Paleobiology in the 21st Century

Abstract

The diversity of research performed by vertebrate paleobiologists is immense, including primary descriptions of newly discovered taxa, biomechanical analyses of extant animals, large‐scale macroevolutionary analyses with hundreds of taxa, and many others. This special issue of The Anatomical Record highlights the scope of the research done by paleobiologists, with an emphasis on dinosaurs and their relatives, and is structured into three broad categories of research: (1) anatomical descriptions, (2) the biology of the dinosaurs and their relatives, and (3) macroevolutionary trends. Although these topics all fall within the purview of contemporary paleobiology, many of these topics have been studied in one form or another since the beginning of dinosaur paleobiology as a field. Rather than the topics themselves, what characterizes the modern renaissance of paleobiology is the employment of newly developed quantitative techniques to analyze the relationships between taxa and their evolutionary history. While primary anatomical descriptions remain the central pillar of dinosaur paleobiology, researchers now have a suitable baseline understanding of dinosaurian anatomy and their major evolutionary relationships. Using this baseline, they are able to ask more complex questions and refine their understanding of dinosaurian evolution. The aim of this issue is to exemplify the range of topics examined within dinosaur paleobiology and to look forward to the future of paleobiology. Anat Rec, 303:645–648, 2020. © 2020 American Association for Anatomy

Dots on a screen: The past, present, and future of morphometrics in the study of nonavian dinosaurs

“…Numerous workers use virtual paleontological data to examine locomotion using 3D models (e.g., Bates et al, 2012; Maidment et al, 2014), use computational fluid dynamics to examine airflow through nasal passages (e.g., Bourke et al, 2014), and use finite element modeling to quantify attributes such as bite force (e.g., Lautenschlager et al, 2016; Ma et al, 2022; Rayfield, 2005), among many others. Such quantitative methods characterize a modern renaissance in nonavian dinosaur paleobiology (Hedrick & Dodson, 2020).…”

Dinosaurs of all ilks bow and pay tribute to Peter Dodson, their intrepid chronicler, in an Anatomical Record Special Issue in his honor

“…His contributions to understanding the world of dinosaurs—from his paleontological findings, scholarly writings, museum exhibit creations, and birthing of superb progeny—have made him stand out in the world of dinosaur science. Indeed, Peter has given much to our own journal, being a frequent contributor (e.g., Dodson, 2003, 2009, 2020; Hedrick et al, 2020, 2022; Schachner et al, 2009, 2011; Tumanova et al, 2023), and Guest Editing two of the most popular Special Issues in our history, “Unearthing the Anatomy of Dinosaurs: New Insights into their Functional Morphology and Paleobiology” (Dodson, 2009; Laitman, 2009; Laitman & Albertine, 2009) and “The Hidden World of Dinosaurs” (Hedrick & Dodson, 2020; Laitman & Albertine, 2020; Figure 2). The 2009 Special Issue, our first on dinosaurs, was so much in demand that our Publisher, Wiley, had to print additional copies for individual sale (Dodson Dinos make money, at least for Wiley!…”

Celebrating dinosaurs: their behaviour, evolution, growth, and physiology

“…A special issue of the Anatomical Record is entitled "Paleobiology in the 21st Century" and showcases the broad spectrum of research being done in vertebrate palaeontology. As pointed out by the special editors, Hedrick and Dodson (2020), we have a baseline understanding of anatomy, relationships, biology, and macroevolutionary trends, and using newly developed quantitative techniques and new technologies, dinosaur palaeontologists can now ask more complex questions and refine our understanding of dinosaur evolution.…”