Fig. 2: Temporal variations of the preservation rates of Late Cretaceous dinosaurs. | Nature Communications

Fig. 2: Temporal variations of the preservation rates of Late Cretaceous dinosaurs.

From: Dinosaur biodiversity declined well before the asteroid impact, influenced by ecological and environmental pressures

Fig. 2

The Bayesian inferences in PyRate allow estimating the mean preservation rates (i.e. number of occurrences per species per Myr) and the variations though time. Solid lines indicate mean posterior rates and shaded areas show 95% CI. Our estimate shows that the mean preservation increased through time and toward the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary culminating in the Maastrichtian with more than seven occurrences per species per Myr. Superimposed are the number of Late Cretaceous geological formations from the Paleobiology Database. Abbreviations as in Fig. 1. Picture of the ‘Black Beauty’ tyrannosaur made by Fabien Condamine at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology (Drumheller, Canada). Asteroid icon made by Fabien Condamine.

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