1
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Cupello C, Clément G, Herbin M, Meunier FJ, Brito PM. Pulmonary arteries in coelacanths shed light on the vasculature evolution of air-breathing organs in vertebrates. Sci Rep 2024; 14:10624. [PMID: 38724555 PMCID: PMC11082188 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-61065-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
To date, the presence of pulmonary organs in the fossil record is extremely rare. Among extant vertebrates, lungs are described in actinopterygian polypterids and in all sarcopterygians, including coelacanths and lungfish. However, vasculature of pulmonary arteries has never been accurately identified neither in fossil nor extant coelacanths due to the paucity of fossil preservation of pulmonary organs and limitations of invasive studies in extant specimens. Here we present the first description of the pulmonary vasculature in both fossil and extant actinistian, a non-tetrapod sarcopterygian clade, contributing to a more in-depth discussion on the morphology of these structures and on the possible homology between vertebrate air-filled organs (lungs of sarcopterygians, lungs of actinopterygians, and gas bladders of actinopterygians).
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Affiliation(s)
- Camila Cupello
- Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia-IBRAG, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
| | - Gaël Clément
- Département Origines & Evolution, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, UMR 7207 (MNHN-CNRS-Sorbonne Universités) Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie (CR2P), Paris, France
| | - Marc Herbin
- Département Adaptations du Vivant, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, UMR 7179 (CNRS-MNHN) Mécanismes Adaptatifs et Evolution (MECADEV), Paris, France
| | - François J Meunier
- Département Adaptations du Vivant, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, UMR 8067 (CNRS-IRD-MNHN-Sorbonne Universités-UCN, UA), Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et des Ecosystèmes Aquatiques (BOREA), Paris, France
| | - Paulo M Brito
- Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia-IBRAG, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
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2
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Scheyer TM. The pseudosuchian record in paleohistology: A small review. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2024. [PMID: 38655735 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25455] [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: 01/05/2024] [Revised: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 03/30/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Archosauria originated around the Earth's largest biotic crisis that severely affected all ecosystems globally, the Permotriassic Mass extinction event, and comprises two crown-group lineages: the bird-lineage and the crocodylian lineage. The bird lineage includes the iconic pterosaurs, as well as dinosaurs and birds, whereas the crocodylian lineage includes clades such as aetosaurs, poposaurs, "rauisuchians," as well as Crocodylomorpha; the latter being represented today only by less than 30 extant species of Crocodylia. Despite playing important roles during Mesozoic and Cenozoic ecosystems, both on land and in water, Pseudosuchia received far less attention compared to the bird-lineage, which is also reflected in number and scope of histological studies so far. Lately, the field has seen a shift of focus toward pseudosuchians, however, and the symposium on "Paleohistological Inferences of Paleobiological Traits in Pseudosuchia" held during the International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology 2023 in Cairns, Queensland, Australia, is the latest proof of that. To put these novel aspects of paleohistological and paleobiological research into context, an overview of the non-extant pseudosuchian taxa whose postcranial bones were studied so far is provided here (c. 80 species out of a total of more than 700 extinct species described) and recent trends in pseudosuchian osteohistology are highlighted. In addition, histological studies on cranial and dental material and other potential hard tissues, such as eggshells and otoliths, are briefly reviewed as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Torsten M Scheyer
- Department of Paleontology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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3
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Dhami NK, Greenwood PF, Poropat SF, Tripp M, Elson A, Vijay H, Brosnan L, Holman AI, Campbell M, Hopper P, Smith L, Jian A, Grice K. Microbially mediated fossil concretions and their characterization by the latest methodologies: a review. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1225411. [PMID: 37840715 PMCID: PMC10576451 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1225411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The study of well-preserved organic matter (OM) within mineral concretions has provided key insights into depositional and environmental conditions in deep time. Concretions of varied compositions, including carbonate, phosphate, and iron-based minerals, have been found to host exceptionally preserved fossils. Organic geochemical characterization of concretion-encapsulated OM promises valuable new information of fossil preservation, paleoenvironments, and even direct taxonomic information to further illuminate the evolutionary dynamics of our planet and its biota. Full exploitation of this largely untapped geochemical archive, however, requires a sophisticated understanding of the prevalence, formation controls and OM sequestration properties of mineral concretions. Past research has led to the proposal of different models of concretion formation and OM preservation. Nevertheless, the formation mechanisms and controls on OM preservation in concretions remain poorly understood. Here we provide a detailed review of the main types of concretions and formation pathways with a focus on the role of microbes and their metabolic activities. In addition, we provide a comprehensive account of organic geochemical, and complimentary inorganic geochemical, morphological, microbial and paleontological, analytical methods, including recent advancements, relevant to the characterization of concretions and sequestered OM. The application and outcome of several early organic geochemical studies of concretion-impregnated OM are included to demonstrate how this underexploited geo-biological record can provide new insights into the Earth's evolutionary record. This paper also attempts to shed light on the current status of this research and major challenges that lie ahead in the further application of geo-paleo-microbial and organic geochemical research of concretions and their host fossils. Recent efforts to bridge the knowledge and communication gaps in this multidisciplinary research area are also discussed, with particular emphasis on research with significance for interpreting the molecular record in extraordinarily preserved fossils.
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Affiliation(s)
- Navdeep K. Dhami
- Western Australian – Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC), School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Institute for Geoscience Research, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Paul F. Greenwood
- Western Australian – Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC), School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Institute for Geoscience Research, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Stephen F. Poropat
- Western Australian – Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC), School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Institute for Geoscience Research, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Madison Tripp
- Western Australian – Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC), School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Institute for Geoscience Research, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Amy Elson
- Western Australian – Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC), School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Institute for Geoscience Research, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Hridya Vijay
- Western Australian – Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC), School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Institute for Geoscience Research, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Luke Brosnan
- Western Australian – Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC), School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Institute for Geoscience Research, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Alex I. Holman
- Western Australian – Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC), School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Institute for Geoscience Research, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Matthew Campbell
- The Trace and Environmental DNA lab (trEND), School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Peter Hopper
- Western Australian – Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC), School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Institute for Geoscience Research, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Lisa Smith
- Western Australian – Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC), School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Institute for Geoscience Research, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Andrew Jian
- Western Australian – Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC), School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Institute for Geoscience Research, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Kliti Grice
- Western Australian – Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC), School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Institute for Geoscience Research, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
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4
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Imai T, Hattori S, Uesugi K, Hoshino M. High-energy synchrotron-radiation-based X-ray micro-tomography enables non-destructive and micro-scale palaeohistological assessment of macro-scale fossil dinosaur bones. JOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION 2023; 30:627-633. [PMID: 37026390 PMCID: PMC10161879 DOI: 10.1107/s1600577523001790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Palaeohistological analysis has numerous applications in understanding the palaeobiology of extinct dinosaurs. Recent developments of synchrotron-radiation-based X-ray micro-tomography (SXMT) have allowed the non-destructive assessment of palaeohistological features in fossil skeletons. Yet, the application of the technique has been limited to specimens on the millimetre to micrometre scale because its high-resolution capacity has been obtained at the expense of a small field of view and low X-ray energy. Here, SXMT analyses of dinosaur bones with widths measuring ∼3 cm under a voxel size of ∼4 µm at beamline BL28B2 at SPring-8 (Hyogo, Japan) are reported, and the advantages of virtual-palaeohistological analyses with large field of view and high X-ray energy are explored. The analyses provide virtual thin-sections visualizing palaeohistological features comparable with those obtained by traditional palaeohistology. Namely, vascular canals, secondary osteons and lines of arrested growth are visible in the tomography images, while osteocyte lacunae are unobservable due to their micrometre-scale diameter. Virtual palaeohistology at BL28B2 is advantageous in being non-destructive, allowing multiple sampling within and across skeletal elements to exhaustively test the skeletal maturity of an animal. Continued SXMT experiments at SPring-8 should facilitate the development of SXMT experimental procedures and aid in understanding the paleobiology of extinct dinosaurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takuya Imai
- Institute of Dinosaur Research, Fukui Prefectural University, 4-1-1 Matsuoka Kenjojima, Eiheiji, Fukui 910-1195, Japan
| | - Soki Hattori
- Institute of Dinosaur Research, Fukui Prefectural University, 4-1-1 Matsuoka Kenjojima, Eiheiji, Fukui 910-1195, Japan
| | - Kentaro Uesugi
- Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5198, Japan
| | - Masato Hoshino
- Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5198, Japan
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5
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Leyhr J, Sanchez S, Dollman KN, Tafforeau P, Haitina T. Enhanced contrast synchrotron X-ray microtomography for describing skeleton-associated soft tissue defects in zebrafish mutants. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2023; 14:1108916. [PMID: 36950679 PMCID: PMC10025580 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1108916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2022] [Accepted: 02/10/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Detailed histological analyses are desirable for zebrafish mutants that are models for human skeletal diseases, but traditional histological techniques are limited to two-dimensional thin sections with orientations highly dependent on careful sample preparation. On the other hand, techniques that provide three-dimensional (3D) datasets including µCT scanning are typically limited to visualizing the bony skeleton and lack histological resolution. We combined diffusible iodine-based contrast enhancement (DICE) and propagation phase-contrast synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography (PPC-SRµCT) to image late larval and juvenile zebrafish, obtaining high-quality 3D virtual histology datasets of the mineralized skeleton and surrounding soft tissues. To demonstrate this technique, we used virtual histological thin sections and 3D segmentation to qualitatively and quantitatively compare wild-type zebrafish and nkx3.2 -/- mutants to characterize novel soft-tissue phenotypes in the muscles and tendons of the jaw and ligaments of the Weberian apparatus, as well as the sinus perilymphaticus associated with the inner ear. We could observe disrupted fiber organization and tendons of the adductor mandibulae and protractor hyoideus muscles associated with the jaws, and show that despite this, the overall muscle volumes appeared unaffected. Ligaments associated with the malformed Weberian ossicles were mostly absent in nkx3.2 -/- mutants, and the sinus perilymphaticus was severely constricted or absent as a result of the fused exoccipital and basioccipital elements. These soft-tissue phenotypes have implications for the physiology of nkx3.2 -/- zebrafish, and demonstrate the promise of DICE-PPC-SRµCT for histopathological investigations of bone-associated soft tissues in small-fish skeletal disease models and developmental studies more broadly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jake Leyhr
- Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sophie Sanchez
- Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
| | | | - Paul Tafforeau
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
| | - Tatjana Haitina
- Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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6
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Govender S, Cronjé JY, Keough N, Oberholster AJ, van Schoor AN, de Jager EJ, Naicker J. Emerging Imaging Techniques in Anatomy: For Teaching, Research and Clinical Practice. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2023; 1392:19-42. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-13021-2_2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
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7
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Trinajstic K, Long JA, Sanchez S, Boisvert CA, Snitting D, Tafforeau P, Dupret V, Clement AM, Currie PD, Roelofs B, Bevitt JJ, Lee MSY, Ahlberg PE. Exceptional preservation of organs in Devonian placoderms from the Gogo lagerstätte. Science 2022; 377:1311-1314. [DOI: 10.1126/science.abf3289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
The origin and early diversification of jawed vertebrates involved major changes to skeletal and soft anatomy. Skeletal transformations can be examined directly by studying fossil stem gnathostomes; however, preservation of soft anatomy is rare. We describe the only known example of a three-dimensionally mineralized heart, thick-walled stomach, and bilobed liver from arthrodire placoderms, stem gnathostomes from the Late Devonian Gogo Formation in Western Australia. The application of synchrotron and neutron microtomography to this material shows evidence of a flat S-shaped heart, which is well separated from the liver and other abdominal organs, and the absence of lungs. Arthrodires thus show the earliest phylogenetic evidence for repositioning of the gnathostome heart associated with the evolution of the complex neck region in jawed vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate Trinajstic
- School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia
- Western Australian Museum, Welshpool, WA 6106, Australia
| | - John A. Long
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
- Museum Victoria, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia
| | - Sophie Sanchez
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Center, Uppsala University, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Catherine A. Boisvert
- School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia
| | - Daniel Snitting
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Center, Uppsala University, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Paul Tafforeau
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Vincent Dupret
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Center, Uppsala University, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Alice M. Clement
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Peter D. Currie
- Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute and EMBL Australia, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - Brett Roelofs
- School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia
| | - Joseph J. Bevitt
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, Australia
| | - Michael S. Y. Lee
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
- Earth Sciences Section, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia
| | - Per E. Ahlberg
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Center, Uppsala University, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden
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8
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Raman Spectra and Ancient Life: Vibrational ID Profiles of Fossilized (Bone) Tissues. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms231810689. [PMID: 36142598 PMCID: PMC9502200 DOI: 10.3390/ijms231810689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Revised: 09/11/2022] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Raman micro-spectroscopy is a non-destructive and non-contact analytical technique that combines microscopy and spectroscopy, thus providing a potential for non-invasive and in situ molecular identification, even over heterogeneous and rare samples such as fossilized tissues. Recently, chemical imaging techniques have become an increasingly popular tool for characterizing trace elements, isotopic information, and organic markers in fossils. Raman spectroscopy also shows a growing potential in understanding bone microstructure, chemical composition, and mineral assemblance affected by diagenetic processes. In our lab, we have investigated a wide range of different fossil tissues, mainly of Mesozoic vertebrates (from Jurassic through Cretaceous). Besides standard spectra of sedimentary rocks, including pigment contamination, our Raman spectra also exhibit interesting spectral features in the 1200–1800 cm−1 spectral range, where Raman bands of proteins, nucleic acids, and other organic molecules can be identified. In the present study, we discuss both a possible origin of the observed bands of ancient organic residues and difficulties with definition of the specific spectral markers in fossilized soft and hard tissues.
