Pelvis morphology suggests that early Mesozoic birds were too heavy to contact incubate their eggs

@article{CharlesDeeming2018PelvisMS,
  title={Pelvis morphology suggests that early Mesozoic birds were too heavy to contact incubate their eggs},
  author={D Charles Deeming and Gerald Mayr},
  journal={Journal of Evolutionary Biology},
  year={2018},
  volume={31}
}
Numerous new fossils have driven an interest in reproduction of early birds, but direct evidence remains elusive. No Mesozoic avian eggs can be unambiguously assigned to a species, which hampers our understanding of the evolution of contact incubation, which is a defining feature of extant birds. Compared to living species, eggs of Mesozoic birds are relatively small, but whether the eggs of Mesozoic birds could actually have borne the weight of a breeding adult has not yet been investigated… Expand
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While a high correlation between egg mass and eggshell thickness is expected, that relationship is much stronger in flying taxa, which show a significantly higher slope and lower residual variance than flightless species, which suggests stabilizing selection of egg shell thickness among theropods. Expand
The Shapes of Birds’ Eggs: Evolutionary Constraints and Adaptations
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It is argued that the analysis of avian egg shape is most profitably conducted within taxa where all species share similar life histories and ecologies, as there is no single factor that influences egg shape in the same way in all bird species. Expand
Do paleontologists dream of electric dinosaurs? Investigating the presumed inefficiency of dinosaurs contact incubating partially buried eggs
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Results from this experiment provide evidence for a possible evolutionary path from guarding behavior to thermoregulatory contact incubation in Troodon formosus, and show that contact incubating partially buried eggs did seem to confer an energetic advantage. Expand
Size and shape correlation of birds' pelvis and egg: Impact of developmental mode, habitat, and phylogeny
TLDR
It was revealed that shapes of pelvis and egg correlated less than their respective sizes, and birds with altricial developmental mode had a smaller relative size of eggs than their precocial counterparts. Expand
Nesting environment may drive variation in eggshell structure and egg characteristics in the Testudinata.
  • D. Deeming
  • Biology, Medicine
  • Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology
  • 2018
TLDR
It was concluded that the eggshell probably evolved as a means of physical protection and calcium availability may be a function of body size and the type of shell may reflect in part the interplay between clutch size and egg size. Expand
Trends in embryonic and ontogenetic growth metabolisms in nonavian dinosaurs and extant birds, mammals, and crocodylians with implications for dinosaur egg incubation.
TLDR
Embryonic and ontogenetic growth metabolisms are evaluated for extant altricial birds, precocial birds, mammals, and crocodylians to examine for trends in the different groups of animals and to provide a context for interpreting the results for nonavian dinosaurs. Expand
Effects of taphonomic deformation on geometric morphometric analysis of fossils: a study using the dicynodont Diictodon feliceps (Therapsida, Anomodontia)
TLDR
The cumulative effects of deformation in this study are shown to be random, and inclusion of deformed specimens in higher-level analyses of morphological disparity are warranted. Expand
Evolution of avian egg shape: underlying mechanisms and the importance of taxonomic scale
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Evolution of birds
Electron backscatter diffraction ( EBSD ) analysis of maniraptoran eggshells with important implications for microstructural and taphonomic interpretations
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