恐龙巨型化研究进展  

Advances in research on dinosaur gigantism

作　　者：徐星[1] 赵祺[1] 

机构地区：[1]中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所,脊椎动物演化与人类起源重点实验室,北京100044

出　　处：《科学通报》2016年第7期695-700,共6页Chinese Science Bulletin

基　　金：国家自然科学基金(41120124002);国家重点基础研究发展计划(2012CB821900)资助

摘　　要：动物巨型化是一个重要的演化现象,其中最著名的例子是恐龙巨型化.恐龙的三大类群(植食性的蜥脚类和鸟臀类以及肉食性的兽脚类)都出现了巨型代表,其中蜥脚类演化出了地球历史上体型最大的陆生动物.许多研究试图从环境和生物自身两个角度,回答恐龙为什么会演化出巨型体型和如何演化出巨型体型这两个问题.尽管恐龙巨型化研究取得了重要进展,但目前还没有统一的认识,原因之一在于现代动物当中没有能够类比的物种,环境背景资料也相对匮乏.未来的研究仍将会在环境和生物自身因素这两个方向进行探讨,解决方案将是采用整合方法,建立综合模型.Animal gigantism is an important evolutionary phenomenon. Cope＇s rule postulates that organisms in evolving lineages tend to increase in body size over time, but many animals don＇t show these tendencies. Many of the most well-known examples of animal gigantism are found amongst dinosaurs. The carnivorous theropod Spinosaurus aegyptiacus （-14-18 m in length, -7-21 t in mass）, the herbivorous sauropod Argentinosaurus huinculensis （-30-40 m in length, 60-100 t in mass） and the herbivorous ornithopod Shantungosaurus giganteus （-15-19 m in length, -10-23 t in mass） are amongst the largest terrestrial animals ever to have walked the Earth. Studies on bone histology show that dinosaurs attained giant size using one of three growth strategies： accelerated growth, delayed maturity or a combination of these strategies. Previous studies have mostly focused on explaining why dinosaurs became so large in terms of environmental and biological factors. In the former aspect, latitude, habitat size, temperature conditions and oxygen levels were all found to be related to dinosaur gigantism. In the latter aspect, diet and selective advantages in biomechanics, respiration, digestion and bone development （osteocyte size） were all found to affect dinosaur gigantism. Significant progress has been made in these regards, but a unanimously agreed consensus has yet to be reached. This has been hampered by difficulties including those encountered when comparing giant non-dinosaurian living animals with dinosaurs as well as incomplete knowledge of some dinosaur palaeoenvironments. In recent years, research on sauropod gigantism has advanced more significantly compared to other dinosaur groups. An evolutionary cascade model （ECM） has been developed to understand the uniquely gigantic body size of sauropods. This model comprises of five evolutionary cascades with each one linked to at least one other： ＂Reproduction＂, ＂Feeding＂, ＂Head and neck＂, ＂Avian-style lung＂, and ＂Metabolism＂. All cascades

关 键 词：巨型化 柯普法则 恐龙 环境因素 生物因素 

分 类 号：Q915[天文地球—古生物学与地层学]