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Etienne C, Viot J, Watson PJ, Fagan MJ, Houssaye A. How compactness affects long bone resistance to compression-An investigation into the rhinoceros humerus. J Anat 2024. [PMID: 39374349 DOI: 10.1111/joa.14141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Revised: 09/05/2024] [Accepted: 09/06/2024] [Indexed: 10/09/2024] Open
Abstract
The functional signal of bone internal structure has been widely studied. Isolated form-function relationships have often been assumed from the observation of presumed morphofunctional relationships, but have never been truly tested. Indeed, distinct bone microanatomical feature co-evolve in response to various constraints that are difficult to detangle. This study tested for the first time the impact of various microanatomical parameters taken one by one, plus some in pairs, on bone strength under compression using biomechanical modelling. We carried out finite element analyses on humerus models, obtained from a white rhinoceros, with different heterogeneous internal structures, and analysed the magnitude and distribution of von Mises stresses. These tests validated earlier hypotheses of form-function relationships about the greater resistance to compression provided by the thickening of the cortex and the filling of the medullary area by trabecular bone and highlighted the stronger impact of increasing trabecular bone compactness than of avoiding an open medullary cavity. By making it possible to estimate the relative impact of each parameter and of combinations of microanatomical features, they also showed the more limited impact of the trabecular bone compactness in the epiphyses to resist compression, and the fact that microanatomical changes of opposite but of similar amplitude impact can compensate each other, but that the impact of the sum of two negative microanatomical changes far exceeds the sum of the impacts of each of the two changes taken separately. These results contribute to a better understanding of bone adaptation and form-function relationships so that they later can be used with confidence for palaeobiological inferences on fossil specimens, contributing to a better understanding of skeletal evolution during the evolutionary history of vertebrates. They also highlight the potential of taking internal structure into account in the bone biomechanical analyses. In addition, they can be used in bioinspiration to design resistant structures subjected to compression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cyril Etienne
- Mécanismes Adaptatifs et évolution (MECADEV), UMR 7179, MNHN, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Jérémie Viot
- Mécanismes Adaptatifs et évolution (MECADEV), UMR 7179, MNHN, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Peter J Watson
- Biomedical Engineering Research Group, School of Engineering, University of Hull, Hull, UK
- Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - Michael J Fagan
- Biomedical Engineering Research Group, School of Engineering, University of Hull, Hull, UK
| | - Alexandra Houssaye
- Mécanismes Adaptatifs et évolution (MECADEV), UMR 7179, MNHN, CNRS, Paris, France
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2
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Serio C, Brown RP, Clauss M, Meloro C. Three-dimensional geometric morphometric analyses of humerus ecomorphology: New perspectives for paleohabitat reconstruction in carnivorans and ungulates. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2024. [PMID: 39126145 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2024] [Revised: 07/10/2024] [Accepted: 07/16/2024] [Indexed: 08/12/2024]
Abstract
Long bone ecomorphology has proven effective for paleohabitat reconstructions across a wide range of mammalian clades. Still, there is no comprehensive framework to allow interpretation of long bone morphological variation within and between different monophyletic groups. Here, we investigated the use of humerus morphometry to classify living members of the orders Carnivora and ungulates based on their preferred habitats. Using geometric morphometrics, we extracted three different kinds of humerus shape data describing interspecific variation with and without accounting for evolutionary allometry and phylogenetic signal. The traditional a priori categorization of species in open, mixed, and closed habitats was employed in combination with selected subsets of shape variables to identify the best-predictive models for habitat adaptation. These were identified based on the statistical performance of phylogenetic and non-phylogenetic discriminant analyses and then applied to predict habitats on a subsample of fossil species. Size-free shape data combined with phylogenetic discriminant analyses showed the highest rate of accuracy in habitat classification for a combined sample of carnivorans and ungulates. Conversely, when the two groups were investigated separately, traditional shape data analyzed with phylogenetic discriminant function analyses provided models with the greatest predictive power. By combining carnivorans and ungulates within the same methodological framework we identified common adaptive features in closed habitat-adapted species that show compressed epiphyses, while open habitat-adapted species have expanded epiphyses. These morphologies evolved to allow significant degree of direction switches during locomotion in closed habitats compared to open habitat-adapted species whose forelimb joints evolved to stabilize articulations for increasing speed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carmela Serio
- Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Richard P Brown
- Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Marcus Clauss
- Clinic for Zoo Animals, Exotic Pets and Wildlife, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Carlo Meloro
- Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
