The evolution and role of the hyposphene-hypantrum articulation in Archosauria: phylogeny, size and/or mechanics?

dc.contributor.authorStefanic, Candice M.en
dc.contributor.authorNesbitt, Sterling J.en
dc.contributor.departmentGeosciencesen
dc.date.accessioned2020-08-06T17:58:53Zen
dc.date.available2020-08-06T17:58:53Zen
dc.date.issued2019-08-22en
dc.description.abstractLiving members of Archosauria, the reptile clade containing Crocodylia and Aves, have a wide range of skeletal morphologies, ecologies and body size. The range of body size greatly increases when extinct archosaurs are included, because extinct Archosauria includes the largest members of any terrestrial vertebrate group (e.g. 70-tonne titanosaurs, 20-tonne theropods). Archosaurs evolved various skeletal adaptations for large body size, but these adaptations varied among clades and did not always appear consistently with body size or ecology. Modification of intervertebral articulations, specifically the presence of a hyposphene-hypantrum articulation between trunk vertebrae, occurs in a variety of extinct archosaurs (e.g. non-avian dinosaurs, pseudosuchians). We surveyed the phylogenetic distribution of the hyposphene-hypantrum to test its relationship with body size. We found convergent evolution among large-bodied clades, except when the clade evolved an alternative mechanism for vertebral bracing. For example, some extinct lineages that lack the hyposphene-hypantrum articulation (e.g. ornithischians) have ossified tendons that braced their vertebral column. Ossified tendons are present even in small taxa and in small-bodied juveniles, but largebodied taxa with ossified tendons reached those body sizes without evolving the hyposphene-hypantrum articulation. The hyposphene-hypantrum was permanently lost in extinct crownward members of both major archosaur lineages (i.e. Crocodylia and Aves) as they underwent phyletic size decrease, changes in vertebral morphology and shifts in ecology.en
dc.description.sponsorshipC.M.S.: Welles Fund (UC Berkeley)en
dc.description.sponsorshipAubrey and Eula Orange Award (Virginia Tech)en
dc.format.extent27 pagesen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationStefanic CM, Nesbitt SJ. 2019 The evolution and role of the hyposphenehypantrum articulation in Archosauria: phylogeny, size and/or mechanics? R. Soc. open sci. 6: 190258. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.190258en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.190258en
dc.identifier.eissn2054-5703en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/99590en
dc.identifier.volume6en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherRoyal Societyen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectvertebral morphologyen
dc.subjecthyposphene-hypantrumen
dc.subjectArchosauriaen
dc.subjectbody sizeen
dc.titleThe evolution and role of the hyposphene-hypantrum articulation in Archosauria: phylogeny, size and/or mechanics?en
dc.title.serialRoyal Society Open Scienceen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten

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