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9
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During MAD, Smit J, Voeten DFAE, Berruyer C, Tafforeau P, Sanchez S, Stein KHW, Verdegaal-Warmerdam SJA, van der Lubbe JHJL. The Mesozoic terminated in boreal spring. Nature 2022; 603:91-94. [PMID: 35197634 PMCID: PMC8891016 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04446-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The Cretaceous-Palaeogene mass extinction around 66 million years ago was triggered by the Chicxulub asteroid impact on the present-day Yucatán Peninsula1,2. This event caused the highly selective extinction that eliminated about 76% of species3,4, including all non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs, ammonites, rudists and most marine reptiles. The timing of the impact and its aftermath have been studied mainly on millennial timescales, leaving the season of the impact unconstrained. Here, by studying fishes that died on the day the Mesozoic era ended, we demonstrate that the impact that caused the Cretaceous-Palaeogene mass extinction took place during boreal spring. Osteohistology together with stable isotope records of exceptionally preserved perichondral and dermal bones in acipenseriform fishes from the Tanis impact-induced seiche deposits5 reveal annual cyclicity across the final years of the Cretaceous period. Annual life cycles, including seasonal timing and duration of reproduction, feeding, hibernation and aestivation, vary strongly across latest Cretaceous biotic clades. We postulate that the timing of the Chicxulub impact in boreal spring and austral autumn was a major influence on selective biotic survival across the Cretaceous-Palaeogene boundary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie A D During
- Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. .,Subdepartment of Evolution and Development, Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Jan Smit
- Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Dennis F A E Voeten
- Subdepartment of Evolution and Development, Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
| | | | - Paul Tafforeau
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
| | - Sophie Sanchez
- Subdepartment of Evolution and Development, Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
| | - Koen H W Stein
- Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Directorate 'Earth and History of Life', Brussels, Belgium.,Earth System Science-AMGC, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | | | - Jeroen H J L van der Lubbe
- Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.,School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
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10
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Guo Z, Li C, Cao Y, Jiang L, Zhang Y, Li P, Zhou Y, Duan C, Hu J, Lu H. 3D visualization and morphometric analysis of spinal motion segments and vascular networks: A synchrotron radiation-based micro-CT study in mice. J Anat 2022; 240:268-278. [PMID: 34622448 PMCID: PMC8742973 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Revised: 08/08/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The structure of spinal motion segments and spinal vasculature is complicated. Visualizing the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the spine may provide guidance for spine surgery. However, conventional imaging techniques fail to simultaneously obtain 3D images of soft and hard tissues, and achieving such coimaging states of the spine and its vascular networks remains a challenge. Synchrotron radiation micro-CT (SRμCT) provides a relatively effective and novel method of acquiring detailed 3D information. In this study, specimens of the thoracic spine were obtained from six mice. SRμCT was employed to acquire 3D images of the structure, and histologic staining was performed for comparisons with the SRμCT images. The whole spinal motion segments and the spinal vascular network were simultaneously explored at high resolution. The mean thickness of the cartilaginous end plates (CEPs) and the volume of the intervertebral discs (IVDs) were calculated. The surface of the CEPs and the facet joint cartilage (FJC) were presented as heat maps, which allowed for direct visualization of the thickness distribution. Regional division revealed heterogeneity among the ventral, central, and dorsal parts of the CEPs and between the superior and inferior parts of the facet processes. Moreover, the connections and spatial morphology of the spinal vascular network were visualized. Our study indicates that SRμCT imaging is an ideal method for high-resolution visualization and 3D morphometric analysis of the whole spinal motion segments and spinal vascular network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhu Guo
- Department of Spine Surgery and OrthopaedicsXiangya HospitalCentral South UniversityChangshaChina
- Spine Surgery Department of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao UniversityQingdaoChina
| | - Chengjun Li
- Department of Spine Surgery and OrthopaedicsXiangya HospitalCentral South UniversityChangshaChina
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric DisordersXiangya HospitalCentral South UniversityChangshaChina
- Key Laboratory of Organ Injury, Aging and Regenerative Medicine of Hunan ProvinceChangshaChina
| | - Yong Cao
- Department of Spine Surgery and OrthopaedicsXiangya HospitalCentral South UniversityChangshaChina
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric DisordersXiangya HospitalCentral South UniversityChangshaChina
- Key Laboratory of Organ Injury, Aging and Regenerative Medicine of Hunan ProvinceChangshaChina
| | - Liyuan Jiang
- Department of Spine Surgery and OrthopaedicsXiangya HospitalCentral South UniversityChangshaChina
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric DisordersXiangya HospitalCentral South UniversityChangshaChina
- Key Laboratory of Organ Injury, Aging and Regenerative Medicine of Hunan ProvinceChangshaChina
| | - Yi Zhang
- Department of Sports MedicineAffiliated Hospital of Qingdao UniversityQingdaoChina
- Traumatic Orthopaedic Institute of Shandong ProvinceAffiliated Hospital of Qingdao UniversityQingdaoChina
| | - Ping Li
- Department of ObstetricsXiangya HospitalCentral South UniversityChangshaChina
| | - Yongchun Zhou
- Department of OrthopedicShanxi Provincial People’s HospitalXi’anChina
| | - Chunyue Duan
- Department of Spine Surgery and OrthopaedicsXiangya HospitalCentral South UniversityChangshaChina
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric DisordersXiangya HospitalCentral South UniversityChangshaChina
| | - Jianzhong Hu
- Department of Spine Surgery and OrthopaedicsXiangya HospitalCentral South UniversityChangshaChina
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric DisordersXiangya HospitalCentral South UniversityChangshaChina
- Key Laboratory of Organ Injury, Aging and Regenerative Medicine of Hunan ProvinceChangshaChina
| | - Hongbin Lu
- Key Laboratory of Organ Injury, Aging and Regenerative Medicine of Hunan ProvinceChangshaChina
- Department of Sports MedicineResearch Centre of Sports MedicineXiangya HospitalCentral South UniversityChangshaChina
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11
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Atake OJ, Eames BF. Mineralized Cartilage and Bone-Like Tissues in Chondrichthyans Offer Potential Insights Into the Evolution and Development of Mineralized Tissues in the Vertebrate Endoskeleton. Front Genet 2022; 12:762042. [PMID: 35003210 PMCID: PMC8727550 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.762042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The impregnation of biominerals into the extracellular matrix of living organisms, a process termed biomineralization, gives rise to diverse mineralized (or calcified) tissues in vertebrates. Preservation of mineralized tissues in the fossil record has provided insights into the evolutionary history of vertebrates and their skeletons. However, current understanding of the vertebrate skeleton and of the processes underlying its formation is biased towards biomedical models such as the tetrapods mouse and chick. Chondrichthyans (sharks, skates, rays, and chimaeras) and osteichthyans are the only vertebrate groups with extant (living) representatives that have a mineralized skeleton, but the basal phylogenetic position of chondrichthyans could potentially offer unique insights into skeletal evolution. For example, bone is a vertebrate novelty, but the internal supporting skeleton (endoskeleton) of extant chondrichthyans is commonly described as lacking bone. The molecular and developmental basis for this assertion is yet to be tested. Subperichondral tissues in the endoskeleton of some chondrichthyans display mineralization patterns and histological and molecular features of bone, thereby challenging the notion that extant chondrichthyans lack endoskeletal bone. Additionally, the chondrichthyan endoskeleton demonstrates some unique features and others that are potentially homologous with other vertebrates, including a polygonal mineralization pattern, a trabecular mineralization pattern, and an unconstricted perichordal sheath. Because of the basal phylogenetic position of chondrichthyans among all other extant vertebrates with a mineralized skeleton, developmental and molecular studies of chondrichthyans are critical to flesh out the evolution of vertebrate skeletal tissues, but only a handful of such studies have been carried out to date. This review discusses morphological and molecular features of chondrichthyan endoskeletal tissues and cell types, ultimately emphasizing how comparative embryology and transcriptomics can reveal homology of mineralized skeletal tissues (and their cell types) between chondrichthyans and other vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oghenevwogaga J Atake
- Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Pharmacology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
| | - B Frank Eames
- Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Pharmacology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
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12
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Nava A, Mahoney P, Bondioli L, Coppa A, Cristiani E, Fattore L, McFarlane G, Dreossi D, Mancini L. Virtual histology of archaeological human deciduous prenatal enamel through synchrotron X-ray computed microtomography images. JOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION 2022; 29:247-253. [PMID: 34985442 PMCID: PMC8733994 DOI: 10.1107/s160057752101208x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/12/2021] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Virtual histology is increasingly utilized to reconstruct the cell mechanisms underlying dental morphology for fragile fossils when physical thin sections are not permitted. Yet, the comparability of data derived from virtual and physical thin sections is rarely tested. Here, the results from archaeological human deciduous incisor physical sections are compared with virtual ones obtained by phase-contrast synchrotron radiation computed microtomography (SRµCT) of intact specimens using a multi-scale approach. Moreover, virtual prenatal daily enamel secretion rates are compared with those calculated from physical thin sections of the same tooth class from the same archaeological skeletal series. Results showed overall good visibility of the enamel microstructures in the virtual sections which are comparable to that of physical ones. The highest spatial resolution SRµCT setting (effective pixel size = 0.9 µm) produced daily secretion rates that matched those calculated from physical sections. Rates obtained using the lowest spatial resolution setup (effective pixel size = 2.0 µm) were higher than those obtained from physical sections. The results demonstrate that virtual histology can be applied to the investigated samples to obtain reliable and quantitative measurements of prenatal daily enamel secretion rates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessia Nava
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Giles Lane, Canterbury CT2 7NZ, United Kingdom
- Department of Maxillo-Facial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Caserta 6, Rome 00161, Italy
| | - Patrick Mahoney
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Giles Lane, Canterbury CT2 7NZ, United Kingdom
| | - Luca Bondioli
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Via degli Ariani 1, Ravenna 48121, Italy
| | - Alfredo Coppa
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le Aldo Moro 5, Rome 00185, Italy
| | - Emanuela Cristiani
- Department of Maxillo-Facial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Caserta 6, Rome 00161, Italy
| | - Luciano Fattore
- Department of Chemical Engineering Materials Environment, Sapienza University of Rome, via Eudossiana 18, Rome 00184, Italy
| | - Gina McFarlane
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Giles Lane, Canterbury CT2 7NZ, United Kingdom
| | - Diego Dreossi
- Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste SCpA, SS 14 Area Science Park, Basovizza, Trieste 34149 Italy
| | - Lucia Mancini
- Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste SCpA, SS 14 Area Science Park, Basovizza, Trieste 34149 Italy
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Zhang L, Zhao H, Zhou Z, Jia M, Zhang L, Jiang J, Gao F. Improving spatial resolution with an edge-enhancement model for low-dose propagation-based X-ray phase-contrast computed tomography. OPTICS EXPRESS 2021; 29:37399-37417. [PMID: 34808812 DOI: 10.1364/oe.440664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Accepted: 10/14/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Propagation-based X-ray phase-contrast computed tomography (PB-PCCT) has been increasingly popular for distinguishing low contrast tissues. Phase retrieval is an important step to quantitatively obtain the phase information before the tomographic reconstructions, while typical phase retrieval methods in PB-PCCT, such as homogenous transport of intensity equation (TIE-Hom), are essentially low-pass filters and thus improve the signal to noise ratio at the expense of the reduced spatial resolution of the reconstructed image. To improve the reconstructed spatial resolution, measured phase contrast projections with high edge enhancement and the phase projections retrieved by TIE-Hom were weighted summed and fed into an iterative tomographic algorithm within the framework of the adaptive steepest descent projections onto convex sets (ASD-POCS), which was employed for suppressing the image noise in low dose reconstructions because of the sparse-view scanning strategy or low exposure time for single phase contrast projection. The merging strategy decreases the accuracy of the linear model of PB-PCCT and would finally lead to the reconstruction failure in iterative reconstructions. Therefore, the additive median root prior is also introduced in the algorithm to partly increase the model accuracy. The reconstructed spatial resolution and noise performance can be flexibly balanced by a pair of antagonistic hyper-parameters. Validations were performed by the established phase-contrast Feldkamp-Davis-Kress, phase-retrieved Feldkamp-Davis-Kress, conventional ASD-POCS and the proposed enhanced ASD-POCS with a numerical phantom dataset and experimental biomaterial dataset. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the conventional ASD-POCS in spatial evaluation assessments such as root mean square error (a ratio of 9.78%), contrast to noise ratio (CNR) (a ratio of 7.46%), and also frequency evaluation assessments such as modulation transfer function (a ratio of 66.48% of MTF50% (50% MTF value)), noise power spectrum (a ratio of 35.25% of f50% (50% value of the Nyquist frequency)) and noise equivalent quanta (1-2 orders of magnitude at high frequencies). Experimental results again confirm the superiority of proposed strategy relative to the conventional one in terms of edge sharpness and CNR (an average increase of 67.35%).
