rapid rates, similar to those of marsupials, but large species attained rates comparable to those of eutherian mammals and precocial birds. Growth in giant sauropods was similar to that of whales of comparable size. Non-avian dinosaurs did not attain rates like those of altricial birds. Avian growth rates were attained in a stepwise fashion after birds diverged from theropod ancestors in the Jurassic period.

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Figure 1: Cladogram for the Dinosauria showing the phylogenetic and size diversity of taxa represented.
Figure 2: Growth curves for a diversity of dinosaurs.
Figure 3: Comparison of exponential-stage growth rates in dinosaurs with typical values for extant vertebrates.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Horner and the staff of the Museum of the Rockies; M. Norell and staff of the American Museum of Natural History; A. Woodward and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; and T. Tumanova, B. Breithaupt, P. Makovicky, M. Sander, D. Varricchio, E. Creech, R. Rogers, B. Erickson and K. Womble. This research was funded by the College of Arts and Sciences and Department of Biological Science of Florida State University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Science and College of Medicine, Florida State University, Tallahassee, 32306-1100, Florida, USA

    Gregory M. Erickson

  2. Science Museum of Minnesota and Macalester College, 120 W. Kellogg Boulevard, St Paul, 55102, Minnesota, USA

    Kristina Curry Rogers

  3. Department of Biomechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, California, USA

    Scott A. Yerby

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  1. Gregory M. Erickson
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  2. Kristina Curry Rogers
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  3. Scott A. Yerby
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Correspondence to Gregory M. Erickson.

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Erickson, G., Rogers, K. & Yerby, S. Dinosaurian growth patterns and rapid avian growth rates. Nature 412, 429–433 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35086558

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