[dinosaur] Permian amniote metabolic bone disease + snake skull evolution + more

Ben Creisler
[email protected]

Some recent non dino-papers:

Free pdf:


Yara Haridy, Florian Witzmann, Patrick Asbach & Robert R. Reisz (2019)
Permian metabolic bone disease revealed by microCT: Paget’s disease-like
pathology in vertebrae of an early amniote.
PLoS ONE 14(8): e0219662.
doi: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1371_journal.pone.0219662&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=_9uknRo1BCCy2PZPxE-zXPya7VPo-9OlJDeMa5QMmSY&s=ZFxsCmLrp82A4OWlh8tT6SUAjYerri2OwSSwtz0XfHc&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__journals.plos.org_plosone_article-3Fid-3D10.1371_journal.pone.0219662&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=_9uknRo1BCCy2PZPxE-zXPya7VPo-9OlJDeMa5QMmSY&s=tlPkD-QnFhIox89ennm630uhJRyyRyHFdIl7XPmXn3c&e= 

Free pdf:
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__journals.plos.org_plosone_article_file-3Fid-3D10.1371_journal.pone.0219662-26type-3Dprintable&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=_9uknRo1BCCy2PZPxE-zXPya7VPo-9OlJDeMa5QMmSY&s=ScokDsChHrF6GeAgV-e6TKLKL1vIVe06au7qQHH6axI&e= 


Bone remodeling is an essential physiological process in growth and
healing. In modern systems deviations from normal bone physiology in the
form of pathologies aid in the understanding of normal bone metabolism.
Here we use external morphology and X-ray microtomography to diagnose and
describe a metabolic bone disease in an amniote from the early Permian. The
specimen consists of two fused tail vertebrae of a small varanopid from
early Permian (289 million years old) cave deposits near Richards Spur,
Oklahoma, USA. Inspection of the outer morphology reveals that the fusion
encompasses the vertebral centra, zygopophyses and haemal arches, with the
fusion zones distinctly swollen on the left side of the specimen. With
visualization of its internal structure by microCT, this specimen is
diagnosed as a complex metabolic bone disease. The radiological imaging
suggests a pathologically high bone turnover rate, as shown by abnormal
bone formation in some areas and increased bone resorption in others. This
supports that the varanopid suffered from a metabolic bone disease similar
to Paget’s disease of bone as seen in humans today, which is linked to both
genetic and viral factors. This finding extends the occurrence of
Paget-like disease to the early Permian, and–provided a viral component was
present–would also be by far the oldest evidence of viral infection in the
fossil record.

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Free pdf:

Catherine R. C. Strong, Tiago R. Simões, Michael W. Caldwell and Michael R.
Doschak (2019)
Cranial ontogeny of Thamnophis radix (Serpentes: Colubroidea) with a
re-evaluation of current paradigms of snake skull evolution
Royal Society Open Science 6(8): 182228
doi: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1098_rsos.182228&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=_9uknRo1BCCy2PZPxE-zXPya7VPo-9OlJDeMa5QMmSY&s=B1iL-HL7C2plKuuOBm5h5cRGbsOsmu1LYOM4fTVKKMg&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__royalsocietypublishing.org_doi_10.1098_rsos.182228&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=_9uknRo1BCCy2PZPxE-zXPya7VPo-9OlJDeMa5QMmSY&s=Iw0dIYNTemACYaA-LPOtLjt6j4pbRJKJ27hlLnoppiE&e= 

Free pdf:
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__royalsocietypublishing.org_doi_pdf_10.1098_rsos.182228&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=_9uknRo1BCCy2PZPxE-zXPya7VPo-9OlJDeMa5QMmSY&s=B6AfXkOrwL5EzlU1SZZu_K7FriJHKZNNZAYFgSjZUv4&e= 

Accurate knowledge of skeletal ontogeny in extant organisms is crucial in
understanding important morpho-functional systems and in enabling
inferences of the ontogenetic stage of fossil specimens. However, detailed
knowledge of skeletal ontogeny is lacking for most squamates, including
snakes. Very few studies have discussed postnatal development in snakes,
with none incorporating data from all three major ontogenetic
stages--embryonic, juvenile and adult. Here, we provide the first analysis
encompassing these three ontogenetic stages for any squamate, using the
first complete micro-computed tomography (micro-CT)-based segmentations of
any non-adult snake, based on fresh specimens of Thamnophis radix. The most
significant ontogenetic changes involve the feeding apparatus, with major
elongation of the tooth-bearing elements and jaw suspensorium causing a
posterior shift in the jaw articulation. This shift enables macrostomy
(large-gaped feeding in snakes) and occurs in T. radix via a different
developmental trajectory than in most other macrostomatans, indicating that
the evolution of macrostomy is more complex than previously thought. The
braincase of T. radix is also evolutionarily unique among derived snakes in
lacking a crista circumfenestralis, a phenomenon considered herein to
represent paedomorphic retention of the embryonic condition. We thus
present numerous important challenges to current paradigms regarding snake
cranial evolution.