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Newham E, Gill PG, Robson Brown K, Gostling NJ, Corfe IJ, Schneider P. A robust, semi-automated approach for counting cementum increments imaged with synchrotron X-ray computed tomography. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0249743. [PMID: 34735460 PMCID: PMC8568193 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Cementum, the tissue attaching mammal tooth roots to the periodontal ligament, grows appositionally throughout life, displaying a series of circum-annual incremental features. These have been studied for decades as a direct record of chronological lifespan. The majority of previous studies on cementum have used traditional thin-section histological methods to image and analyse increments. However, several caveats have been raised in terms of studying cementum increments in thin-sections. Firstly, the limited number of thin-sections and the two-dimensional perspective they impart provide an incomplete interpretation of cementum structure, and studies often struggle or fail to overcome complications in increment patterns that complicate or inhibit increment counting. Increments have been repeatedly shown to both split and coalesce, creating accessory increments that can bias increment counts. Secondly, identification and counting of cementum increments using human vision is subjective, and it has led to inaccurate readings in several experiments studying individuals of known age. Here, we have attempted to optimise a recently introduced imaging modality for cementum imaging; X-ray propagation-based phase-contrast imaging (PPCI). X-ray PPCI was performed for a sample of rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) lower first molars (n = 10) from a laboratory population of known age. PPCI allowed the qualitative identification of primary/annual versus intermittent secondary increments formed by splitting/coalescence. A new method for semi-automatic increment counting was then integrated into a purpose-built software package for studying cementum increments, to count increments in regions with minimal complications. Qualitative comparison with data from conventional cementochronology, based on histological examination of tissue thin-sections, confirmed that X-ray PPCI reliably and non-destructively records cementum increments (given the appropriate preparation of specimens prior to X-ray imaging). Validation of the increment counting algorithm suggests that it is robust and provides accurate estimates of increment counts. In summary, we show that our new increment counting method has the potential to overcome caveats of conventional cementochronology approaches, when used to analyse three-dimensional images provided by X-ray PPCI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elis Newham
- Bioengineering Science Research Group, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
- School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Pamela G. Gill
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
| | - Kate Robson Brown
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Neil J. Gostling
- School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
| | - Ian J. Corfe
- Developmental Biology Program, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Geological Survey of Finland, Espoo, Finland
| | - Philipp Schneider
- Bioengineering Science Research Group, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
- High-Performance Vision Systems, Center for Vision, Automation & Control, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Vienna, Austria
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15
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Moreau JD, Philippe M, Néraudeau D, Dépré E, Le Couls M, Fernandez V, Beurel S. Paleohistology of the Cretaceous resin-producing conifer Geinitzia reichenbachii using X-ray synchrotron microtomography. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2021; 108:1745-1760. [PMID: 34495546 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.1722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2020] [Accepted: 03/05/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE The conifer Geinitzia reichenbachii was a common member of the Cretaceous Laurasian floras. However, the histology of G. reichenbachii leafy axes was never described in detail, and our knowledge of its paleoecology remains very limited. Using new and exquisitely preserved silicified material from the Upper Cretaceous of western France, we describe G. reichenbachii from the gross morphology to the cellular scale, then discuss paleoecological and taphonomical implications. METHODS We examined specimens from two localities in western France (Claix and Moragne) using propagation phase-contrast X-ray synchrotron microtomography. RESULTS The cuticle and the inner tissues of leafy axes are preserved in three dimensions. Epidermis, hypodermis, palisade parenchyma, spongy parenchyma, transfusion tracheids, and most of tissues of the vascular cylinder are clearly discernible. The numerous resin ducts are sometimes filled by persisting resin. Additionally, surfaces of some leaves preserved drops and flows of resin. CONCLUSIONS Depositional environmental context combined with histological features of G. reichenbachii suggest that this conifer was adapted to a range of marginal-littoral ecosystems including those open to the sea paleoenvironments and innermost ones influenced by strong continental inputs. Geinitzia reichenbachii was adapted to withstand intense sunlight, hot temperatures coupled with salty sea wind, and dry conditions. The frequent amber-bearing beds in the Cretaceous from western France with Geinitzia as a main component of the associated floras raises the possibility of a role for Geinitzia in the production of the "Charentese amber".
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-David Moreau
- Biogéosciences, UMR CNRS 6282, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 6 boulevard Gabriel, Dijon, 21000, France
| | - Marc Philippe
- Université de Lyon, Claude-Bernard Lyon-1, ENTPE, CNRS, UMR 5023 LEHNA, Villeurbanne, 69622, France
| | - Didier Néraudeau
- CNRS UMR 6118 Géosciences, Université Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, 263 avenue du Général Leclerc, Rennes, `Cedex, 35042, France
| | - Eric Dépré
- GIP-GEVES (Groupement d'Étude et de Contrôle des Variétés et Semences), Le Magneraud, Surgères, F-17700, France
| | - Matthieu Le Couls
- CNRS UMR 6118 Géosciences, Université Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, 263 avenue du Général Leclerc, Rennes, `Cedex, 35042, France
| | - Vincent Fernandez
- Imaging and Analysis Centre, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 7 avenue des Martyrs, Grenoble, 38043, France
| | - Simon Beurel
- CNRS UMR 6118 Géosciences, Université Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, 263 avenue du Général Leclerc, Rennes, `Cedex, 35042, France
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstraße 43, Berlin, 10115, Germany
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16
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Qvarnström M, Fikáček M, Vikberg Wernström J, Huld S, Beutel RG, Arriaga-Varela E, Ahlberg PE, Niedźwiedzki G. Exceptionally preserved beetles in a Triassic coprolite of putative dinosauriform origin. Curr Biol 2021; 31:3374-3381.e5. [PMID: 34197727 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.05.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2021] [Revised: 04/16/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The Triassic was a crucial period for the early evolution and diversification of insects, including Coleoptera1-3-the most diverse order of organisms on Earth. The study of Triassic beetles, however, relies almost exclusively on flattened fossils with limited character preservation. Using synchrotron microtomography, we investigated a fragmentary Upper Triassic coprolite, which contains a rich record of 3D-preserved minute beetle remains of Triamyxa coprolithica gen. et sp. nov. Some specimens are nearly complete, preserving delicate structures of the legs and antennae. Most of them are congruent morphologically, implying that they are conspecific. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that T. coprolithica is a member of Myxophaga, a small suborder of beetles with a sparse fossil record, and that it represents the only member of the extinct family Triamyxidae fam. nov. Our findings highlight that coprolites can contain insect remains, which are almost as well preserved as in amber. They are thus an important source of information for exploring insect evolution before the Cretaceous-Neogene "amber time window." Treated as food residues, insect remains preserved in coprolites also have important implications for the paleoecology of insectivores, in this case, likely the dinosauriform Silesaurus opolensis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Qvarnström
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Martin Fikáček
- Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, no. 70, Lienhai Road, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan; Department of Entomology, National Museum, Praha 9, Czech Republic; Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Praha 2, Czech Republic.
| | - Joel Vikberg Wernström
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sigrid Huld
- Geocentrum, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Rolf G Beutel
- Institut für Zoologie und Evolutionsforschung, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena, Germany
| | | | - Per E Ahlberg
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Grzegorz Niedźwiedzki
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
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17
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Fossilized cell structures identify an ancient origin for the teleost whole-genome duplication. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2101780118. [PMID: 34301898 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2101780118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Teleost fishes comprise one-half of all vertebrate species and possess a duplicated genome. This whole-genome duplication (WGD) occurred on the teleost stem lineage in an ancient common ancestor of all living teleosts and is hypothesized as a trigger of their exceptional evolutionary radiation. Genomic and phylogenetic data indicate that WGD occurred in the Mesozoic after the divergence of teleosts from their closest living relatives but before the origin of the extant teleost groups. However, these approaches cannot pinpoint WGD among the many extinct groups that populate this 50- to 100-million-y lineage, preventing tests of the evolutionary effects of WGD. We infer patterns of genome size evolution in fossil stem-group teleosts using high-resolution synchrotron X-ray tomography to measure the bone cell volumes, which correlate with genome size in living species. Our findings indicate that WGD occurred very early on the teleost stem lineage and that all extinct stem-group teleosts known so far possessed duplicated genomes. WGD therefore predates both the origin of proposed key innovations of the teleost skeleton and the onset of substantial morphological diversification in the clade. Moreover, the early occurrence of WGD allowed considerable time for postduplication reorganization prior to the origin of the teleost crown group. This suggests at most an indirect link between WGD and evolutionary success, with broad implications for the relationship between genomic architecture and large-scale evolutionary patterns in the vertebrate Tree of Life.
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18
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Georgalis GL, Scheyer TM. Lizards and snakes from the earliest Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France: an anatomical and histological approach of some of the oldest Neogene squamates from Europe. BMC Ecol Evol 2021; 21:144. [PMID: 34256702 PMCID: PMC8278609 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-021-01874-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2021] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The earliest Miocene (Aquitanian) represents a crucial time interval in the evolution of European squamates (i.e., lizards and snakes), witnessing a high diversity of taxa, including an array of extinct forms but also representatives of extant genera. We here conduct a taxonomical survey along with a histological/microanatomical approach on new squamate remains from the earliest Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France, an area that has been well known for its fossil discoveries since the nineteenth century. RESULTS We document new occurrences of taxa, among which, the lacertid Janosikia and the anguid Ophisaurus holeci, were previously unknown from France. We provide a detailed description of the anatomical structures of the various cranial and postcranial remains of lizards and snakes from Saint-Gérand-le-Puy. By applying micro-CT scanning in the most complete cranial elements of our sample, we decipher previously unknown microanatomical features. We report in detail the subsurface distribution and 3D connectivity of vascular channels in the anguid parietal. The fine meshwork of channels and cavities or sinuses in the parietal of Ophisaurus could indicate some thermoregulatory function, as it has recently been demonstrated for other vertebrate groups, providing implications for the palaeophysiology of this earliest Miocene anguine lizard. CONCLUSIONS A combination of anatomical and micro-anatomical/histological approach, aided by micro-CT scanning, enabled the documentation of these new earliest Miocene squamate remains. A distinct geographic expansion is provided for the extinct anguine Ophisaurus holeci and the lacertid Janosikia (the closest relative of the extant insular Gallotia from the Canary Islands).
