Article (Scientific journals)
Plasticity and convergence in the evolution of short-necked plesiosaurs
Fischer, Valentin; Benson, Roger B. J.; Zverkov, Nikolai G. et al.
2017In Current Biology, 27
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Keywords :
Pliosauridae; Luskhan; Convergence
Abstract :
[en] Plesiosaurs were the longest-surviving group of secondarily marine tetrapods, comparable in diversity to today’s cetaceans. During their long evolutionary history, which spanned the Jurassic and the Cretaceous (201 to 66 Ma), plesiosaurs repeatedly evolved long- and short-necked body plans [1,2]. Despite this postcranial plasticity, short-necked plesiosaur clades have traditionally been regarded as being highly constrained to persistent and clearly distinct ecological niches: advanced members of Pliosauridae (ranging from the Middle Jurassic to the early Late Cretaceous) have been characterised as apex predators [2–5], whereas members of the distantly related clade Polycotylidae (middle–Late Cretaceous) were thought to have been fast-swimming piscivores [1,5–7]. We report a new, highly unusual pliosaurid from the Early Cretaceous of Russia that shows close convergence with the cranial structure of polycotylids: Luskhan itilensis gen. et sp. nov. Using novel cladistic and ecomorphological data, we show that pliosaurids iteratively evolved polycotylid-like cranial morphologies from the Early Jurassic until the Early Cretaceous. This underscores the ecological diversity of derived pliosaurids and reveals a more complex evolutionary history than their iconic representation as gigantic apex predators of Mesozoic marine ecosystems suggests. Collectively, these data demonstrate an even higher degree of morphological plasticity and convergence in the evolution of plesiosaurs than previously thought, and suggest the existence of an optimal ecomorphology for short-necked piscivorous plesiosaurs through time and across phylogeny.
Research center :
Evolution and Diversity Dynamics Lab
Disciplines :
Zoology
Earth sciences & physical geography
Author, co-author :
Fischer, Valentin  ;  Université de Liège > Département de géologie > Evolution and diversity dynamics lab
Benson, Roger B. J.
Zverkov, Nikolai G.
Soul, Laura C.
Arkhangelsky, Maxim S.
Lambert, Olivier
Stenshin, Ilya M.
Uspensky, Gleb N.
Druckenmiller, Patrick Scott
Language :
English
Title :
Plasticity and convergence in the evolution of short-necked plesiosaurs
Publication date :
2017
Journal title :
Current Biology
ISSN :
0960-9822
eISSN :
1879-0445
Publisher :
Cell Press, Cambridge, United States - Massachusetts
Volume :
27
Pages :
In press
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Funders :
F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique [BE]
Newton International Fellowship (Royal Society, UK)
Fondation Vocatio
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since 25 May 2017

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