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Hutchinson JR, Pringle EV. Footfall patterns and stride parameters of Common hippopotamus ( Hippopotamus amphibius) on land. PeerJ 2024; 12:e17675. [PMID: 38974416 PMCID: PMC11227274 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.17675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2024] [Accepted: 06/12/2024] [Indexed: 07/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Common hippopotamuses (hippos) are among the largest extant land mammals. They thus offer potential further insight into how giant body size on land influences locomotor patterns and abilities. Furthermore, as they have semi-aquatic habits and unusual morphology, they prompt important questions about how locomotion evolved in Hippopotamidae. However, basic information about how hippos move is limited and sometimes contradictory. We aimed to test if hippos trot at all speeds and if they ever use an aerial (suspended) phase, and to quantify how their locomotor patterns (footfalls and stride parameters) change with approximate speed. We surveyed videos available online and collected new video data from two zoo hippos in order to calculate the data needed to achieve our aims; gathering a sample of 169 strides from 32 hippos. No hippos studied used other than trotting (or near-trotting) footfall patterns, but at the fastest relative speeds hippos used brief aerial phases, apparently a new discovery. Hippos exhibit relatively greater athletic capacity than elephants in several ways, but perhaps not greater than rhinoceroses. Our data help form a baseline for assessing if other hippos use normal locomotion; relevant to clinical veterinary assessments of lameness; and for reconstructing the evolutionary biomechanics of hippo lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- John R. Hutchinson
- Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Structure and Motion Laboratory, The Royal Veterinary College, North Mymms, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
| | - Emily V. Pringle
- Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Structure and Motion Laboratory, The Royal Veterinary College, North Mymms, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
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Pintore R, Hutchinson JR, Bishop PJ, Tsai HP, Houssaye A. The evolution of femoral morphology in giant non-avian theropod dinosaurs. PALEOBIOLOGY 2024; 50:308-329. [PMID: 38846629 PMCID: PMC7616063 DOI: 10.1017/pab.2024.6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2024]
Abstract
Theropods are obligate bipedal dinosaurs that appeared 230 million years ago and are still extant as birds. Their history is characterized by extreme variations in body mass, with gigantism evolving convergently between many lineages. However, no quantification of hindlimb functional morphology has shown if these body mass increases led to similar specializations between distinct lineages. Here we studied femoral shape variation across 41 species of theropods (n= 68 specimens) using a high-density 3D geometric morphometric approach. We demonstrated that the heaviest theropods evolved wider epiphyses and a more distally located fourth trochanter, as previously demonstrated in early archosaurs, along with an upturned femoral head and a mediodistal crest that extended proximally along the shaft. Phylogenetically informed analyses highlighted that these traits evolved convergently within six major theropod lineages, regardless of their maximum body mass. Conversely, the most gracile femora were distinct from the rest of the dataset, which we interpret as a femoral specialization to "miniaturization" evolving close to Avialae (bird lineage). Our results support a gradual evolution of known "avian" features, such as the fusion between lesser and greater trochanters and a reduction of the epiphyses' offset, independently from body mass variations, which may relate to a more "avian" type of locomotion (more knee-than hip-driven). The distinction between body mass variations and a more "avian" locomotion is represented by a decoupling in the mediodistal crest morphology, whose biomechanical nature should be studied to better understand the importance of its functional role in gigantism, miniaturization and higher parasagittal abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Romain Pintore
- Mécanismes adaptatifs et évolution (MECADEV) / UMR 7179. CNRS / Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, FR
- Structure and Motion Laboratory, Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield, UK
| | | | - Peter J. Bishop
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
- Geosciences Program, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Queensland, AU
| | - Henry P. Tsai
- Department of Biology, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, USA
| | - Alexandra Houssaye
- Mécanismes adaptatifs et évolution (MECADEV) / UMR 7179. CNRS / Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, FR
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Myhrvold NP, Baumgart SL, Vidal D, Fish FE, Henderson DM, Saitta ET, Sereno PC. Diving dinosaurs? Caveats on the use of bone compactness and pFDA for inferring lifestyle. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0298957. [PMID: 38446841 PMCID: PMC10917332 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0298957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
The lifestyle of spinosaurid dinosaurs has been a topic of lively debate ever since the unveiling of important new skeletal parts for Spinosaurus aegyptiacus in 2014 and 2020. Disparate lifestyles for this taxon have been proposed in the literature; some have argued that it was semiaquatic to varying degrees, hunting fish from the margins of water bodies, or perhaps while wading or swimming on the surface; others suggest that it was a fully aquatic underwater pursuit predator. The various proposals are based on equally disparate lines of evidence. A recent study by Fabbri and coworkers sought to resolve this matter by applying the statistical method of phylogenetic flexible discriminant analysis to femur and rib bone diameters and a bone microanatomy metric called global bone compactness. From their statistical analyses of datasets based on a wide range of extant and extinct taxa, they concluded that two spinosaurid dinosaurs (S. aegyptiacus, Baryonyx walkeri) were fully submerged "subaqueous foragers," whereas a third spinosaurid (Suchomimus tenerensis) remained a terrestrial predator. We performed a thorough reexamination of the datasets, analyses, and methodological