![]() ![]() This pattern is not solely an artefact of bias in the fossil record, as demonstrated by contrasting distributions in two major extinct groups and supports the hypothesis that dinosaurs exhibited a fundamentally different life history strategy to other terrestrial vertebrates. We find that dinosaurs exhibit a strong skew towards larger species, in direct contrast to modern day vertebrates. We also examine the body size distribution of dinosaurs by various sub-groups, time periods and formations. Do they share a similar distribution to modern day vertebrate groups in spite of their large size, or did they exhibit fundamentally different distributions due to unique evolutionary pressures and adaptations? Here, we address this question by comparing the distribution of maximum species body size for dinosaurs to an extensive set of extant and extinct vertebrate groups. There is, however, little understanding of how maximum species body size was distributed among the dinosaurs. It is widely known that non-avian dinosaurs were the largest creatures to roam the Earth. The distribution of species body size is critically important for determining resource use within a group or clade.
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