How far might plant-eating dinosaurs have moved seeds?

Abstract

Fossilized gut contents suggest that seeds consumed by dinosaurs may have remained intact in their stomachs, and since seed dispersal distance increases with body-mass in extant vertebrates, dinosaurs may have moved seeds long distances. I simulated seed dispersal by dinosaurs across body-masses from 1 × 10 1 to 8 × 10 4 kg using allometric random walk models, informed by relationships between (i) body-mass and movement speed, and (ii) body-mass and seed retention time. Seed dispersal distances showed a hump-shaped relationship with body-mass, reflecting the allometric relationship between maximum movement speed and body-mass. Across a range of assumptions and parameterizations, the simulations suggest that plant-eating dinosaurs could have dispersed seeds long distances.

Reconstructing ecological functions provided by extinct fauna using allometrically informed simulation models: An in silico framework for ‘movement palaeoecology’

“…Our in silico approach builds on Pires et al. (2018) and Perry (2021a) by incorporating recent developments in the trait‐based allometry of movement and the movement ‘syndromes’ seen in free‐ranging organisms. In a similar vein, Hartfelder et al.…”

“…Here, we outline a general framework that links palaeoecological data and trait-based allometry to reconstruct ecological functions, using seed dispersal by two flightless and one flighted extinct New Zealand (NZ) endemic bird species, spanning four orders of magnitude in body mass, as examples. Our in silico approach builds on Pires et al (2018) and Perry (2021a) by incorporating recent developments in the trait-based allometry of movement and the movement 'syndromes' seen in free-ranging organisms. In a similar vein, Hartfelder et al (2020) used an allometric approach (linking morphology and mass to dispersal distance and movement speed) to estimate connectivity in fragmented landscapes for flighted birds.…”