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Viviparity and K-Selected Life History in a Mesozoic Marine Plesiosaur (Reptilia, Sauropterygia)

F. R. O’Keefe [email protected] and L. M. Chiappe
Science • 12 Aug 2011 • Vol 333, Issue 6044 • pp. 870-873 • DOI: 10.1126/science.1205689
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Abstract

Viviparity is known in several clades of Mesozoic aquatic reptiles, but evidence for it is lacking in the Plesiosauria. Here, we report a Late Cretaceous plesiosaur fossil consisting of a fetus preserved within an adult of the same taxon. We interpret this occurrence as a gravid female and unborn young and hence as definitive evidence for plesiosaur viviparity. Quantitative analysis indicates that plesiosaurs gave birth to large, probably single progeny. The combination of viviparity, large offspring size, and small brood number differs markedly from the pattern seen in other marine reptiles but does resemble the K-selected strategy of all extant marine mammals and a few extant lizards. Plesiosaurs may have shared other life history traits with these clades, such as sociality and maternal care.
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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Science
Volume 333 | Issue 6044
12 August 2011

Copyright

Copyright © 2011, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Submission history

Received: 16 March 2011
Accepted: 6 July 2011
Published in print: 12 August 2011

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Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments: The fossil described here (LACM 129639) is reposited in the vertebrate paleontology collections of the Los Angeles County Museum and is currently on display in the public gallery. Metric data from the specimen is listed in tables S1 and S2. We thank Phil Fraley Productions for the skilled preparation and mounting of the fossil that made this study possible. B. Kear provided access to unpublished Leptocleidus data. Thanks to R. Cripps for the mount photograph in Fig. 1 and to D. Trankina for Fig. 1 line art. Many thanks to S. Abramowicz for the life reconstruction art, Fig. 3, and work on other figures. J. Long provided valuable feedback on an early version of this manuscript. This material is based on work supported by the NSF under award no. EPS-1003907.

Authors

Affiliations

F. R. O’Keefe* [email protected]
Department of Biological Sciences, Marshall University, Huntington, WV 25755, USA.
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L. M. Chiappe
Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA.
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Notes

*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]

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