|
|
ReportsTyrannosaur Life Tables: An Example of Nonavian Dinosaur Population BiologyThe size and age structures for four assemblages of North American tyrannosaurs—Albertosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, Gorgosaurus, and Daspletosaurus—reveal a pronounced, bootstrap-supported pattern of age-specific mortality characterized by relatively high juvenile survivorship and increased mortality at midlife and near the maximum life span. Such patterns are common today in wild populations of long-lived birds and mammals. Factors such as predation and entrance into the breeding population may have influenced tyrannosaur survivorship. This survivorship pattern can explain the rarity of juvenile specimens in museum collections.
1 Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA. * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: gerickson{at}bio.fsu.edu
The editors suggest the following Related Resources on Science sites:In Science Magazine
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
|
Magazine | News | Signaling | Careers | Multimedia | Collections | Help | Site Map | RSS
Subscribe | Feedback | Privacy / Legal | About Us | Advertise With Us | Contact Us
© 2006 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All Rights Reserved.
AAAS is a partner of HINARI, AGORA, PatientInform, CrossRef, and COUNTER.
You have reached the bottom of the page. Back to top