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Biogeography

Big thinking

Nature volume 415, pages 489–491 (2002)Cite this article

Since the demise of the dinosaurs, no land vertebrate has matched them for size. Why? The answer may lie in the particular conditions prevailing in the Cretaceous period.

How does evolution produce giant land vertebrates? One of the prerequisites for making such creatures appears to be the existence of big continents1,2,3. Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, however, Burness et al.4 demonstrate that the largest animals also eat plants and are cold-blooded.

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Figure 1: Why were the biggest dinosaurs so huge?
Figure 2

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM JOHN SIBBICK/NHMPL

References

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  3. Maurer, B. A. et al. Evolution 46, 939–953 (1992).

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  1. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 48823, Michigan, USA

    Brian A. Maurer

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  1. Brian A. Maurer
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Correspondence to Brian A. Maurer.

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Maurer, B. Big thinking. Nature 415, 489–491 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/415489a

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