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Gender-Specific Reproductive Tissue in Ratites and Tyrannosaurus Rex
Gender-Specific Reproductive Tissue in Ratites and Tyrannosaurus Rex
(fig. S1), but is more similar to that seen in and its presence in MOR 1125 may reflect 14. Materials and methods are available as supporting
material on Science Online.
ratites. T. rex medullary tissues are less ex- the retention of a primitive trait. This hy- 15. J. A. Gauthier, Mem. Calif. Acad. Sci. 8, 1 (1986).
tensive than those reported for neognaths, pothesis may be tested by examination of the 16. L. M. Chiappe, Nature 378, 349 (1995).
which may be explained by many factors. limb bones of the recently reported oviraptor 17. K. Padian, L. M. Chiappe, Sci. Am. 278, 38 (1998).
First, there is a wide range of MB morphol- containing eggs in the reproductive tract (32). 18. J. Cracraft, J. A. Clarke, in New Perspectives on the
Origin and Early Evolution of Birds. Proceedings of
ogies in extant taxa (20), varying with both The existence of MB in crocodiles has the International Symposium in Honor of J. H.
reproductive phase and the position of the been referred to anecdotally (3, 21), but al- Ostrom, J. Gauthier, L. F. Gall, Eds. (Special Publica-
egg within the reproductive tract (6). Med- though they do resorb CB during shelling, tion of the Peabody Museum of Natural History,
New Haven, CT, 2001), pp. 143–147.
ullary tissues become thinner as shelling experimental evidence suggests that they do 19. A. Chinsamy, L. M. Chiappe, P. Dodson, Paleobiology
progresses and disappear completely with not form MB (6, 9, 11, 12), even after stim- 21, 561 (1995).
deposition of the last egg. If the same was ulation with estrogen (33). The identification 20. H. Schraer, S. J. Hunter, Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A
82, 13 (1985).
true of dinosaurs, MOR 1125 may have died of medullary tissues in dinosaurs supports a 21. C. C. Whitehead, Poult. Sci. 83, 193 (2004).
toward the end of the laying cycle. Second, closer relationship to birds than to other ex- 22. L. Knott, A. J. Bailey, Br. Poult. Sci. 40, 371 (1999).
MB in extant birds is hypothesized to pro- tant archosaurs, sheds light on reproductive 23. D. M. Martill, M. J. Barker, C. G. Dacke, Nature 379,
778 (1996).
vide a buffer against excessive and debilitat- strategies of nonavian theropods, and pro- 24. C. A. Forster, S. D. Sampson, L. M. Chiappe, D. W.
ing bone resorption during shelling (4, 28). It vides an objective means of gender determi- Krause, Science 279, 1915 (1998).
is most extensive in smaller taxa with high nation in extinct dinosaurs. 25. P. C. Sereno, Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 25, 435
(1997).
reproductive rates, because of the demand 26. H. N. Bryant, A. P. Russell, Philos. Trans. R. Soc.
for rapid mobilization of skeletal calcium for References and Notes London Ser. B 337, 405 (1992).
shelling. Extinct theropods produced hard- 1. M. H. Schweitzer, J. L. Wittmeyer, J. R. Horner, J. A. 27. L. M. Witmer, in Functional Morphology in Vertebrate
shelled eggs, as did other dinosaurs and all Toporski, Science 307, 1952 (2005). Paleontology, J. J. Thomason, Ed. (Cambridge Univ.
2. J. R. Horner, K. Padian, Proc. R. Soc. London Ser. B Press, New York, 1995), pp. 19–33.
extant birds (29, 30). Although egg size is 271, 1875 (2004). 28. S. Wilson, B. H. Thorpe, Calcif. Tissue Int. 62, 506
not known, eggs were most likely smaller 3. T. Yamamoto, H. Nakamura, T. Tsuji, A. Hirata, Anat. (1998).
relative to overall body size than in extant Rec. 264, 25 (2001). 29. K. Carpenter, Ed., Eggs, Nests, and Baby Dinosaurs: A
4. S. C. Miller, B. M. Bowman, Dev. Biol. 87, 52 (1981). Look at Dinosaur Reproduction (Indiana Univ. Press,
birds, resulting in less demand for bone cal- 5. C. G. Dacke et al., J. Exp. Biol. 184, 63 (1993). Bloomington, IN, 1999).
cium reserves and reducing the need to offset 6. M. A. Bloom, L. V. Domm, A. V. Nalbandov, W. Bloom, 30. K. E. Mikhailov, Spec. Pap. Palaeontol. 56, 1
resorption. These factors may also contribute Am. J. Anat. 102, 411 (1958). (1997).
7. T. G. Taylor, K. Simkiss, D. A. Stringer, in Physiology 31. M. H. Schweitzer, C. L. Marshall, J. Exp. Zoolog. Part B
to the smaller ratio of medullary to cortical and Biochemistry of the Domestic Fowl (Volume 2), Mol. Dev. Evol. 291, 317 (2001).
thickness in theropods than in extant birds. D. J. Bell, B. M. Freeman, Eds. (Academic Press, 32. T. Sato, Y. Chang, X. Wu, D. Zelenitsky, Y. Hsiao,
Finally, T. rex, although phylogenetically London, 1971), pp. 621–640. Science 308, 375.
8. E. Bonucci, G. Gherardi, Cell Tissue Res. 163, 81 33. R. M. Elsey, C. S. Wink, Comp. Biochem. Biophys.
close to extant birds (15–18, 24, 25), was (1975). 84A, 107 (1986).
distinct in size, biomechanical constraints, 9. A. Chinsamy, P. M. Barrett, J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 17, 34. We thank C. Ancell, J. Barnes, D. Enlow, J. Flight, A.
and, to some degree, physiology (31); there- 450 (1997). Friederichs, B. Harmon, L. Knott, E. Lamm, N. Myrhvold,
10. A. Ascenzi, C. Francois, D. S. Bocciarelli, J. Ultrastruct. A. de Ricqles, A. Steele, and T. Sugiyama for insight
fore, slight variations in bone and tissue types and assistance, and D. Brown (Carlhaven Farms) and
Res. 8, 491 (1963).
would be expected. 11. T. Sugiyama, S. Kusuhara, Asian-Australas. J. Anim. J. Perkins (Perkins Ostrich) for ratite specimens. R. Avci
MB most likely first evolved within the Sci. 14, 82 (2001). (Image and Chemical Analysis Laboratory, Montana
lineage in early, small theropods with high 12. T. Ohashi, S. Kusuhara, K. Ishida, Br. Poult. Sci. 28, State University) and M. Dykstra [Laboratory for Ad-
727 (1987). vanced Electron and Light Optical Methods, North
productivity. A relatively thicker tyrannosaur 13. J. L. Arias, M. S. Fernandez, World’s Poult. Sci. J. 57, Carolina State University (NCSU) College of Veter-
bone cortex would reduce the need for MB, 349 (2001). inary Medicine] provided scanning electron micro-
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