Ecological modelling, size distributions and taphonomic size bias in dinosaur faunas: a comment on Codron et al. (2012)

Title
Ecological modelling, size distributions and taphonomic size bias in dinosaur faunas: a comment on Codron et al. (2012)
Publication Date
2013-02-23
Author(s)
Brown, Caleb Marshall
Campione, Nicolas E
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4205-9794
Email: ncampion@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:ncampion
Giacomini, Henrique Correa
O'Brien, Lorna J
Vavrek, Matthew J
Evans, David C
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
The Royal Society Publishing
Place of publication
United Kingdom
DOI
10.1098/rsbl.2012.0582
UNE publication id
une:1959.11/27669
Abstract
Codron et al. invoke an ecological model of size-specific competition in dinosaurs to explain an apparent bimodal distribution within Dinosauria, and find ‘intermediate-sized taxa’ (1-1000 kg) are prone to extinction. Although the authors take an interesting approach, we argue that the model is not an adequate analogue of ecological systems, ignores fundamental ecological interactions, and the raw data chosen to represent dinosaur size distribution are size-biased, not reflecting true dinosaurian faunas. Our concerns are discussed in the following sections.
Link
Citation
Biology Letters, 9(1), p. 1-2
ISSN
1744-957X
1744-9561
Pubmed ID
23134785
Start page
1
End page
2

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