Arctic ice and the ecological rise of the dinosaurs.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35776799.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.abo6342 and PMC identifier 10883366.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
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Abstract
Abundant lake ice-rafted debris in Late Triassic and earliest Jurassic strata of the Junggar Basin of northwestern China (paleolatitude ~71°N) indicates that freezing winter temperatures typified the forested Arctic, despite a persistence of extremely high levels of atmospheric <i>P</i>co<sub>2</sub> (partial pressure of CO<sub>2</sub>). Phylogenetic bracket analysis shows that non-avian dinosaurs were primitively insulated, enabling them to access rich deciduous and evergreen Arctic vegetation, even under freezing winter conditions. Transient but intense volcanic winters associated with massive eruptions and lowered light levels led to the end-Triassic mass extinction (201.6 Ma) on land, decimating all medium- to large-sized nondinosaurian, noninsulated continental reptiles. In contrast, insulated dinosaurs were already well adapted to cold temperatures, and not only survived but also underwent a rapid adaptive radiation and ecological expansion in the Jurassic, taking over regions formerly dominated by large noninsulated reptiles.