Thick Thighs & Body Size
From dinosaurs to rhinos to bugs, things used to get a whole lot bigger than they seem to today. In this episode we talk all about evolutionary constraints, the narrow set of bumper bars enforced on us by biology.
Click For Content Warnings
Body fluids. Using the term bug incorrectly (sorry entomologists). Cursing.
References
Lavin, S. R., Karasov, W. H., Ives, A. R., Middleton, K. M., & Garland Jr, T. (2008). Morphometrics of the avian small intestine compared with that of nonflying mammals: a phylogenetic approach. Physiological and biochemical zoology, 81(5), 526-550.
Harrison, J. F., Kaiser, A., & VandenBrooks, J. M. (2010). Atmospheric oxygen level and the evolution of insect body size. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 277(1690), 1937-1946.
Wang, X., Cau, A., Guo, B., Ma, F., Qing, G., & Liu, Y. (2022). Intestinal preservation in a birdlike dinosaur supports conservatism in digestive canal evolution among theropods. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 19965.
Farlow, J. O. (1987). Speculations about the diet and digestive physiology of herbivorous dinosaurs. Paleobiology, 13(1), 60-72.
Clauss, M., Steuer, P., Müller, D. W., Codron, D., & Hummel, J. (2013). Herbivory and body size: allometries of diet quality and gastrointestinal physiology, and implications for herbivore ecology and dinosaur gigantism. PloS one, 8(10), e68714.
Black, R. (2010). The History of Air. Smithsonian Mag. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-history-of-air-21082166/
The Ruminant Digestive System, University of Minnesota Extension. https://extension.umn.edu/dairy-nutrition/ruminant-digestive-system#:~:text=Quick%20facts,vitamin%20K%20and%20amino%20acids
How the Rumen Works. https://www.publish.csiro.au/ebook/chapter/SA0501041#:~:text=Plant%20tissue%20dry%20matter%20is,are%20used%20by%20the%20cow.
Digestive Anatomy and Physiology of the Horse.
https://www.extension.iastate.edu/equine/blog/dr-peggy-m-auwerda/digestive-anatomy-and-physiology-horse
Stephens, T. (2012). Reign of the giant insects ended with the evolution of birds. https://news.ucsc.edu/2012/06/giant-insects.html