The Evolution of Dinosaurs

1999/06/25 by Paul C. Sereno · 42 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Ichthyology and Marine Biology

paper · doi:10.1126/science.284.5423.2137

openalex publication_date 1999/06/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

The ascendancy of dinosaurs on land near the close of the Triassic now appears to have been as accidental and opportunistic as their demise and replacement by therian mammals at the end of the Cretaceous. The dinosaurian radiation, launched by 1-meter-long bipeds, was slower in tempo and more restricted in adaptive scope than that of therian mammals. A notable exception was the evolution of birds from small-bodied predatory dinosaurs, which involved a dramatic decrease in body size. Recurring phylogenetic trends among dinosaurs include, to the contrary, increase in body size. There is no evidence for co-evolution between predators and prey or between herbivores and flowering plants. As the major land masses drifted apart, dinosaurian biogeography was molded more by regional extinction and intercontinental dispersal than by the breakup sequence of Pangaea.

Citations

• An exceptionally well-preserved theropod dinosaur from the Yixian Formation of China
• The phylogenetic position of the Tyrannosauridae: implications for theropod systematics
• Primitive dinosaur skeleton from Argentina and the early evolution of Dinosauria
• Extensive 200-Million-Year-Old Continental Flood Basalts of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province
• An Early Cretaceous bird from Spain and its implications for the evolution of avian flight
• Exaptation—a Missing Term in the Science of Form
• Towards Resolving the Interordinal Relationships of Placental Mammals

Cited by

• Geological and anthropogenic controls on the sampling of the terrestrial fossil record: a case study from the Dinosauria
• A new herrerasaurid (Dinosauria, Saurischia) from the Upper Triassic Ischigualasto Formation of northwestern Argentina
• The Late Triassic dinosauromorph Sacisaurus agudoensis (Caturrita Formation; Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil): anatomy and affinities
• Biomechanics of Running Indicates Endothermy in Bipedal Dinosaurs
• The origin and early evolution of dinosaurs
• New information on the skull of the enigmatic theropodSpinosaurus, with remarks on its size and affinities
• Basal tyrannosauroids from China and evidence for protofeathers in tyrannosauroids
• Dinosaur Macroevolution and Macroecology
• The extinction of the dinosaurs
• On Dinosaur Growth
• Embryos and eggs for the Cretaceous theropod dinosaurTroodon formosus
• Superiority, Competition, and Opportunism in the Evolutionary Radiation of Dinosaurs
• A new troodontid dinosaur from China with avian-like sleeping posture
• Basic avian pulmonary design and flow-through ventilation in non-avian theropod dinosaurs
• Avian Paternal Care Had Dinosaur Origin
• A new feathered maniraptoran dinosaur fossil that fills a morphological gap in avian origin
• A Late Triassic dinosauriform from south Brazil and the origin of the ornithischian predentary bone
• Ten more years of discovery: revisiting the quality of the sauropodomorph dinosaur fossil record
• Osteology and myology of the wing of the Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae), and its bearing on the evolution of vestigial structures
• The modern theory of biological evolution: an expanded synthesis
• The Mesozoic Radiation of Birds
• Evolution of Immune Functions of the Mammary Gland and Protection of the Infant
• Branched integumental structures in Sinornithosaurus and the origin of feathers
• Feathered dinosaurs from China and the evolution of major avian characters
• Phylogenetic Context for the Origin of Feathers
• On the identification of feather structures in stem-line representatives of birds: evidence from fossils and actuopalaeontology
• Feathers, Dinosaurs, and Behavioral Cues: Defining the Visual Display Hypothesis for the Adaptive Function of Feathers in Non-Avian Theropods
• The osteology ofMasiakasaurus knopfleri, a small abelisauroid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar
• A Complete Skeleton of a Late Triassic Saurischian and the Early Evolution of Dinosaurs
• An integrative approach to understanding bird origins
• Birds have dinosaur wings: The molecular evidence
• ARE CURRENT CRITIQUES OF THE THEROPOD ORIGIN OF BIRDS SCIENCE? REBUTTAL TO FEDUCCIA (2002)
• A Primitive Enantiornithine Bird and the Origin of Feathers
• Downsized Dinosaurs: The Evolutionary Transition to Modern Birds
• A long-tailed, seed-eating bird from the Early Cretaceous of China
• A juvenile coelurosaurian theropod from China indicates arboreal habits
• New information onSegisaurus halli, a small theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of Arizona
• Cardiovascular Evidence for an Intermediate or Higher Metabolic Rate in an Ornithischian Dinosaur
• Accelerated diversifications in three diverse families of morphologically complex lichen-forming fungi link to major historical events
• The phylogenetic relationships of basal archosauromorphs, with an emphasis on the systematics of proterosuchian archosauriforms
• Dinosaur [wikipedia]
• Origin of birds [wikipedia]