瑞典乌普萨拉大学Grzegorz Nied?wiedzki等研究人员合作发现，消化内容物和食物链记录恐龙霸主地位的到来。2024年11月27日，《自然》杂志在线发表了这项成果。

据研究人员介绍，恐龙早期辐射仍然是一个复杂且不完全理解的演化事件。

通过使用数百个具有直接喂食证据的化石，研究人员比较了记录这一事件的波兰盆地（三叠纪-侏罗纪交替层系）中五个脊椎动物群落的营养动态。化石消化产品（化石胃内容物）在这一时期内增大并多样化，表明大型恐龙群体和新的进食模式的出现。保存良好的食物残留物和胃内容物-物种关联使得研究人员能够广泛推测食物链互动。

研究人员的结果与气候和植物数据结合，表明该地区恐龙多样性和生态空间的逐步增加。具体表现为：（1）恐龙前体取代了非恐龙类群成员，成为机会主义者和杂食性动物，随后（2）昆虫食性和鱼类食性恐龙及小型杂食性恐龙的出现。

晚三叠世的气候变化导致了植物的巨大变化，为（3）和（4）草食性生态空间的扩展以及伪鳄类和兽孔类草食性动物被大型蜥脚形恐龙和早期鸟臀目恐龙取代铺平了道路，这些新草食性恐龙摄取了更广泛的食物，包括烧焦的植物。最后，（5）恐龙迅速进化并发展出巨大体型，以应对新草食性动物群体的出现。

研究人员认为，波兰数据所揭示的这些过程可能解释了全球性模式，为恐龙主导地位的环境驱动出现和巨型化提供了新的视角，这种主导地位一直延续到白垩纪末的大规模灭绝。

附：英文原文

Title: Digestive contents and food webs record the advent of dinosaur supremacy

Author: Qvarnstrm, Martin, Vikberg Wernstrm, Joel, Wawrzyniak, Zuzanna, Barbacka, Maria, Pacyna, Grzegorz, Grecki, Artur, Ziaja, Jadwiga, Jarzynka, Agata, Owocki, Krzysztof, Sulej, Tomasz, Marynowski, Leszek, Piekowski, Grzegorz, Ahlberg, Per E., Niedwiedzki, Grzegorz

Issue&Volume: 2024-11-27

Abstract: The early radiation of dinosaurs remains a complex and poorly understood evolutionary event1,2,3,4. Here we use hundreds of fossils with direct evidence of feeding to compare trophic dynamics across five vertebrate assemblages that record this event in the Triassic–Jurassic succession of the Polish Basin (central Europe). Bromalites, fossil digestive products, increase in size and diversity across the interval, indicating the emergence of larger dinosaur faunas with new feeding patterns. Well-preserved food residues and bromalite-taxon associations enable broad inferences of trophic interactions. Our results, integrated with climate and plant data, indicate a stepwise increase of dinosaur diversity and ecospace occupancy in the area. This involved (1) a replacement of non-dinosaur guild members by opportunistic and omnivorous dinosaur precursors, followed by (2) the emergence of insect and fish-eating theropods and small omnivorous dinosaurs. Climate change in the latest Triassic5,6,7 resulted in substantial vegetation changes that paved the way for ((3) and (4)) an expansion of herbivore ecospace and the replacement of pseudosuchian and therapsid herbivores by large sauropodomorphs and early ornithischians that ingested food of a broader range, even including burnt plants. Finally, (5) theropods rapidly evolved and developed enormous sizes in response to the appearance of the new herbivore guild. We suggest that the processes shown by the Polish data may explain global patterns, shedding new light on the environmentally governed emergence of dinosaur dominance and gigantism that endured until the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08265-4

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08265-4