assumptions on which those conclusions were based, which reveals substantial problems in each of these areas. In the datasets of exemplar taxa, we found unsupported categorization of taxon lifestyle, inconsistent inclusion and exclusion of taxa, and inappropriate choice of taxa and independent variables. We also explored the effects of uncontrolled sources of variation in estimates of bone compactness that arise from biological factors and measurement error. We found that the ability to draw quantitative conclusions is limited when taxa are represented by single data points with potentially large intrinsic variability. The results of our analysis of the statistical method show that it has low accuracy when applied to these datasets and that the data distributions do not meet fundamental assumptions of the method. These findings not only invalidate the conclusions of the particular analysis of Fabbri et al. but also have important implications for future quantitative uses of bone compactness and discriminant analysis in paleontology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Stephanie L. Baumgart
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
- Department of Physiological Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Daniel Vidal
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
- Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Física Matemática y de Fluidos, Grupo de Biología Evolutiva, UNED, Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Frank E. Fish
- Department of Biology, West Chester University, West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | | | - Evan T. Saitta
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Paul C. Sereno
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
- Committee on Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
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Georgitsis MK, Liakopoulou DΕ, Theodorou GE, Tsiolakis E. Functional morphology of the hindlimb of fossilized pygmy hippopotamus from Ayia Napa (Cyprus). J Morphol 2022; 283:1048-1079. [PMID: 35708268 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.21488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2021] [Revised: 05/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
We studied the functional morphology of the postcranial skeleton of the endemic hippopotamus Phanourios minor, derived from the Upper Pleistocene site of Ayia Napa. The deposit, which consists of a hard limestone substrate on which the species moved, has yielded a great abundance of hippopotamus material, making the Ayia Napa locality one of the most important paleontological sites in Cyprus. The immigration of the large-sized mainland Hippopotamus to Cyprus led to the emergence of a new insular species with its main characteristic being the extremely reduced body size. In this study, all the hindlimb elements of the Cypriot hippo are described in detail and compared with those of the modern species, with the extant Hippopotamus amphibius being considered similar to the possible ancestor of P. minor. In some cases, the morphological comparison is reinforced using bones of other extinct insular and mainland hippos. Additionally, we provided a functional analysis of the hindlimb joints, suggesting specific locomotor habits for the species. The anatomical examination reveals that the elements in P. minor are robust with marked muscular insertion areas resembling those found in Hippopotamus. However, there are also similarities with Choeropsis liberiensis in certain morphofunctional traits. P. minor adapted to slow but powerful locomotion with remarkable stabilization, particularly in the zeugopodium and the autopodium. The knee was less mobile in the craniocaudal direction compared with that in recent hippos, while the abduction-adduction movements of the thigh were advanced. The pes presented good mobility in the sagittal plane and limitation in transversal movements. Thus, P. minor displayed modifications to its limbs, influenced by the mountainous island environment and the body size reduction, resulting in specialized locomotion, which was different from that of extant hippopotamuses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michail K Georgitsis
- Department of Historical Geology-Paleontology, Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Dionysia Ε Liakopoulou
- Department of Historical Geology-Paleontology, Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Georgios E Theodorou
- Department of Historical Geology-Paleontology, Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
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Subaqueous foraging among carnivorous dinosaurs. Nature 2022; 603:852-857. [PMID: 35322229 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04528-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2021] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Secondary aquatic adaptations evolved independently more than 30 times from terrestrial vertebrate ancestors1,2. For decades, non-avian dinosaurs were believed to be an exception to this pattern. Only a few species have been hypothesized to be partly or predominantly aquatic3-11. However, these hypotheses remain controversial12,13, largely owing to the difficulty of identifying unambiguous anatomical adaptations for aquatic habits in extinct animals. Here we demonstrate that the relationship between bone density and aquatic ecologies across extant amniotes provides a reliable inference of aquatic habits in extinct species. We use this approach to evaluate the distribution of aquatic adaptations among non-avian dinosaurs. We find strong support for aquatic habits in spinosaurids, associated with a marked increase in bone density, which precedes the evolution of more conspicuous anatomical modifications, a pattern also observed in other aquatic reptiles and mammals14-16. Spinosaurids are revealed to be aquatic specialists with surprising ecological disparity, including subaqueous foraging behaviour in Spinosaurus and Baryonyx, and non-diving habits in Suchomimus. Adaptation to aquatic environments appeared in spinosaurids during the Early Cretaceous, following their divergence from other tetanuran theropods during the Early Jurassic17.
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