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Histology and postural change during the growth of the ceratopsian dinosaur Psittacosaurus lujiatunensis

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  • Qi Zhao

    (School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol
    Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origin of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Michael J. Benton

    (School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol)

  • Corwin Sullivan

    (Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origin of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • P. Martin Sander

    (Steinmann Institute, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn)

  • Xing Xu

    (Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origin of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

A few dinosaurs are inferred to have undergone an ontogenetic shift from quadrupedal-to-bipedal posture, or vice versa, based on skeletal allometry. The basal ceratopsian Psittacosaurus lujiatunensis is considered to have been mainly bipedal as an adult. Here we infer a postural shift in this species based on a novel combination of limb measurements and histological data. The forelimb is strongly negatively allometric relative to the hindlimb, and patterns of vascular canal orientation provide evidence that growth of the hindlimb was particularly rapid during the middle part of ontogeny. Histology also makes it possible to determine the ontogenetic ages of individual specimens, showing that the forelimb-to-hindlimb ratio changed rapidly during the first or second year of life and thereafter decreased gradually. Occurrence of an ontogenetic shift from quadrupedality to bipedality was evidently widespread in dinosaurs, and may even represent the ancestral condition for the entire group.

Suggested Citation

  • Qi Zhao & Michael J. Benton & Corwin Sullivan & P. Martin Sander & Xing Xu, 2013. "Histology and postural change during the growth of the ceratopsian dinosaur Psittacosaurus lujiatunensis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 4(1), pages 1-8, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:4:y:2013:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms3079
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3079
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