Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30518862›Full record

ArticleNature2018

Soft-tissue evidence for homeothermy and crypsis in a Jurassic ichthyosaur.

Johan Lindgren, Peter Sjövall, Volker Thiel, Wenxia Zheng, Shosuke Ito, Kazumasa Wakamatsu, Rolf Hauff, Benjamin P Kear, Anders Engdahl, Carl Alwmark and 13 more

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
42citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

42 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  9. Preservation of proteins in the geosphere.Nature ecology & evolution · 2024
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

23 authors.

Johan LindgrenDepartment of Geology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. johan.lindgren@geol.lu.se.
Peter SjövallRISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Chemistry and Materials, Borås, Sweden.
Volker ThielGeobiology, Geoscience Centre, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
Wenxia ZhengDepartment of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
Shosuke ItoDepartment of Chemistry, Fujita Health University School of Health Sciences, Toyoake, Japan.
Kazumasa WakamatsuDepartment of Chemistry, Fujita Health University School of Health Sciences, Toyoake, Japan.
Rolf HauffUrweltmuseum Hauff, Holzmaden, Germany.
Benjamin P KearMuseum of Evolution, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Anders EngdahlMAX-IV laboratory, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Carl AlwmarkDepartment of Geology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Mats E ErikssonDepartment of Geology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Martin JarenmarkDepartment of Geology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Sven SachsNaturkunde-Museum Bielefeld, Abteilung Geowissenschaften, Bielefeld, Germany.
Per E AhlbergScience for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Federica MaroneSwiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland.
Takeo KuriyamaInstitute of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Hyogo, Hyogo, Japan.
Ola GustafssonDepartment of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Per MalmbergDepartment of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Aurélien ThomenDepartment of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Irene Rodríguez-MeizosoCentre for Analysis and Synthesis, Department of Chemistry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Per UvdalChemical Physics, Department of Chemistry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Makoto OjikaDepartment of Applied Biosciences, Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.
Mary H SchweitzerDepartment of Geology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.

Funding

National Science Foundation ECCS-1542015
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Ichthyosaurs are extinct marine reptiles that display a notable external similarity to modern toothed whales. Here we show that this resemblance is more than skin deep. We apply a multidisciplinary experimental approach to characterize the cellular and molecular composition of integumental tissues in an exceptionally preserved specimen of the Early Jurassic ichthyosaur Stenopterygius. Our analyses recovered still-flexible remnants of the original scaleless skin, which comprises morphologically distinct epidermal and dermal layers. These are underlain by insulating blubber that would have augmented streamlining, buoyancy and homeothermy. Additionally, we identify endogenous proteinaceous and lipid constituents, together with keratinocytes and branched melanophores that contain eumelanin pigment. Distributional variation of melanophores across the body suggests countershading, possibly enhanced by physiological adjustments of colour to enable photoprotection, concealment and/or thermoregulation. Convergence of ichthyosaurs with extant marine amniotes thus extends to the ultrastructural and molecular levels, reflecting the omnipresent constraints of their shared adaptation to pelagic life.

Indexed as

Biological EvolutionBody Temperature RegulationFossilsHomeostasisAdaptation, PhysiologicalAdipose TissueAnimalsDermisDinosaursDolphinsEpidermisFemaleKeratinocytesLipidsMaleMelaninseumelaninLipidsMelaninsProteins

Identifiers

PMID30518862

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.