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgios L Georgalis
- University of Zurich, Palaeontological Institute and Museum, Karl Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006, Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Torsten M Scheyer
- University of Zurich, Palaeontological Institute and Museum, Karl Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006, Zurich, Switzerland
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19
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Estefa J, Tafforeau P, Clement AM, Klembara J, Niedźwiedzki G, Berruyer C, Sanchez S. New light shed on the early evolution of limb-bone growth plate and bone marrow. eLife 2021; 10:51581. [PMID: 33648627 PMCID: PMC7924947 DOI: 10.7554/elife.51581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2019] [Accepted: 12/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The production of blood cells (haematopoiesis) occurs in the limb bones of most tetrapods but is absent in the fin bones of ray-finned fish. When did long bones start producing blood cells? Recent hypotheses suggested that haematopoiesis migrated into long bones prior to the water-to-land transition and protected newly-produced blood cells from harsher environmental conditions. However, little fossil evidence to support these hypotheses has been provided so far. Observations of the humeral microarchitecture of stem-tetrapods, batrachians, and amniotes were performed using classical sectioning and three-dimensional synchrotron virtual histology. They show that Permian tetrapods seem to be among the first to exhibit a centralised marrow organisation, which allows haematopoiesis as in extant amniotes. Not only does our study demonstrate that long-bone haematopoiesis was probably not an exaptation to the water-to-land transition but it sheds light on the early evolution of limb-bone development and the sequence of bone-marrow functional acquisitions. For many aquatic creatures, the red blood cells that rush through their bodies are created in organs such as the liver or the kidney. In most land vertebrates however, blood-cell production occurs in the bone marrow. There, the process is shielded from the ultraviolet light or starker temperature changes experienced out of the water. It is possible that this difference evolved long before the first animal with a backbone crawled out of the aquatic environment and faced new, harsher conditions: yet very little fossil evidence exists to support this idea. A definitive answer demands a close examination of fossils from the water-to-land transition including lobe-finned fish and early limbed vertebrates. To support the production of red blood cells, their fin and limb bones would have needed an internal cavity that can house a specific niche that opens onto a complex network of blood vessels. To investigate this question, Estefa et al. harnessed the powerful x-ray beam produced by the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility and imaged the fin and limb bones from fossil lobe-finned fish and early limbed vertebrates. The resulting three-dimensional structures revealed spongy long bones with closed internal cavities where the bone marrow cells were probably entrapped. These could not have housed the blood vessels needed to create an environment that produces red blood cells. In fact, the earliest four-legged land animals Estefa et al. found with an open marrow cavity lived 60 million years after vertebrates had first emerged from the aquatic environment, suggesting that blood cells only began to be created in bone marrow after the water-to-land transition. Future work could help to pinpoint exactly when the change in blood cell production occurred, helping researchers to identify the environmental and biological factors that drove this change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordi Estefa
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolution and Development, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Paul Tafforeau
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
| | - Alice M Clement
- Flinders University, College of Science and Engineering, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Jozef Klembara
- Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Ecology, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Grzegorz Niedźwiedzki
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolution and Development, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | - Sophie Sanchez
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolution and Development, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
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20
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Haridy Y, Osenberg M, Hilger A, Manke I, Davesne D, Witzmann F. Bone metabolism and evolutionary origin of osteocytes: Novel application of FIB-SEM tomography. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:eabb9113. [PMID: 33789889 PMCID: PMC8011976 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abb9113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2020] [Accepted: 02/11/2021] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Lacunae and canaliculi spaces of osteocytes are remarkably well preserved in fossilized bone and serve as an established proxy for bone cells. The earliest bone in the fossil record is acellular (anosteocytic), followed by cellular (osteocytic) bone in the jawless relatives of jawed vertebrates, the osteostracans, about 400 million years ago. Virtually nothing is known about the physiological pressures that would have initially favored osteocytic over anosteocytic bone. We apply focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy tomography combined with machine learning for cell detection and segmentation to image fossil cell spaces. Novel three-dimensional high-resolution images reveal areas of low density around osteocyte lacunae and their canaliculi in osteostracan bone. This provides evidence for demineralization that would have occurred in vivo as part of osteocytic osteolysis, a mechanism of mineral homeostasis, supporting the hypothesis that a physiological demand for phosphorus was the principal driver in the initial evolution of osteocytic bone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yara Haridy
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Markus Osenberg
- Helmholtz Centre for Materials and Energy (HZB), Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, 14109 Berlin, Germany
| | - André Hilger
- Helmholtz Centre for Materials and Energy (HZB), Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, 14109 Berlin, Germany
| | - Ingo Manke
- Helmholtz Centre for Materials and Energy (HZB), Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, 14109 Berlin, Germany
| | - Donald Davesne
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, OX1 3AN Oxford, UK
- Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (UMR 7205), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Florian Witzmann
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, Berlin, Germany
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21
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Perreau M, Haelewaters D, Tafforeau P. A parasitic coevolution since the Miocene revealed by phase-contrast synchrotron X-ray microtomography and the study of natural history collections. Sci Rep 2021; 11:2672. [PMID: 33514784 PMCID: PMC7846571 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-79481-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2020] [Accepted: 11/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The discovery of a new fossil species of the Caribbeo-Mexican genus Proptomaphaginus (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae) from Dominican amber, associated with a new fossil parasitic fungus in the genus Columnomyces (Ascomycota, Laboulbeniales), triggered an investigation of extant species of Proptomaphaginus and revealed the long-enduring parasitic association between these two genera. This effort resulted in the description of the fossil species †Proptomaphaginus alleni sp. nov., and one fossil and two extant species of Columnomyces, selectively associated with species of Proptomaphaginus: †Columnomyces electri sp. nov. associated with the fossil †Proptomaphaginus alleni in Dominican amber, Columnomyces hispaniolensis sp. nov. with the extant Proptomaphaginus hispaniolensis (endemic of Hispaniola), and Columnomyces peckii sp. nov. with the extant Proptomaphaginus puertoricensis (endemic of Puerto Rico). Based on biogeography, our current understanding is that the Caribbean species of Proptomaphaginus and their parasitic species of Columnomyces have coevolved since the Miocene. This is the first occurrence of such a coevolution between a genus of parasitic fungus and a genus of Coleoptera. The phylogenetic relations among Proptomaphaginus species are also addressed based on a parsimony analysis. Fossil specimens were observed by propagation phase-contrast synchrotron X-ray microtomography (PPC-SRμCT) and extant specimens were obtained through the study of preserved dried, pinned insects, attesting for the importance of (i) technological advancement and (ii) natural history collections in the study of microparasitic relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Danny Haelewaters
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. .,Department of Zoology, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic. .,Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
| | - Paul Tafforeau
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
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22
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Chen D, Blom H, Sanchez S, Tafforeau P, Märss T, Ahlberg PE. The developmental relationship between teeth and dermal odontodes in the most primitive bony fish Lophosteus. eLife 2020; 9:e60985. [PMID: 33317696 PMCID: PMC7738188 DOI: 10.7554/elife.60985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2020] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The ontogenetic trajectory of a marginal jawbone of Lophosteus superbus (Late Silurian, 422 Million years old), the phylogenetically most basal stem osteichthyan, visualized by synchrotron microtomography, reveals a developmental relationship between teeth and dermal odontodes that is not evident from the adult morphology. The earliest odontodes are two longitudinal founder ridges formed at the ossification center. Subsequent odontodes that are added lingually to the ridges turn into conical teeth and undergo cyclic replacement, while those added labially achieve a stellate appearance. Stellate odontodes deposited directly on the bony plate are aligned with the alternate files of teeth, whereas new tooth positions are inserted into the files of sequential addition when a gap appears. Successive teeth and overgrowing odontodes show hybrid morphologies around the oral-dermal boundary, suggesting signal cross-communication. We propose that teeth and dermal odontodes are modifications of a single system, regulated and differentiated by the oral and dermal epithelia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donglei Chen
- Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala UniversityUppsalaSweden
| | - Henning Blom
- Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala UniversityUppsalaSweden
| | - Sophie Sanchez
- Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala UniversityUppsalaSweden
- SciLifeLab, Uppsala UniversityUppsalaSweden
- European Synchrotron Radiation FacilityGrenobleFrance
| | | | - Tiiu Märss
- Estonian Marine Institute, University of TartuTallinnEstonia
| | - Per E Ahlberg
- Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala UniversityUppsalaSweden
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23
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Xie M, Gol'din P, Herdina AN, Estefa J, Medvedeva EV, Li L, Newton PT, Kotova S, Shavkuta B, Saxena A, Shumate LT, Metscher BD, Großschmidt K, Nishimori S, Akovantseva A, Usanova AP, Kurenkova AD, Kumar A, Arregui IL, Tafforeau P, Fried K, Carlström M, Simon A, Gasser C, Kronenberg HM, Bastepe M, Cooper KL, Timashev P, Sanchez S, Adameyko I, Eriksson A, Chagin AS. Secondary ossification center induces and protects growth plate structure. eLife 2020; 9:55212. [PMID: 33063669 PMCID: PMC7581430 DOI: 10.7554/elife.55212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2020] [Accepted: 10/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Growth plate and articular cartilage constitute a single anatomical entity early in development but later separate into two distinct structures by the secondary ossification center (SOC). The reason for such separation remains unknown. We found that evolutionarily SOC appears in animals conquering the land - amniotes. Analysis of the ossification pattern in mammals with specialized extremities (whales, bats, jerboa) revealed that SOC development correlates with the extent of mechanical loads. Mathematical modeling revealed that SOC reduces mechanical stress within the growth plate. Functional experiments revealed the high vulnerability of hypertrophic chondrocytes to mechanical stress and showed that SOC protects these cells from apoptosis caused by extensive loading. Atomic force microscopy showed that hypertrophic chondrocytes are the least mechanically stiff cells within the growth plate. Altogether, these findings suggest that SOC has evolved to protect the hypertrophic chondrocytes from the high mechanical stress encountered in the terrestrial environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meng Xie
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Pavel Gol'din
- Department of Evolutionary Morphology, Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology of NAS of Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine
| | - Anna Nele Herdina
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Division of Anatomy, MIC, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jordi Estefa
- Science for Life Laboratory and Uppsala University, Subdepartment of Evolution and Development, Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Ekaterina V Medvedeva
- Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Sechenov University, Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Lei Li
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Phillip T Newton
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet and Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Sweden
| | - Svetlana Kotova
- Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Sechenov University, Moscow, Russian Federation.,Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics, Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Boris Shavkuta
- Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Sechenov University, Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Aditya Saxena
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, San Diego, United States
| | - Lauren T Shumate
- Endocrine Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
| | - Brian D Metscher
- Department of Theoretical Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Karl Großschmidt
- Bone and Biomaterials Research, Center for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Shigeki Nishimori
- Endocrine Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
| | - Anastasia Akovantseva
- Institute of Photonic Technologies, Research center "Crystallography and Photonics", Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Anna P Usanova
- Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Sechenov University, Moscow, Russian Federation
| | | | - Anoop Kumar
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Paul Tafforeau
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
| | - Kaj Fried
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Mattias Carlström
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - András Simon
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Christian Gasser
- Department of Solid Mechanics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Henry M Kronenberg
- Endocrine Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
| | - Murat Bastepe
- Endocrine Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
| | - Kimberly L Cooper
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, San Diego, United States
| | - Peter Timashev
- Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Sechenov University, Moscow, Russian Federation.,Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics, Moscow, Russian Federation.,Institute of Photonic Technologies, Research center "Crystallography and Photonics", Moscow, Russian Federation.,Chemistry Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskiye Gory 1-3, Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - Sophie Sanchez
- Science for Life Laboratory and Uppsala University, Subdepartment of Evolution and Development, Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala, Sweden.,European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France.,Sorbonne Université - CR2P - MNHN, CNRS, UPMC, Paris, France
| | - Igor Adameyko
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Neuroimmunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Anders Eriksson
- Department of Mechanics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Andrei S Chagin
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Sechenov University, Moscow, Russian Federation
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24
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Williams KA, Gostling NJ, Steer JW, Oreffo ROC, Schneider P. Quantifying intracortical bone microstructure: A critical appraisal of 2D and 3D approaches for assessing vascular canals and osteocyte lacunae. J Anat 2020; 238:653-668. [PMID: 33090473 PMCID: PMC7855084 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2020] [Revised: 09/04/2020] [Accepted: 09/10/2020] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Describing and quantifying vascular canal orientation and volume of osteocyte lacunae in bone is important in studies of bone growth, mechanics, health and disease. It is also an important element in analysing fossil bone in palaeohistology, key to understanding the growth, life and death of extinct animals. Often, bone microstructure is studied using two-dimensional (2D) sections, and three-dimensional (3D) shape and orientation of structures are estimated by modelling the structures using idealised geometries based on information from their cross sections. However, these methods rely on structures meeting strict geometric assumptions. Recently, 3D methods have been proposed which could provide a more accurate and robust approach to bone histology, but these have not been tested in direct comparison with their 2D counterparts in terms of accuracy and sensitivity to deviations from model assumptions. We compared 2D and 3D methodologies for estimating key microstructural traits using a combination of experimental and idealised test data sets. We generated populations of cylinders (canals) and ellipsoids (osteocyte lacunae), varying the cross-sectional aspect ratios of cylinders and orientation of ellipsoids to test sensitivity to deviations from cylindricality and longitudinal orientation, respectively. Using published methods, based on 2D sections and 3D data sets, we estimated cylinder orientation and ellipsoid volume. We applied the same methods to six CT data sets of duck cortical bone, using the full volumes for 3D measurements and single CT slices to represent 2D sections. Using in silico test data sets that did deviate from ideal cylinders and ellipsoids resulted in inaccurate estimates of cylinder or canal orientation, and reduced accuracy in estimates of ellipsoid and lacunar volume. These results highlight the importance of using appropriate 3D imaging and quantitative methods for quantifying volume and orientation of 3D structures and offer approaches to significantly enhance our understanding of bone physiology based on accurate measures for bone microstructures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine A. Williams
- Bioengineering Science Research GroupFaculty of Engineering and Physical SciencesUniversity of SouthamptonSouthamptonUnited Kingdom
| | - Neil J. Gostling
- School of Biological SciencesFaculty of Environmental and Biological SciencesUniversity of SouthamptonSouthamptonUnited Kingdom
| | - Joshua W. Steer
- Bioengineering Science Research GroupFaculty of Engineering and Physical SciencesUniversity of SouthamptonSouthamptonUnited Kingdom
| | - Richard O. C. Oreffo
- Bone and Joint Research GroupCentre for Human DevelopmentStem Cells and RegenerationInstitute of Developmental SciencesFaculty of MedicineUniversity of SouthamptonSouthamptonUnited Kingdom
| | - Philipp Schneider
- Bioengineering Science Research GroupFaculty of Engineering and Physical SciencesUniversity of SouthamptonSouthamptonUnited Kingdom
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25
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Mittone A, Fardin L, Di Lillo F, Fratini M, Requardt H, Mauro A, Homs-Regojo RA, Douissard PA, Barbone GE, Stroebel J, Romano M, Massimi L, Begani-Provinciali G, Palermo F, Bayat S, Cedola A, Coan P, Bravin A. Multiscale pink-beam microCT imaging at the ESRF-ID17 biomedical beamline. JOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION 2020; 27:1347-1357. [PMID: 32876610 DOI: 10.1107/s160057752000911x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2019] [Accepted: 07/03/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Recent trends in hard X-ray micro-computed tomography (microCT) aim at increasing both spatial and temporal resolutions. These challenges require intense photon beams. Filtered synchrotron radiation beams, also referred to as `pink beams', which are emitted by wigglers or bending magnets, meet this need, owing to their broad energy range. In this work, the new microCT station installed at the biomedical beamline ID17 of the European Synchrotron is described and an overview of the preliminary results obtained for different biomedical-imaging applications is given. This new instrument expands the capabilities of the beamline towards sub-micrometre voxel size scale and simultaneous multi-resolution imaging. The current setup allows the acquisition of tomographic datasets more than one order of magnitude faster than with a monochromatic beam configuration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alberto Mittone
- CELLS - ALBA Synchrotron Light Source, Carrer de la Llum 2-26, 08290 Cerdanyola del Valles, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Luca Fardin
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Francesca Di Lillo
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Michela Fratini
- CNR-Nanotec (Roma Unit), c/o Department of Physics, La Sapienza University, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Herwig Requardt
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Anthony Mauro
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | | | | | - Giacomo E Barbone
- Ludwig Maximilian University, Am Coulombwall 1, D-85748 Munich, Germany
| | - Johannes Stroebel
- Ludwig Maximilian University, Am Coulombwall 1, D-85748 Munich, Germany
| | - Mariele Romano
- Ludwig Maximilian University, Am Coulombwall 1, D-85748 Munich, Germany
| | - Lorenzo Massimi
- CNR-Nanotec (Roma Unit), c/o Department of Physics, La Sapienza University, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Ginevra Begani-Provinciali
- CNR-Nanotec (Roma Unit), c/o Department of Physics, La Sapienza University, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Francesca Palermo
- CNR-Nanotec (Roma Unit), c/o Department of Physics, La Sapienza University, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Sam Bayat
- STROBE Laboratory, INSERM UA7, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Alessia Cedola
- CNR-Nanotec (Roma Unit), c/o Department of Physics, La Sapienza University, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Paola Coan
- Ludwig Maximilian University, Am Coulombwall 1, D-85748 Munich, Germany
| | - Alberto Bravin
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France
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26
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Cranial morphology of the tanystropheid Macrocnemus bassanii unveiled using synchrotron microtomography. Sci Rep 2020; 10:12412. [PMID: 32709952 PMCID: PMC7381672 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-68912-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2020] [Accepted: 07/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The genus Macrocnemus is a member of the Tanystropheidae, a clade of non-archosauriform archosauromorphs well known for their very characteristic, elongated cervical vertebrae. Articulated specimens are known from the Middle Triassic of Alpine Europe and China. Although multiple articulated specimens are known, description of the cranial morphology has proven challenging due to the crushed preservation of the specimens. Here we use synchrotron micro computed tomography to analyse the cranial morphology of a specimen of the type species Macrocnemus bassanii from the Besano Formation of Monte San Giorgio, Ticino, Switzerland. The skull is virtually complete and we identify and describe the braincase and palatal elements as well the atlas-axis complex for the first time. Moreover, we add to the knowledge of the morphology of the skull roof, rostrum and hemimandible, and reconstruct the cranium of M. bassanii in 3D using the rendered models of the elements. The circumorbital bones were found to be similar in morphology to those of the archosauromorphs Prolacerta broomi and Protorosaurus speneri. In addition, we confirm the palatine, vomer and pterygoid to be tooth-bearing palatal bones, but also observed heterodonty on the pterygoid and the palatine.
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27
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Mansuit R, Clément G, Herrel A, Dutel H, Tafforeau P, Santin MD, Herbin M. Development and growth of the pelvic fin in the extant coelacanth Latimeria chalumnae. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2020; 304:541-558. [PMID: 32445538 DOI: 10.1002/ar.24452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2020] [Revised: 03/12/2020] [Accepted: 03/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
The ontogeny of the paired appendages has been extensively studied in lungfishes and tetrapods, but remains poorly known in coelacanths. Recent work has shed light on the anatomy and development of the pectoral fin in Latimeria chalumnae. Yet, information on the development of the pelvic fin and girdle is still lacking. Here, we described the development of the pelvic fin and girdle in Latimeria chalumnae based on 3D reconstructions generated from conventional and X-ray synchrotron microtomography, as well as MRI acquisitions. As in other jawed vertebrates, the development of the pelvic fin occurs later than that of the pectoral fin in Latimeria. Many elements of the endoskeleton are not yet formed at the earliest stage sampled. The four mesomeres are already formed in the fetus, but only the most proximal radial elements (preaxial radial 0-1) are formed and individualized at this stage. We suggest that all the preaxial radial elements in the pelvic and pectoral fin of Latimeria are formed through the fragmentation of the mesomeres. We document the progressive ossification of the pelvic girdle, and the presence of a trabecular system in the adult. This trabecular system likely reinforces the cartilaginous girdle to resist the muscle forces exerted during locomotion. Finally, the presence of a preaxial element in contact with the pelvic girdle from the earliest stage of development onward questions the mono-basal condition of the pelvic fin in Latimeria. However, the particular shape of the mesomeres may explain the presence of this element in contact with the girdle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rohan Mansuit
- Département Origines and Evolution, UMR 7207 Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie, Paris, MNHN - Sorbonne Université - CNRS, Paris, France.,Département Adaptations du Vivant, UMR 7179 MECADEV, MNHN - CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Gaël Clément
- Département Origines and Evolution, UMR 7207 Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie, Paris, MNHN - Sorbonne Université - CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Anthony Herrel
- Département Adaptations du Vivant, UMR 7179 MECADEV, MNHN - CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Hugo Dutel
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.,School of Engineering and Computer Science, University of Hull, Hull, UK
| | - Paul Tafforeau
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble Cedex, France
| | - Mathieu D Santin
- Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Centre for NeuroImaging Research, ICM (Brain & Spine Institute), Sorbonne University, Paris, France
| | - Marc Herbin
- Département Adaptations du Vivant, UMR 7179 MECADEV, MNHN - CNRS, Paris, France
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28
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Gunz P, Neubauer S, Falk D, Tafforeau P, Le Cabec A, Smith TM, Kimbel WH, Spoor F, Alemseged Z. Australopithecus afarensis endocasts suggest ape-like brain organization and prolonged brain growth. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:eaaz4729. [PMID: 32270044 PMCID: PMC7112758 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz4729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2019] [Accepted: 01/09/2020] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Human brains are three times larger, are organized differently, and mature for a longer period of time than those of our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees. Together, these characteristics are important for human cognition and social behavior, but their evolutionary origins remain unclear. To study brain growth and organization in the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis more than 3 million years ago, we scanned eight fossil crania using conventional and synchrotron computed tomography. We inferred key features of brain organization from endocranial imprints and explored the pattern of brain growth by combining new endocranial volume estimates with narrow age at death estimates for two infants. Contrary to previous claims, sulcal imprints reveal an ape-like brain organization and no features derived toward humans. A comparison of infant to adult endocranial volumes indicates protracted brain growth in A. afarensis, likely critical for the evolution of a long period of childhood learning in hominins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp Gunz
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany
- Corresponding author.