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Christian Foth, Serjoscha W. Evers, Walter G. Joyce, Virginie S. Volpato &
Roger B. J. Benson (2019)
Comparative analysis of the shape and size of the middle ear cavity of
turtles reveals no correlation with habitat ecology.
Journal of Anatomy (advance online publication)
doi: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1111_joa.13071&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=_9uknRo1BCCy2PZPxE-zXPya7VPo-9OlJDeMa5QMmSY&s=4YbfhROCP4PQsg-qS9U9ISJdRXUpvdfas2fMlPnYp-c&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__onlinelibrary.wiley.com_doi_10.1111_joa.13071&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=_9uknRo1BCCy2PZPxE-zXPya7VPo-9OlJDeMa5QMmSY&s=1KS8SCy8caV9socs-0Kf6XMVl5-vtlN4W5O_hkd9Kgw&e= 


The middle ear of turtles differs from other reptiles in being separated
into two distinct compartments. Several ideas have been proposed as to why
the middle ear is compartmentalized in turtles, most suggesting a
relationship with underwater hearing. Extant turtle species span fully
marine to strictly terrestrial habitats, and ecomorphological hypotheses of
turtle hearing predict that this should correlate with variation in the
structure of the middle ear due to differences in the fluid properties of
water and air. We investigate the shape and size of the air‐filled middle
ear cavity of 56 extant turtles using 3D data and phylogenetic comparative
analysis to test for correlations between habitat preferences and the shape
and size of the middle ear cavity. Only weak correlations are found between
middle ear cavity size and ecology, with aquatic taxa having proportionally
smaller cavity volumes. The middle ear cavity of turtles exhibits high
shape diversity among species, but we found no relationship between this
shape variation and ecology. Surprisingly, the estimated acoustic
transformer ratio, a key functional parameter of impedance‐matching ears in
vertebrates, also shows no relation to habitat preferences
(aquatic/terrestrial) in turtles. We suggest that middle ear cavity shape
may be controlled by factors unrelated to hearing, such as the spatial
demands of surrounding cranial structures. A review of the fossil record
suggests that the modern turtle ear evolved during the Early to Middle
Jurassic in stem turtles broadly adapted to freshwater and terrestrial
settings. This, combined with our finding that evolutionary transitions
between habitats caused only weak evolutionary changes in middle ear
structure, suggests that tympanic hearing in turtles evolved as a
compromise between subaerial and underwater hearing.

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Free pdf:

Jacob D. Gardner, Kevin Surya & Chris L. Organ (2019)
Early Tetrapodomorph Biogeography: Controlling for Fossil Record Bias in
Macroevolutionary Analyses.
bioRxiv (preprint)
doi: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1101_726786&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=_9uknRo1BCCy2PZPxE-zXPya7VPo-9OlJDeMa5QMmSY&s=WOXPUHd_rfQ_vaN1BcGDppFGbvPF1SqMYU8EXEVZ4YM&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.biorxiv.org_content_10.1101_726786v1.abstract&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=_9uknRo1BCCy2PZPxE-zXPya7VPo-9OlJDeMa5QMmSY&s=Wx4WNH7ntPujy-KKexbYhnYkN21vio4Dg4IOFJloCp0&e= 


The fossil record provides direct empirical data for understanding
macroevolutionary patterns and processes. Inherent biases in the fossil
record are well known to confound analyses of this data. Sampling bias
proxies have been used as covariates in regression models to test for such
biases. Proxies, such as formation count, are associated with
paleobiodiversity, but are insufficient for explaining species dispersal
owing to a lack of geographic context. Here, we develop a sampling bias
proxy that incorporates geographic information and test it with a case
study on early tetrapodomorph biogeography. We use recently-developed
Bayesian phylogeographic models and a new supertree of early
tetrapodomorphs to estimate dispersal rates and ancestral habitat
locations. We find strong evidence that geographic sampling bias explains
supposed radiations in dispersal rate (potential adaptive radiations). Our
study highlights the necessity of accounting for geographic sampling bias
in macroevolutionary and phylogenetic analyses and provides an approach to
test for its effect.


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