Variability in biological diversity of dinosaurs and types of their diet

Abstract

Biodiversity analysis underlies macroevolutionary studies and allows to identify mass extinctions. Numerous studies of mass extinctions show that geological factors play a central role in determining the diversity dynamics. The late Cretaceous extinction is of interest to science as the closest to us extinction of the five mass extinctions that occurred in the Phanerozoic. There is currently no scientific consensus on the scenario in which the extinction occurred on land. In order to assess the features of superorder Dinosauria development during the Cretaceous-Paleogene, the authors have analysed the diversity of terrestrial taxa of Mesozoic dinosaurs. Based on data from the paleobiodb paleontological database using the Python programming language and its libraries, the features of the species diversity of Dinosauria have been studied. An attempt was made to quantify the species diversity of this group based on the ratio of predators to herbivores using data on dinosaur food types. The simulated diversity data were compared with observed patterns and existing estimates. It is likely that less than one-third of the dinosaurs that existed are currently known, as indicated by the geography of the fossils, and the proportions of dinosaurs by type of diet.