Dinosaurian growth rates and bird origins

Kevin Padian (), Armand J. de Ricqlès and John R. Horner
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Kevin Padian: University of California
Armand J. de Ricqlès: Équipe Formations Squelettiques, UMR 8570 CNRS, Université
John R. Horner: Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University

Nature, 2001, vol. 412, issue 6845, 405-408

Abstract: Abstract Dinosaurs, like other tetrapods, grew more quickly just after hatching than later in life. However, they did not grow like most other non-avian reptiles, which grow slowly and gradually through life. Rather, microscopic analyses of the long-bone tissues show that dinosaurs grew to their adult size relatively quickly, much as large birds and mammals do today. The first birds reduced their adult body size by shortening the phase of rapid growth common to their larger theropod dinosaur relatives. These changes in timing were primarily related not to physiological differences but to differences in growth strategy.

Date: 2001
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DOI: 10.1038/35086500

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