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Reptile-like physiology in Early Jurassic stem-mammals.

  • Newham E School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. en12630@bristol.ac.uk.
  • Gill PG School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. pam.gill@bristol.ac.uk.
  • Brewer P Earth Sciences Department, The Natural History Museum, London, UK.
  • Benton MJ School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
  • Fernandez V Core Research Laboratories, The Natural History Museum, London, UK.
  • Gostling NJ School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
  • Haberthür D Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland.
  • Jernvall J Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
  • Kankaanpää T Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
  • Kallonen A Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
  • Navarro C School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
  • Pacureanu A ESRF, The European Synchrotron, Grenoble, France.
  • Richards K Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford, UK.
  • Brown KR Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
  • Schneider P Bioengineering Science Research Group, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
  • Suhonen H Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
  • Tafforeau P ESRF, The European Synchrotron, Grenoble, France.
  • Williams KA Bioengineering Science Research Group, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
  • Zeller-Plumhoff B Institute for Materials Research, Division of Metallic Biomaterials, Helmholtz Zentrum Geesthacht, Geesthacht, Germany.
  • Corfe IJ Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. ian.corfe@helsinki.fi.
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  • 2020-10-13
Published in:
  • Nature communications. - 2020
Animals
Basal Metabolism
Biological Evolution
Fossils
History, Ancient
Mammals
Phylogeny
Reptiles
Tomography, X-Ray
Tooth
English Despite considerable advances in knowledge of the anatomy, ecology and evolution of early mammals, far less is known about their physiology. Evidence is contradictory concerning the timing and fossil groups in which mammalian endothermy arose. To determine the state of metabolic evolution in two of the earliest stem-mammals, the Early Jurassic Morganucodon and Kuehneotherium, we use separate proxies for basal and maximum metabolic rate. Here we report, using synchrotron X-ray tomographic imaging of incremental tooth cementum, that they had maximum lifespans considerably longer than comparably sized living mammals, but similar to those of reptiles, and so they likely had reptilian-level basal metabolic rates. Measurements of femoral nutrient foramina show Morganucodon had blood flow rates intermediate between living mammals and reptiles, suggesting maximum metabolic rates increased evolutionarily before basal metabolic rates. Stem mammals lacked the elevated endothermic metabolism of living mammals, highlighting the mosaic nature of mammalian physiological evolution.
Language
  • English
Open access status
gold
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Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/77924
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