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Integrating gross morphology and bone histology to assess skeletal maturity in early dinosauromorphs: new insights from Dromomeron (Archosauria: Dinosauromorpha)

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dc.contributor.authorGriffin, Christopher T.en
dc.contributor.authorBano, Lauren S.en
dc.contributor.authorTurner, Alan H.en
dc.contributor.authorSmith, Nathan D.en
dc.contributor.authorIrmis, Randall B.en
dc.contributor.authorNesbitt, Sterling J.en
dc.contributor.departmentBiological Sciencesen
dc.contributor.departmentGeosciencesen
dc.date.accessioned2019-07-24T17:26:15Zen
dc.date.available2019-07-24T17:26:15Zen
dc.date.issued2019-02-11en
dc.description.abstractUnderstanding growth patterns is central to properly interpreting paleobiological signals in tetrapods, but assessing skeletal maturity in some extinct Glades may be difficult when growth patterns are poorly constrained by a lack of ontogenetic series. To overcome this difficulty in assessing the maturity of extinct archosaurian reptiles-crocodylians, birds and their extinct relatives-many studies employ bone histology to observe indicators of the developmental stage reached by a given individual. However, the relationship between gross morphological and histological indicators of maturity has not been examined in most archosaurian groups. In this study, we examined the gross morphology of a hypothesized growth series of Dromomeron romeri femora (96.6-144.4 mm long), the first series of a non-dinosauriform dinosauromorph available for such a study. We also histologically sampled several individuals in this growth series. Previous studies reported that D. romeri lacks well-developed rugose muscle scars that appear during ontogeny in closely related dinosauromorph taxa, so integrating gross morphology and histological signal is needed to determine reliable maturity indicators for early bird-line archosaurs. We found that, although there are small, linear scars indicating muscle attachment sites across the femur, the only rugose muscle scar that appears during ontogeny is the attachment of the M. caudofemoralis longus, and only in the largest-sampled individual. This individual is also the only femur with histological indicators that asymptotic size had been reached, although smaller individuals possess some signal of decreasing growth rates (e.g., decreasing vascular density). The overall femoral bone histology of D. romeri is similar to that of other early bird-line archosaurs (e.g., woven-bone tissue, moderately to well-vascularized, longitudinal vascular canals). All these data indicate that the lack of well-developed femoral scars is autapomorphic for this species, not simply an indication of skeletal immaturity. We found no evidence of the high intraspecific variation present in early dinosaurs and other dinosauriforms, but a limited sample size of other early bird-line archosaur growth series make this tentative. The evolutionary history and phylogenetic signal of gross morphological features must be considered when assessing maturity in extinct archosaurs and their close relatives, and in some groups corroboration with bone histology or with better-known morphological characters is necessary.en
dc.description.notesThis work was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) EAR 1349667 (awarded to Sterling J. Nesbitt), EAR 1349654 (awarded to Alan H. Turner), EAR 1349554 (awarded to Nathan D. Smith), EAR 1349650 (awarded to Randall B. Irmis), the University of Utah (to Randall B. Irmis), an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (awarded to Christopher T. Griffin), and a Geological Society of America Southeastern Section Undergraduate Student Research Grant (awarded to Lauren S. Bano). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.en
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Science Foundation (NSF) [EAR 1349667, EAR 1349654, EAR 1349554, EAR 1349650]en
dc.description.sponsorshipUniversity of Utahen
dc.description.sponsorshipNSF Graduate Research Fellowshipen
dc.description.sponsorshipGeological Society of America Southeastern Section Undergraduate Student Research Granten
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6331en
dc.identifier.issn2167-8359en
dc.identifier.othere6331en
dc.identifier.pmid30775169en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/91976en
dc.identifier.volume7en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherPeerJen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectOntogenyen
dc.subjectSkeletal maturityen
dc.subjectHistologyen
dc.subjectDinosauromorphen
dc.subjectTriassicen
dc.subjectBone scaren
dc.titleIntegrating gross morphology and bone histology to assess skeletal maturity in early dinosauromorphs: new insights from Dromomeron (Archosauria: Dinosauromorpha)en
dc.title.serialPeerJen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.dcmitypeStillImageen

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