| | - Simon Neubauer
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Dean Falk
- Department of Anthropology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA
- School for Advanced Research, 660 Garcia St., Santa Fe, NM 87505, USA
| | - Paul Tafforeau
- European Synchotron Radiation Facility, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, CS-40220, F-38043, Grenoble cedex 09, France
| | - Adeline Le Cabec
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany
- European Synchotron Radiation Facility, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, CS-40220, F-38043, Grenoble cedex 09, France
| | - Tanya M. Smith
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Rd., Nathan 4111, Queensland, Australia
| | - William H. Kimbel
- Institute of Human Origins, and School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - Fred Spoor
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany
- Centre for Human Evolution Research, Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
- Department of Anthropology, UCL, London WC1H 0BW, UK
| | - Zeresenay Alemseged
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
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29
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Davesne D, Schmitt AD, Fernandez V, Benson RBJ, Sanchez S. Three-dimensional characterization of osteocyte volumes at multiple scales, and its relationship with bone biology and genome evolution in ray-finned fishes. J Evol Biol 2020; 33:808-830. [PMID: 32144878 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2019] [Revised: 02/11/2020] [Accepted: 02/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Osteocytes, cells embedded within the bone mineral matrix, inform on key aspects of vertebrate biology. In particular, a relationship between volumes of the osteocytes and bone growth and/or genome size has been proposed for several tetrapod lineages. However, the variation in osteocyte volume across different scales is poorly characterized and mostly relies on incomplete, two-dimensional information. In this study, we characterize the variation of osteocyte volumes in ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii), a clade including more than half of modern vertebrate species in which osteocyte biology is poorly known. We use X-ray synchrotron micro-computed tomography (SRµCT) to achieve a three-dimensional visualization of osteocyte lacunae and direct measurement of their size (volumes). Our specimen sample is designed to characterize variation in osteocyte lacuna morphology at three scales: within a bone, among the bones of one individual and among species. At the intra-bone scale, we find that osteocyte lacunae vary noticeably in size between zones of organized and woven bone (being up to six times larger in woven bone), and across cyclical bone deposition. This is probably explained by differences in bone deposition rate, with larger osteocyte lacunae contained in bone that deposits faster. Osteocyte lacuna volumes vary 3.5-fold among the bones of an individual, and this cannot readily be explained by variation in bone growth rate or other currently observable factors. Finally, we find that genome size provides the best explanation of variation in osteocyte lacuna volume among species: actinopterygian taxa with larger genomes (polyploid taxa in particular) have larger osteocyte lacunae (with a ninefold variation in median osteocyte volume being measured). Our findings corroborate previous two-dimensional studies in tetrapods that also observed similar patterns of intra-individual variation and found a correlation with genome size. This opens new perspectives for further studies on bone evolution, physiology and palaeogenomics in actinopterygians, and vertebrates as a whole.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donald Davesne
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Armin D Schmitt
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Vincent Fernandez
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France.,Imaging and Analysis Centre, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | | | - Sophie Sanchez
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France.,Subdepartment of Evolution and Development, Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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30
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Turcotte CM, Green DJ, Kupczik K, McFarlin S, Schulz-Kornas E. Elevated activity levels do not influence extrinsic fiber attachment morphology on the surface of muscle-attachment sites. J Anat 2019; 236:827-839. [PMID: 31845322 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Extrinsic fibers (EFs) are a type of penetrating collagenous fiber, closely related to the periodontal ligament, which help anchor soft tissue into bone. These fibers are associated with muscle attachment sites (entheses). Their size and grouping patterns are thought to be indicative of the loading history of the muscle. EFs are of particular significance in anthropology as potential tools for the reconstruction of behavior from skeletal remains and, specifically, entheses. In this study, we used a mouse model to experimentally test how activity level alters the morphology of EF insertion sites on the bone surface of a fibrocartilaginous enthesis, the biceps brachii insertion. Further, we adapted surface metrological techniques from studies of dental wear to perform automated, quantitative and non-destructive analysis of bone surface histology. Our results show that experimentally increased activity had no significant effect on the quantity or density of EF insertions at the enthesis, nor on the size of those insertions. Although EF presence does indicate muscle attachment, activity did not have an observable effect on EF morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cassandra M Turcotte
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.,Max Planck Weizmann Center for Integrative Archaeology and Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA.,New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA
| | - David J Green
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.,Department of Anatomy, Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine, Buies Creek, NC, USA
| | - Kornelius Kupczik
- Max Planck Weizmann Center for Integrative Archaeology and Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Shannon McFarlin
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Ellen Schulz-Kornas
- Max Planck Weizmann Center for Integrative Archaeology and Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Cariology, Endodontology and Periodontology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
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31
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Mansuit R, Clément G, Herrel A, Dutel H, Tafforeau P, Santin MD, Herbin M. Development and growth of the pectoral girdle and fin skeleton in the extant coelacanth Latimeria chalumnae. J Anat 2019; 236:493-509. [PMID: 31713843 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The monobasal pectoral fins of living coelacanths and lungfishes are homologous to the forelimbs of tetrapods and are thus critical to investigate the origin thereof. However, it remains unclear whether the similarity in the asymmetrical endoskeletal arrangement of the pectoral fins of coelacanths reflects the evolution of the pectoral appendages in sarcopterygians. Here, we describe for the first time the development of the pectoral fin and shoulder girdle in the extant coelacanth Latimeria chalumnae, based on the tomographic acquisition of a growth series. The pectoral girdle and pectoral fin endoskeleton are formed early in development with a radially outward growth of the endoskeletal elements. The visualization of the pectoral girdle during development shows a reorientation of the girdle between the fetus and pup 1 stages, creating a contact between the scapulocoracoids and the clavicles in the ventro-medial region. Moreover, we observed a splitting of the pre- and post-axial cartilaginous plates in respectively pre-axial radials and accessory elements on one hand, and in post-axial accessory elements on the other hand. However, the mechanisms involved in the splitting of the cartilaginous plates appear different from those involved in the formation of radials in actinopterygians. Our results show a proportional reduction of the proximal pre-axial radial of the fin, rendering the external morphology of the fin more lobe-shaped, and a spatial reorganization of elements resulting from the fragmentation of the two cartilaginous plates. Latimeria development hence supports previous interpretations of the asymmetrical pectoral fin skeleton as being plesiomorphic for coelacanths and sarcopterygians.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rohan Mansuit
- UMR 7207 Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie, Paris, MNHN - Sorbonne Université - CNRS, Département Origines & Evolution, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France.,UMR 7179 MECADEV, MNHN - CNRS, Département Adaptations du Vivant, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Gaël Clément
- UMR 7207 Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie, Paris, MNHN - Sorbonne Université - CNRS, Département Origines & Evolution, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Anthony Herrel
- UMR 7179 MECADEV, MNHN - CNRS, Département Adaptations du Vivant, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Hugo Dutel
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Paul Tafforeau
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble Cedex, France
| | - Mathieu D Santin
- Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Centre for NeuroImaging Research, ICM (Brain & Spine Institute), Sorbonne University, Paris, France
| | - Marc Herbin
- UMR 7179 MECADEV, MNHN - CNRS, Département Adaptations du Vivant, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
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Bailleul AM, O’Connor J, Schweitzer MH. Dinosaur paleohistology: review, trends and new avenues of investigation. PeerJ 2019; 7:e7764. [PMID: 31579624 PMCID: PMC6768056 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.7764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2019] [Accepted: 08/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In the mid-19th century, the discovery that bone microstructure in fossils could be preserved with fidelity provided a new avenue for understanding the evolution, function, and physiology of long extinct organisms. This resulted in the establishment of paleohistology as a subdiscipline of vertebrate paleontology, which has contributed greatly to our current understanding of dinosaurs as living organisms. Dinosaurs are part of a larger group of reptiles, the Archosauria, of which there are only two surviving lineages, crocodilians and birds. The goal of this review is to document progress in the field of archosaur paleohistology, focusing in particular on the Dinosauria. We briefly review the "growth age" of dinosaur histology, which has encompassed new and varied directions since its emergence in the 1950s, resulting in a shift in the scientific perception of non-avian dinosaurs from "sluggish" reptiles to fast-growing animals with relatively high metabolic rates. However, fundamental changes in growth occurred within the sister clade Aves, and we discuss this major evolutionary transition as elucidated by histology. We then review recent innovations in the field, demonstrating how paleohistology has changed and expanded to address a diversity of non-growth related questions. For example, dinosaur skull histology has elucidated the formation of curious cranial tissues (e.g., "metaplastic" tissues), and helped to clarify the evolution and function of oral adaptations, such as the dental batteries of duck-billed dinosaurs. Lastly, we discuss the development of novel techniques with which to investigate not only the skeletal tissues of dinosaurs, but also less-studied soft-tissues, through molecular paleontology and paleohistochemistry-recently developed branches of paleohistology-and the future potential of these methods to further explore fossilized tissues. We suggest that the combination of histological and molecular methods holds great potential for examining the preserved tissues of dinosaurs, basal birds, and their extant relatives. This review demonstrates the importance of traditional bone paleohistology, but also highlights the need for innovation and new analytical directions to improve and broaden the utility of paleohistology, in the pursuit of more diverse, highly specific, and sensitive methods with which to further investigate important paleontological questions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alida M. Bailleul
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, China
| | - Jingmai O’Connor
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, China
| | - Mary H. Schweitzer
- Department of Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Science, Raleigh, NC, USA
- Department of Geology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA
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Qvarnström M, Elgh E, Owocki K, Ahlberg PE, Niedźwiedzki G. Filter feeding in Late Jurassic pterosaurs supported by coprolite contents. PeerJ 2019; 7:e7375. [PMID: 31523493 PMCID: PMC6714960 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.7375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2019] [Accepted: 06/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Diets of pterosaurs have mainly been inferred from indirect evidence such as comparative anatomy, associations of co-occurring fossils, and functional morphology. Gut contents are rare, and until now there is only a single coprolite (fossil dropping), with unidentified inclusions, known. Here we describe three coprolites collected from a palaeosurface with numerous pterosaur tracks found in early Kimmeridgian (Hypselocyclum Zone) intertidal deposits of the Wierzbica Quarry, Poland. The specimens’ morphology and association to the tracks suggest a pterosaur producer. Synchrotron scans reveal numerous small inclusions, with foraminifera making up the majority of the identifiable ones. Other small remains include shells/carapaces (of bivalves, ostracods, and other crustaceans/arthropods) and bristles (some possibly of polychaete worms). The high density of the small shelly inclusions suggest that they were not accidently ingested, but constituted an important food source for the pterosaur(s), perhaps together with unpreserved soft-bodied animals. The combined evidence from the tracks and coprolites suggest a filter-feeding ctenochasmatid as the most likely tracemaker. If true, this significantly expands the bromalite record for this pterosaur group, which was previously only known from gastroliths. Moreover, this study also provides the first direct evidence of filter feeding in Jurassic pterosaurs and shows that they had a similar diet to the recent Chilean flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis).
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Qvarnström
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Erik Elgh
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Krzysztof Owocki
- Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Per E Ahlberg
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Grzegorz Niedźwiedzki
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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Multiphase progenetic development shaped the brain of flying archosaurs. Sci Rep 2019; 9:10807. [PMID: 31346192 PMCID: PMC6658547 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-46959-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2018] [Accepted: 07/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The growing availability of virtual cranial endocasts of extinct and extant vertebrates has fueled the quest for endocranial characters that discriminate between phylogenetic groups and resolve their neural significances. We used geometric morphometrics to compare a phylogenetically and ecologically comprehensive data set of archosaurian endocasts along the deep evolutionary history of modern birds and found that this lineage experienced progressive elevation of encephalisation through several chapters of increased endocranial doming that we demonstrate to result from progenetic developments. Elevated encephalisation associated with progressive size reduction within Maniraptoriformes was secondarily exapted for flight by stem avialans. Within Mesozoic Avialae, endocranial doming increased in at least some Ornithurae, yet remained relatively modest in early Neornithes. During the Paleogene, volant non-neoavian birds retained ancestral levels of endocast doming where a broad neoavian niche diversification experienced heterochronic brain shape radiation, as did non-volant Palaeognathae. We infer comparable developments underlying the establishment of pterosaurian brain shapes.
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Falch KV, Detlefs C, Christensen MS, Paganin D, Mathiesen R. Experimental investigation of Gaussian random phase screen model for x-ray diffusers. OPTICS EXPRESS 2019; 27:20311-20322. [PMID: 31510128 DOI: 10.1364/oe.27.020311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2019] [Accepted: 06/07/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The beam diffusing properties of stacked layers of diffuser material were evaluated experimentally and compared to a Gaussian random phase screen model. The model was found to give promising accuracy in combination with a Lorentzian auto-correlation model. The tail behaviour of the angular scattering distribution as a function of number of diffusing layers was particularly well described by the model, and in the case of an amorphous carbon diffuser, the model could describe the whole of the scattering distribution convincingly.
