Dinosaurs, the awe-inspiring creatures that once roamed the Earth, may owe their reign to their remarkable walking abilities rather than just their size and strength, a recent study suggests.
Published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the study reveals that dinosaurs' success in adapting to move on two or four legs played a crucial role in their dominance over other organisms for more than 160 million years.
During a period of significant ecological change, dinosaurs' ability to walk on their hind legs and later on all fours gave them a competitive edge over their rivals, such as the crocodile-like Pseudosuchians.
The study analyzed fossilized leg bones from 208 species of Avemetatarsalians, Pseudosuchians, and related reptiles to trace the evolution of their walking abilities over time.
While Pseudosuchians initially displayed more diversity, dinosaurs' bipedalism and agility in running allowed them to outmaneuver predators and catch prey effectively, especially in the drying climate of the Triassic period.
Following a mass extinction event at the end of the Triassic period, most Pseudosuchians perished, leaving behind the four-legged crocodylomorphs as the ancestors of modern crocodilians.
Meanwhile, dinosaurs continued to evolve, with some species maintaining their bipedal stance while others transitioned to walking on all fours, enabling them to further diversify and thrive.
The researchers suggest that dinosaurs' adaptability in movement techniques, rather than just physical features like feathers, played a pivotal role in their long-lasting success on Earth.
Despite eventually facing their own extinction, dinosaurs' wide range of postures and gaits allowed them to become the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for a significant period in Earth's history.
