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Filter feeding in Late Jurassic pterosaurs supported by coprolite contents
Diets of pterosaurs have mainly been inferred from indirect evidence such as comparative anatomy, associations of co-occurring fossils, and functional morphology. Gut contents are rare, and until now there is only a single coprolite (fossil dropping), with unidentified inclusions, known. Here we des...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
PeerJ Inc.
2019
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6714960/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31523493 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7375 |
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author | Qvarnström, Martin Elgh, Erik Owocki, Krzysztof Ahlberg, Per E. Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz |
author_facet | Qvarnström, Martin Elgh, Erik Owocki, Krzysztof Ahlberg, Per E. Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz |
author_sort | Qvarnström, Martin |
collection | PubMed |
description | Diets of pterosaurs have mainly been inferred from indirect evidence such as comparative anatomy, associations of co-occurring fossils, and functional morphology. Gut contents are rare, and until now there is only a single coprolite (fossil dropping), with unidentified inclusions, known. Here we describe three coprolites collected from a palaeosurface with numerous pterosaur tracks found in early Kimmeridgian (Hypselocyclum Zone) intertidal deposits of the Wierzbica Quarry, Poland. The specimens’ morphology and association to the tracks suggest a pterosaur producer. Synchrotron scans reveal numerous small inclusions, with foraminifera making up the majority of the identifiable ones. Other small remains include shells/carapaces (of bivalves, ostracods, and other crustaceans/arthropods) and bristles (some possibly of polychaete worms). The high density of the small shelly inclusions suggest that they were not accidently ingested, but constituted an important food source for the pterosaur(s), perhaps together with unpreserved soft-bodied animals. The combined evidence from the tracks and coprolites suggest a filter-feeding ctenochasmatid as the most likely tracemaker. If true, this significantly expands the bromalite record for this pterosaur group, which was previously only known from gastroliths. Moreover, this study also provides the first direct evidence of filter feeding in Jurassic pterosaurs and shows that they had a similar diet to the recent Chilean flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis). |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6714960 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-67149602019-09-13 Filter feeding in Late Jurassic pterosaurs supported by coprolite contents Qvarnström, Martin Elgh, Erik Owocki, Krzysztof Ahlberg, Per E. Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz PeerJ Ecology Diets of pterosaurs have mainly been inferred from indirect evidence such as comparative anatomy, associations of co-occurring fossils, and functional morphology. Gut contents are rare, and until now there is only a single coprolite (fossil dropping), with unidentified inclusions, known. Here we describe three coprolites collected from a palaeosurface with numerous pterosaur tracks found in early Kimmeridgian (Hypselocyclum Zone) intertidal deposits of the Wierzbica Quarry, Poland. The specimens’ morphology and association to the tracks suggest a pterosaur producer. Synchrotron scans reveal numerous small inclusions, with foraminifera making up the majority of the identifiable ones. Other small remains include shells/carapaces (of bivalves, ostracods, and other crustaceans/arthropods) and bristles (some possibly of polychaete worms). The high density of the small shelly inclusions suggest that they were not accidently ingested, but constituted an important food source for the pterosaur(s), perhaps together with unpreserved soft-bodied animals. The combined evidence from the tracks and coprolites suggest a filter-feeding ctenochasmatid as the most likely tracemaker. If true, this significantly expands the bromalite record for this pterosaur group, which was previously only known from gastroliths. Moreover, this study also provides the first direct evidence of filter feeding in Jurassic pterosaurs and shows that they had a similar diet to the recent Chilean flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis). PeerJ Inc. 2019-08-26 /pmc/articles/PMC6714960/ /pubmed/31523493 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7375 Text en ©2019 Qvarnström et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited. |
spellingShingle | Ecology Qvarnström, Martin Elgh, Erik Owocki, Krzysztof Ahlberg, Per E. Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz Filter feeding in Late Jurassic pterosaurs supported by coprolite contents |
title | Filter feeding in Late Jurassic pterosaurs supported by coprolite contents |
title_full | Filter feeding in Late Jurassic pterosaurs supported by coprolite contents |
title_fullStr | Filter feeding in Late Jurassic pterosaurs supported by coprolite contents |
title_full_unstemmed | Filter feeding in Late Jurassic pterosaurs supported by coprolite contents |
title_short | Filter feeding in Late Jurassic pterosaurs supported by coprolite contents |
title_sort | filter feeding in late jurassic pterosaurs supported by coprolite contents |
topic | Ecology |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6714960/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31523493 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7375 |
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