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Kaye TG, Pittman M, Marugán-Lobón J, Martín-Abad H, Sanz JL, Buscalioni AD. Fully fledged enantiornithine hatchling revealed by Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence supports precocial nesting behavior. Sci Rep 2019; 9:5006. [PMID: 30899080 PMCID: PMC6428842 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-41423-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2018] [Accepted: 03/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence (LSF) is used to identify fully fledged feathering in the hatchling enantiornithine bird specimen MPCM-LH-26189, supporting precocial nesting behavior in this extinct group. The LSF results include the detection of a long pennaceous wing feather as well as cover feathers around the body. The LSF technique showed improved detection limits over and above synchrotron and UV imaging which had both been performed on this specimen. The findings underscore the value of using a wide range of analytical techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas G Kaye
- Foundation for Scientific Advancement, Sierra Vista, Arizona, 85650, United States of America.
| | - Michael Pittman
- Vertebrate Palaeontology Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Jesús Marugán-Lobón
- Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - Hugo Martín-Abad
- Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - José Luis Sanz
- Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - Angela D Buscalioni
- Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain
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38
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Fossilised Biomolecules and Biomarkers in Carbonate Concretions from Konservat-Lagerstätten. MINERALS 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/min9030158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
In the vast majority of fossils, the organic matter is degraded with only an impression or cast of the organism remaining. In rare cases, ideal burial conditions result in a rapid fossilisation with an exceptional preservation of soft tissues and occasionally organic matter. Such deposits are known as Lagerstätten and have been found throughout the geological record. Exceptional preservation is often associated with finely crystalline quartz (e.g., cherts), fine sediments (e.g., muds) or volcanic ashes. Other mechanisms include burial in anoxic/euxinic sediments and in the absence of turbidity or scavenging. Exceptional preservation can also occur when an organism is encapsulated in carbonate cement, forming a concretion. This mechanism involves complex microbial processes, resulting in a supersaturation in carbonate, with microbial sulfate reduction and methane cycling the most commonly suggested processes. In addition, conditions of photic zone euxinia are often found to occur during concretion formation in marine environments. Concretions are ideal for the study of ancient and long-extinct organisms, through both imaging techniques and biomolecular approaches. These studies have provided valuable insights into the evolution of organisms and their environments through the Phanerozoic and have contributed to increasing interest in fields including chemotaxonomy, palaeobiology, palaeoecology and palaeophysiology.
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Qvarnström M, Wernström JV, Piechowski R, Tałanda M, Ahlberg PE, Niedźwiedzki G. Beetle-bearing coprolites possibly reveal the diet of a Late Triassic dinosauriform. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2019; 6:181042. [PMID: 31031991 PMCID: PMC6458417 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.181042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2018] [Accepted: 02/12/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Diets of extinct animals can be difficult to analyse if no direct evidence, such as gut contents, is preserved in association with body fossils. Inclusions from coprolites (fossil faeces), however, may also reflect the diet of the host animal and become especially informative if the coprolite producer link can be established. Here we describe, based on propagation phase-contrast synchrotron microtomography (PPC-SRμCT), the contents of five morphologically similar coprolites collected from two fossil-bearing intervals from the highly fossiliferous Upper Triassic locality at Krasiejów in Silesia, Poland. Beetle remains, mostly elytra, and unidentified exoskeleton fragments of arthropods are the most conspicuous inclusions found in the coprolites. The abundance of these inclusions suggests that the coprolite producer deliberately targeted beetles and similar small terrestrial invertebrates as prey, but the relatively large size of the coprolites shows that it was not itself a small animal. The best candidate from the body fossil record of the locality is the dinosauriform Silesaurus opolensis Dzik, 2003, which had an anatomy in several ways similar to those of bird-like neotheropod dinosaurs and modern birds. We hypothesize that the beak-like jaws of S. opolensis were used to efficiently peck small insects off the ground, a feeding behaviour analogous to some extant birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Qvarnström
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Joel Vikberg Wernström
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Rafał Piechowski
- Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland
- Department of Palaeobiology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089 Warszawa, Poland
| | - Mateusz Tałanda
- Department of Palaeobiology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089 Warszawa, Poland
| | - Per E. Ahlberg
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Grzegorz Niedźwiedzki
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
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Abstract
Here we present evidence for osteophagy in the Late Triassic archosaur Smok wawelski Niedźwiedzki, Sulej and Dzik, 2012, a large theropod-like predator from Poland. Ten medium to large-sized coprolites are matched, by their dimensions and by association with body fossils and footprints, to S. wawelski. The coprolites contain fragments of large serrated teeth as well as up to 50 percent by volume of bone fragments, with distinct fragmentation and angularity, from several prey taxa. This suggests pronounced osteophagy. Further evidence for bone-crushing behaviour is provided by isolated worn teeth, bone-rich regurgitalites (fossil regurgitates) and numerous examples of crushed or bite-marked dicynodont bones, all collected from the same bone-bearing beds in the Lipie Śląskie clay-pit. Several of the anatomical characters related to osteophagy, such as a massive head and robust body, seem to be shared by S. wawelski and the tyrannosaurids, despite their wide phylogenetic separation. These large predators thus provide evidence of convergence driven by similar feeding ecology at the beginning and end of the age of dinosaurs.
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Bradfield J. Identifying animal taxa used to manufacture bone tools during the Middle Stone Age at Sibudu, South Africa: Results of a CT-rendered histological analysis. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0208319. [PMID: 30496272 PMCID: PMC6264865 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2018] [Accepted: 11/15/2018] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
This paper presents the histological characterisation of a selection of worked bone artefacts from Middle Stone Age layers at Sibudu cave, South Africa. Histographic rendering is achieved using high-resolution Computed Tomography, which is non-destructive and facilitates three-dimensional histologic analysis. Excellent congruency in image quality was achieved with previous studies using this method. The results show that most of the artefact fragments contain mostly primary lamellar tissue, which is the bone tissue best adapted to withstand impact stresses. This indicates that bone with greater elastic properties was chosen. Histological characterisation allows the identification of animal taxa. Based on the sample analysed in this paper, Perissodactyla bone was used predominantly in the older layers at the site. Artiodactyla are represented throughout but appear far more frequently in the later (post-Howiesons Poort onwards) layers. Some of the Artiodactyla specimens have high proportions of Haversian tissue, reducing elasticity. The higher percentages of Haversian tissue in the post-Howiesons Poort artefacts relative to Holocene examples from southern Africa suggests that people may have started experimenting with bone from different animal taxa at this time and had not yet learned to eliminate the mechanically weaker secondary tissue. Apart from mechanical considerations, possible cultural constraints governing raw material selection is also explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin Bradfield
- Centre for Anthropological Research, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- * E-mail:
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Le Cabec A, Tang NK, Ruano Rubio V, Hillson S. Nondestructive adult age at death estimation: Visualizing cementum annulations in a known age historical human assemblage using synchrotron X-ray microtomography. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 168:25-44. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2018] [Revised: 08/03/2018] [Accepted: 08/04/2018] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Adeline Le Cabec
- Department of Human Evolution; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Leipzig Germany
- ID19 Beamline; Structure of Materials Group, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility; Grenoble France
| | | | | | - Simon Hillson
- Institute of Archaeology; University College London; London United Kingdom
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The nature of aspidin and the evolutionary origin of bone. Nat Ecol Evol 2018; 2:1501-1506. [PMID: 30065354 PMCID: PMC6109381 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-018-0624-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2017] [Accepted: 06/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Bone is the key innovation underpinning the evolution of the vertebrate skeleton, yet its origin is mired by debate over interpretation of the most primitive bone-like tissue, aspidin. This has variously been interpreted as cellular bone, acellular bone, dentine or as an intermediate of dentine and bone. The crux of the controversy is the nature of unmineralised spaces pervading the aspidin matrix, which have alternatively been interpreted as having housed cells, cell processes, or Sharpey’s Fibres. Discriminating between these hypotheses has been hindered by the limits of traditional histological methods. Here we use Synchrotron X-ray Tomographic Microscopy (srXTM) to reveal the nature of aspidin. We show the spaces exhibit a linear morphology, incompatible with interpretations that they represent voids left by cells or cell processes. Instead, these spaces represent intrinsic collagen fibre bundles that form a scaffold, about which mineral was deposited. Aspidin is thus acellular dermal bone. We reject hypotheses that it is a type of dentine, cellular bone, or transitional tissue. Our study suggests the full repertoire of skeletal tissue types was established prior to the divergence of the earliest known skeletonising vertebrates, indicating that the corresponding cell types evolved rapidly following the divergence of cyclostomes and gnathostomes.
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44
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Pratt IV, Cooper DML. The effect of growth rate on the three-dimensional orientation of vascular canals in the cortical bone of broiler chickens. J Anat 2018; 233:531-541. [PMID: 30022496 PMCID: PMC6131975 DOI: 10.1111/joa.12847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Vascular canals in cortical bone during growth and development typically show an anisotropic pattern with canals falling into three main categories: circumferential, radial, and longitudinal. Two major hypotheses attempt to explain the preferred orientations in bone: that vascular canal orientation is optimized to resist a predominant strain direction from functional loading, or that it reflects growth requirements and velocity. We use a controlled growth experiment in broiler chickens to investigate the effect of growth rate on vascular canal orientation. Using feed restriction we set up a fast growing control group and a slow growing restricted group. We compared the microstructure in the humerus and the femur at 42 days of age using synchrotron micro‐computed tomography (micro‐CT), a three‐dimensional (3D) method that visualizes the full canal network. We measured the 3D orientation of each canal in the whole cross‐section of the bone cortex using a set of custom imagej scripts. Using these orientations we compute laminar, radial, and longitudinal indices that measure the proportion of circumferential, radial, and longitudinal canals, by unit of length, in the cortex. Following previous studies we hypothesized that vascular canal orientation is related to growth, with radial canals linked to a faster growth rate and related to functional loading through a high laminar index in flight bones which reflects torsional loading resulting from active flight. The control group had final body weights that were nearly twice the final weights of the restricted group and higher absolute growth rates. We found consistent patterns in the comparison between the humerus and the femur in both groups, with the humerus having higher laminar and longitudinal indices, and a lower radial index than the femur. The control group had higher radial indices and lower laminar and longitudinal indices in both the humerus and the femur than the restricted group. The higher radial indices in our control group point to a link between radial canals and faster growth, and between laminar canals and slower growth, while the higher laminar indices in the humerus point to a link between circumferential canals and torsional loading. Overall, our results indicate that the orientation of the cortical canal network in a bone is the consequence of a complex interaction between the growth rate of that bone and functional loading environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isaac V Pratt
- Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
| | - David M L Cooper
- Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
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45
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Mürer FK, Sanchez S, Álvarez-Murga M, Di Michiel M, Pfeiffer F, Bech M, Breiby DW. 3D Maps of Mineral Composition and Hydroxyapatite Orientation in Fossil Bone Samples Obtained by X-ray Diffraction Computed Tomography. Sci Rep 2018; 8:10052. [PMID: 29968761 PMCID: PMC6030225 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28269-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2018] [Accepted: 06/20/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Whether hydroxyapatite (HA) orientation in fossilised bone samples can be non-destructively retrieved and used to determine the arrangement of the bone matrix and the location of muscle attachments (entheses), is a question of high relevance to palaeontology, as it facilitates a detailed understanding of the (micro-)anatomy of extinct species with no damage to the precious fossil specimens. Here, we report studies of two fossil bone samples, specifically the tibia of a 300-million-year-old tetrapod, Discosauriscus austriacus, and the humerus of a 370-million-year-old lobe-finned fish, Eusthenopteron foordi, using XRD-CT – a combination of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and computed tomography (CT). Reconstructed 3D images showing the spatial mineral distributions and the local orientation of HA were obtained. For Discosauriscus austriacus, details of the muscle attachments could be discerned. For Eusthenopteron foordi, the gross details of the preferred orientation of HA were deduced using three tomographic datasets obtained with orthogonally oriented rotation axes. For both samples, the HA in the bone matrix exhibited preferred orientation, with the unit cell c-axis of the HA crystallites tending to be parallel with the bone surface. In summary, we have demonstrated that XRD-CT combined with an intuitive reconstruction procedure is becoming a powerful tool for studying palaeontological samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fredrik K Mürer
- Department of Physics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Høgskoleringen 5, 7491, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Sophie Sanchez
- Science for Life Laboratory and Uppsala University, Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Norbyvägen 18 A, 75236, Uppsala, Sweden.,ESRF - The European Synchrotron, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38000, Grenoble, France.,Sorbonne Université - CR2P - MNHN, CNRS, UPMC, 57 rue Cuvier, CP38, F-75005, Paris, France
| | | | - Marco Di Michiel
- ESRF - The European Synchrotron, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38000, Grenoble, France
| | - Franz Pfeiffer
- Lehrstuhl für Biomedizinische Physik, Physik-Department & Institut für Medizintechnik, Technische Universität München, 85748, Garching, Germany.,Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, 81675, München, Germany
| | - Martin Bech
- Department of Medical Radiation Physics, Clinical Sciences, Lund University, 22185, Lund, Sweden
| | - Dag W Breiby
- Department of Physics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Høgskoleringen 5, 7491, Trondheim, Norway. .,Department of Microsystems, University of South-Eastern Norway, 3184, Borre, Norway.
