Histological dataset for: Osteohistological analyses reveal diverse strategies of theropod dinosaur body-size macroevolution

The independent evolution of gigantism among dinosaurs has been a topic of longstanding interest, but it remains unclear if gigantic theropods, the largest bipeds in the fossil record, all achieved massive sizes in the same manner, or through different strategies. We perform multi-element histological analyses on a phylogenetically broad dataset sampled from eight theropod families, with a focus on gigantic tyrannosaurids and carcharodontosaurids, to reconstruct the growth strategies of these lineages and test if particular bones consistently preserve the most complete growth record. We find that in skeletally-mature gigantic theropods, weightbearing bones consistently preserve extensive growth records, whereas non-weightbearing bones are remodelled and less useful for growth reconstruction, contrary to the pattern observed in smaller theropods and some other dinosaur clades. We find a heterochronic pattern of growth fitting an acceleration model in tyrannosaurids, with allosauroid carc...