Complex macroevolution of pterosaurs

Pterosaurs, the earliest flying tetrapods, are the subject of some recent quantitative macroevolutionary analyses from different perspectives. 1 Zhou C.F. Gao K.Q. Yi H. Xue J. Li Q. Fox R.C. Earliest filter-feeding pterosaur from the Jurassic of China and ecological evolution of Pterodactyloidea. R. Soc. Open Sci. 2017; 4: 160672 Crossref PubMed Scopus (23) Google Scholar –2 Slack K.E. Jones C.M. Ando T. Harrison G.L. Fordyce R.E. Arnason U. Penny D. Early penguin fossils, plus mitochondrial genomes, calibrate avian evolution. Mol. Biol. Evol. 2006; 23: 1144-1155 Crossref PubMed Scopus (0) Google Scholar Here, we use an integrative approach involving newly assembled phylogenetic and body size datasets, net diversification rates, morphological rates, and morphological disparity to gain a holistic understanding of the pterosaur macroevolution. The first two parameters are important in quantitative analyses of macroevolution, but they have been rarely used in previous pterosaur studies. 1 Zhou C.F. Gao K.Q. Yi H. Xue J. Li Q. Fox R.C. Earliest filter-feeding pterosaur from the Jurassic of China and ecological evolution of Pterodactyloidea. R. Soc. Open Sci. 2017; 4: 160672 Crossref PubMed Scopus (23) Google Scholar ,3 Dean C.D. Mannion P.D. Butler R.J. Preservational bias controls the fossil record of pterosaurs. Palaeontology. 2016; 59: 225-247 Crossref PubMed Scopus (45) Google Scholar ,4 Longrich N.R. Martill D.M. Andres B. Late Maastrichtian pterosaurs from North Africa and mass extinction of Pterosauria at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. PLOS Biol. 2018; 16: e2001663 Crossref PubMed Scopus (46) Google Scholar ,2 Slack K.E. Jones C.M. Ando T. Harrison G.L. Fordyce R.E. Arnason U. Penny D. Early penguin fossils, plus mitochondrial genomes, calibrate avian evolution. Mol. Biol. 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Paleobiology. 2009; 35: 432-446 Crossref Scopus (0) Google Scholar Our study reveals an ∼115-Ma period—from Early Triassic to Early Cretaceous—of multi-wave increasing net diversification rates and disparity, as well as high morphological rates, followed by an ∼65-Ma period—from Early Cretaceous to the end of the Cretaceous—of mostly negative net diversification rates, decreasing disparity, and relatively low morphological rates in pterosaur evolution. Our study demonstrates the following: (1) body size plays an important role in pterosaur lineage diversification during nearly their whole evolutionary history, and the evolution of locomotion, trophic, and ornamental structures also plays a role in different periods; (2) birds, the other major flying tetrapod group at the time, might have affected pterosaur macroevolution for ∼100 Ma; and (3) different mass extinction events might have affected pterosaur evolution differently. Particularly, the revealed decline in pterosaur biodiversity during the Middle and Late Cretaceous periods provides further support for the possible presence of a biodiversity decline of large-sized terrestrial amniotes starting in the mid-Cretaceous, 13 Sakamoto M. Benton M.J. Venditti C. Dinosaurs in decline tens of millions of years before their final extinction. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2016; 113: 5036-5040 Crossref PubMed Google Scholar ,14 Herrera-Flores J.A. Elsler A. Stubbs T.L. Benton M.J. Slow and fast evolutionary rates in the history of lepidosaurs. Palaeontology. 2022; 65: e12579 Crossref Scopus (1) Google Scholar which may have been caused by multiple factors including a global land area decrease during these periods.