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Voeten DFAE, Cubo J, de Margerie E, Röper M, Beyrand V, Bureš S, Tafforeau P, Sanchez S. Wing bone geometry reveals active flight in Archaeopteryx. Nat Commun 2018. [PMID: 29535376 PMCID: PMC5849612 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03296-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Archaeopteryx is an iconic fossil taxon with feathered wings from the Late Jurassic of Germany that occupies a crucial position for understanding the early evolution of avian flight. After over 150 years of study, its mosaic anatomy unifying characters of both non-flying dinosaurs and flying birds has remained challenging to interpret in a locomotory context. Here, we compare new data from three Archaeopteryx specimens obtained through phase-contrast synchrotron microtomography to a representative sample of archosaurs employing a diverse array of locomotory strategies. Our analyses reveal that the architecture of Archaeopteryx's wing bones consistently exhibits a combination of cross-sectional geometric properties uniquely shared with volant birds, particularly those occasionally utilising short-distance flapping. We therefore interpret that Archaeopteryx actively employed wing flapping to take to the air through a more anterodorsally posteroventrally oriented flight stroke than used by modern birds. This unexpected outcome implies that avian powered flight must have originated before the latest Jurassic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dennis F A E Voeten
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, CS-40220, 38043, Grenoble Cedex, France. .,Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Palacký University, 17. listopadu 50, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
| | - Jorge Cubo
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS-INSU, Institut des Sciences de la Terre Paris, ISTeP UMR 7193, F-75005, Paris, France
| | - Emmanuel de Margerie
- CNRS, Laboratoire d'éthologie animale et humaine, Université de Rennes 1, Université de Caen Normandie, 263 Avenue du Général Leclerc, 35042, Rennes, France
| | - Martin Röper
- Bürgermeister-Müller-Museum, Bahnhofstrasse 8, 91807, Solnhofen, Germany.,Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, D-80333, München, Germany
| | - Vincent Beyrand
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, CS-40220, 38043, Grenoble Cedex, France.,Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Palacký University, 17. listopadu 50, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Stanislav Bureš
- Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Palacký University, 17. listopadu 50, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Paul Tafforeau
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, CS-40220, 38043, Grenoble Cedex, France
| | - Sophie Sanchez
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, CS-40220, 38043, Grenoble Cedex, France.,Science for Life Laboratory and Uppsala University, Subdepartment of Evolution and Development, Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden
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47
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Knoll F, Chiappe LM, Sanchez S, Garwood RJ, Edwards NP, Wogelius RA, Sellers WI, Manning PL, Ortega F, Serrano FJ, Marugán-Lobón J, Cuesta E, Escaso F, Sanz JL. A diminutive perinate European Enantiornithes reveals an asynchronous ossification pattern in early birds. Nat Commun 2018; 9:937. [PMID: 29507288 PMCID: PMC5838198 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03295-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2017] [Accepted: 02/01/2018] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Fossils of juvenile Mesozoic birds provide insight into the early evolution of avian development, however such fossils are rare. The analysis of the ossification sequence in these early-branching birds has the potential to address important questions about their comparative developmental biology and to help understand their morphological evolution and ecological differentiation. Here we report on an early juvenile enantiornithine specimen from the Early Cretaceous of Europe, which sheds new light on the osteogenesis in this most species-rich clade of Mesozoic birds. Consisting of a nearly complete skeleton, it is amongst the smallest known Mesozoic avian fossils representing post-hatching stages of development. Comparisons between this new specimen and other known early juvenile enantiornithines support a clade-wide asynchronous pattern of osteogenesis in the sternum and the vertebral column, and strongly indicate that the hatchlings of these phylogenetically basal birds varied greatly in size and tempo of skeletal maturation. Fossil juvenile Mesozoic birds are exceedingly rare and can provide important insight into the early evolution of avian development. Here, Knoll et al. describe one of the smallest known Mesozoic avians, which indicates a clade-wide asynchronous pattern of osteogenesis and great variation in basal bird hatchling size and skeletal maturation tempo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabien Knoll
- ARAID-Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinopolis, 44002, Teruel, Spain. .,School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
| | - Luis M Chiappe
- The Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, USA
| | - Sophie Sanchez
- Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden.,European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 38000, Grenoble, France
| | - Russell J Garwood
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.,Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Nicholas P Edwards
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.,Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA
| | - Roy A Wogelius
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - William I Sellers
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - Phillip L Manning
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.,Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, College of Charleston, SC, 29424, Charleston, USA
| | - Francisco Ortega
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Francisco J Serrano
- The Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, USA.,Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, 29010, Málaga, Spain
| | - Jesús Marugán-Lobón
- The Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, USA.,Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - Elena Cuesta
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - Fernando Escaso
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jose Luis Sanz
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain
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48
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Voeten DFAE, Reich T, Araújo R, Scheyer TM. Synchrotron microtomography of a Nothosaurus marchicus skull informs on nothosaurian physiology and neurosensory adaptations in early Sauropterygia. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0188509. [PMID: 29298295 PMCID: PMC5751976 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2017] [Accepted: 11/08/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Nothosaurs form a subclade of the secondarily marine Sauropterygia that was well represented in late Early to early Late Triassic marine ecosystems. Here we present and discuss the internal skull anatomy of the small piscivorous nothosaur Nothosaurus marchicus from coastal to shallow marine Lower Muschelkalk deposits (Anisian) of Winterswijk, The Netherlands, which represents the oldest sauropterygian endocast visualized to date. The cranial endocast is only partially encapsulated by ossified braincase elements. Cranial flattening and lateral constriction by hypertrophied temporal musculature grant the brain a straight, tubular geometry that lacks particularly well-developed cerebral lobes but does potentially involve distinguishable optic lobes, suggesting vision may have represented an important sense during life. Despite large orbit size, the circuitous muscular pathway linking the basisphenoidal and orbital regions indicates poor oculomotor performance. This suggests a rather fixed ocular orientation, although eye placement and neck manoeuvrability could have enabled binocular if not stereoscopic vision. The proportionally large dorsal projection of the braincase endocast towards the well-developed pineal foramen advocates substantial dependence on the corresponding pineal system in vivo. Structures corroborating keen olfactory or acoustic senses were not identified. The likely atrophied vomeronasal organ argues against the presence of a forked tongue in Nothosaurus, and the relative positioning of external and internal nares contrasts respiratory configurations proposed for pistosauroid sauropterygians. The antorbital domain furthermore accommodates a putative rostral sensory plexus and pronounced lateral nasal glands that were likely exapted as salt glands. Previously proposed nothosaurian 'foramina eustachii' arose from architectural constraints on braincase development rather than representing functional foramina. Several modifications to brain shape and accessory organs were achieved through heterochronic development of the cranium, particularly the braincase. In summary, the cranium of Nothosaurus marchicus reflects important physiological and neurosensory adaptations that enabled the group's explosive invasion of shallow marine habitats in the late Early Triassic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dennis F. A. E. Voeten
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
- Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Tobias Reich
- University of Zurich, Palaeontological Institute and Museum, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ricardo Araújo
- Institute for Plasma Research and Nuclear Fusion, Technical University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Evolutionary Sciences, University of Montpellier 2, Montpellier, France
| | - Torsten M. Scheyer
- University of Zurich, Palaeontological Institute and Museum, Zurich, Switzerland
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49
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Jerve A, Qu Q, Sanchez S, Ahlberg PE, Haitina T. Vascularization and odontode structure of a dorsal ridge spine of Romundina stellina Ørvig 1975. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0189833. [PMID: 29281687 PMCID: PMC5744956 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2017] [Accepted: 12/01/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
There are two types of dermal skeletons in jawed vertebrates: placoderms and osteichthyans carry large bony plates (macromery), whereas chondrichthyans and acanthodians are covered by small scales (micromery). Fin spines are one of the last large dermal structures found on micromeric taxa and offer a potential source of histology and morphology that can be compared to those found on macromeric groups. Dermal fin spines offer a variety of morphology but aspects of their growth modes and homology are unclear. Here, we provide detailed descriptions of the microstructure and growth of a dorsal ridge spine from the acanthothoracid placoderm, Romundina stellina, using virtual three-dimensional paleohistological datasets. From these data we identify several layers of dentine ornamentation covering the lateral surfaces of the spine and reconstructed their growth pattern. We show that this spine likely grew posteriorly and proximally from a narrow portion of bone located along the leading edge of the spine. The spine is similarly constructed to the scales with a few exceptions, including the absence of polarized fibers distributed throughout the bone and the presence of a thin layer of perichondral bone. The composition of the spine (semidentine odontodes, dermal bone, perichondral bone) is identical to that of the Romundina dermal plates. These results illustrate the similarities and differences between the dermal tissues in Romundina and indicate that the spine grew differently from the dentinous fin spines from extant and fossil chondrichthyans. The morphology and histology of Romundina is most similar to the fin spine of the probable stem osteichthyan Lophosteus, with a well-developed inner cellular bony base and star-shaped odontodes on the surface. Results from these studies will undoubtedly have impact on our understanding of fossil fin spine histology and evolution, contributing to the on-going revision of early gnathostome phylogeny.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Jerve
- Biology Department, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, United Kingdom
| | - Qingming Qu
- Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Centre for Advanced Research in Environmental Genomics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Sophie Sanchez
- Science for Life Laboratory and Uppsala University, Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala, Sweden
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
| | - Per Erik Ahlberg
- Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Tatjana Haitina
- Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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50
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Qvarnström M, Niedźwiedzki G, Tafforeau P, Žigaitė Ž, Ahlberg PE. Synchrotron phase-contrast microtomography of coprolites generates novel palaeobiological data. Sci Rep 2017; 7:2723. [PMID: 28578409 PMCID: PMC5457397 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-02893-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2017] [Accepted: 04/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Coprolites (fossil faeces) reveal clues to ancient trophic relations, and contain inclusions representing organisms that are rarely preserved elsewhere. However, much information is lost by classical techniques of investigation, which cannot find and image the inclusions in an adequate manner. We demonstrate that propagation phase-contrast synchrotron microtomography (PPC-SRμCT) permits high-quality virtual 3D-reconstruction of coprolite inclusions, exemplified by two coprolites from the Upper Triassic locality Krasiejów, Poland; one of the coprolites contains delicate beetle remains, and the other one a partly articulated fish and fragments of bivalves.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Qvarnström
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Grzegorz Niedźwiedzki
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Paul Tafforeau
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 avenue des Martyrs, CS40200, 38043, Grenoble, France
| | - Živil Žigaitė
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Per E Ahlberg
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden
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