Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Reptile-like physiology in Early Jurassic stem-mammals

Elis Newham, Pamela G. Gill, Philippa Brewer, Michael J. Benton, Vincent Fernandez, Neil J. Gostling, David Haberthür, Jukka Jernvall, Tuomas Kankanpää, Aki Kallonen, Charles Navarro, Alexandra Pacureanu, Berit Zeller-Plumhoff, Kelly Richards, Kate Robson-Brown, Philipp Schneider, Heikki Suhonen, Paul Tafforeau, Katherine Williams, Ian J. Corfe
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/785360
Elis Newham
1School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: en12630@bristol.ac.uk
Pamela G. Gill
2School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
3Earth Science Department, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Philippa Brewer
3Earth Science Department, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Michael J. Benton
2School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Vincent Fernandez
4Core Research Laboratories, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
5European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Neil J. Gostling
6School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
David Haberthür
7Institute of Anatomy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jukka Jernvall
8Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Tuomas Kankanpää
9Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Aki Kallonen
10Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Charles Navarro
2School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Alexandra Pacureanu
5European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Berit Zeller-Plumhoff
11Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Zentrum für Material-und Küstenforschung GmbH Germany
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Kelly Richards
12Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford, OX1 3PW, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Kate Robson-Brown
13Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Philipp Schneider
14Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Heikki Suhonen
10Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Paul Tafforeau
5European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Katherine Williams
14Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Ian J. Corfe
8Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

There is uncertainty regarding the timing and fossil species in which mammalian endothermy arose, with few studies of stem-mammals on key aspects of endothermy such as basal or maximum metabolic rates, or placing them in the context of living vertebrate metabolic ranges. Synchrotron X-ray imaging of incremental tooth cementum shows two Early Jurassic stem-mammals, Morganucodon and Kuehneotherium, had lifespans (a basal metabolic rate proxy) considerably longer than comparably sized living mammals, but similar to reptiles. Morganucodon also had femoral blood flow rates (a maximum metabolic rate proxy) intermediate between living mammals and reptiles. This shows maximum metabolic rates increased evolutionarily before basal rates, and that contrary to previous suggestions of a Triassic origin, Early Jurassic stem-mammals lacked the endothermic metabolism of living mammals.

One Sentence Summary Surprisingly long lifespans and low femoral blood flow suggest reptile-like physiology in key Early Jurassic stem-mammals.

Footnotes

  • ↵* e-mail: pam.gill{at}bristol.ac.uk; ian.corfe{at}helsinki.fi

  • The abstract and acknowledgements of the manuscript have had minor alterations.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted October 10, 2019.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Reptile-like physiology in Early Jurassic stem-mammals
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Reptile-like physiology in Early Jurassic stem-mammals
Elis Newham, Pamela G. Gill, Philippa Brewer, Michael J. Benton, Vincent Fernandez, Neil J. Gostling, David Haberthür, Jukka Jernvall, Tuomas Kankanpää, Aki Kallonen, Charles Navarro, Alexandra Pacureanu, Berit Zeller-Plumhoff, Kelly Richards, Kate Robson-Brown, Philipp Schneider, Heikki Suhonen, Paul Tafforeau, Katherine Williams, Ian J. Corfe
bioRxiv 785360; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/785360
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Reptile-like physiology in Early Jurassic stem-mammals
Elis Newham, Pamela G. Gill, Philippa Brewer, Michael J. Benton, Vincent Fernandez, Neil J. Gostling, David Haberthür, Jukka Jernvall, Tuomas Kankanpää, Aki Kallonen, Charles Navarro, Alexandra Pacureanu, Berit Zeller-Plumhoff, Kelly Richards, Kate Robson-Brown, Philipp Schneider, Heikki Suhonen, Paul Tafforeau, Katherine Williams, Ian J. Corfe
bioRxiv 785360; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/785360

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Paleontology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (3592)
  • Biochemistry (7562)
  • Bioengineering (5508)
  • Bioinformatics (20762)
  • Biophysics (10309)
  • Cancer Biology (7967)
  • Cell Biology (11627)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (6602)
  • Ecology (10190)
  • Epidemiology (2065)
  • Evolutionary Biology (13594)
  • Genetics (9532)
  • Genomics (12834)
  • Immunology (7917)
  • Microbiology (19525)
  • Molecular Biology (7651)
  • Neuroscience (42027)
  • Paleontology (307)
  • Pathology (1254)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2196)
  • Physiology (3263)
  • Plant Biology (7029)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1294)
  • Synthetic Biology (1949)
  • Systems Biology (5422)
  • Zoology (1114)