[dinosaur] Pachyophiid vertebral inner structure to an aquatic life (free pdf)

Ben Creisler
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A new new paper:

Free pdf:

Alexandra Houssaye, Anthony Herrel, Renaud Boistel & Jean-Claude Rage (2019)
Adaptation of the vertebral inner structure to an aquatic life in snakes:
Pachyophiid peculiarities in comparison to extant and extinct forms.
Comptes Rendus Palevol (advance online publication)
doi: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1016_j.crpv.2019.05.004&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=CIeMPxzNvHtDZ6qteOyYAyDUJ_GzLSWlfNteq8xAWD4&s=77VaDUrCXG7c41N2eb9HMZT4Gn_Vc2ZfB0Cbl5jy0Dw&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.sciencedirect.com_science_article_pii_S1631068319301204&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=CIeMPxzNvHtDZ6qteOyYAyDUJ_GzLSWlfNteq8xAWD4&s=mii_tyKGQhOTPYvf4CkVDRxbnZRJh-sxsFhGMIYzlRA&e= 



Bone microanatomy appears strongly linked with the ecology of organisms. In
amniotes, bone mass increase is a microanatomical specialization often
encountered in aquatic taxa performing long dives at shallow depths.
Although previous work highlighted the rather generalist inner structure of
the vertebrae in snakes utilising different habitats, microanatomical
specializations may be expected in aquatic snakes specialised for a single
environment. The present description of the vertebral microanatomy of
various extinct aquatic snakes belonging to the Nigerophiidae,
Palaeophiidae, and Russelophiidae enables to widen the diversity of
patterns of vertebral inner structure in aquatic snakes. A large-scale
comparative analysis with extant snakes, including numerous semi-aquatic
and aquatic forms, and additional extinct taxa, highlights that, even for
snakes specialised for a single environment, vertebral microanatomy does
not correlate well with the ecology. Thus, it cannot be used as a proxy for
ecological inferences in snakes. In addition, the study emphasizes the
strong difficulty in characterizing "osteosclerosis" in snake vertebrae.
Finally, it points out and discusses the peculiarity of the marine
hind-limbed snakes, the only snakes showing pachyosteosclerosis.