[dinosaur] Giraffe and sauropod (Spinophorosaurus) neck osteological mobility (free pdf)

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Ben Creisler
[email protected]

New in PLoS ONE (free pdf):


Daniel Vidal, Pedro Mocho, Adri=C3=A1n P=C3=A1ramo, Jos=C3=A9 Luis Sanz & F=
rancisco Ortega
(2020)
Ontogenetic similarities between giraffe and sauropod neck osteological
mobility.
PLoS ONE 15(1): e0227537
doi: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttps-3A__doi.org_10.1371=
_journal.pone.0227537&d=3DDwIFaQ&c=3DclK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSf=
nc_gI&r=3DRy_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=3DAp92IwXC-1nAMrvfU=
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e=3D=20
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osone_article-3Fid-3D10.1371_journal.pone.0227537&d=3DDwIFaQ&c=3DclK7kQUTWt=
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gFW9SI&m=3DAp92IwXC-1nAMrvfUUQe2h2NzGEFO7Khd1hqJoJlDo0&s=3D-XBjPSxW0bkDhcbQ=
VLmjNbLWCS4635b-AqinvVHRvqw&e=3D=20

Free pdf:
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttps-3A__journals.plos.org_pl=
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Do0&s=3DSf-IoUWW-ONTslLchPIddYt7CxZtqXHNokCOEg1nfAE&e=3D=20

The functional morphology of sauropod dinosaur long necks has been studied
extensively, with virtual approaches yielding results that are difficult to
obtain with actual fossils, due to their extreme fragility and size.
However, analyses on virtual fossils have been questioned on several of
their premises, such as the ability to accurately reconstruct
intervertebral tissue with only skeletal data; or whether zygapophyseal
overlap can be used to determine the limits of range of motion, since some
extreme neck poses in extant giraffes have been claimed not to retain any
zygapophyseal overlap. We compared articulation and range of motion in
extant giraffes with the exceptionally well-preserved and complete basally
branching eusauropod Spinophorosaurus nigerensis from the Middle (?)
Jurassic of Niger, under the same virtual paleontology protocols. We
examined the articulation and range of motion on grown and young specimens
of both Spinophorosaurus and giraffes in order to record any potential
changes during ontogeny. Also, the postures of virtual giraffes were
compared with previously published data from living animals in the wild.
Our analyses show that: (i) articulation of virtual bones in osteologically
neutral pose (ONP) does enable accurate prediction of the amount of
inter-vertebral space in giraffes and, roughly, in Spinophorosaurus; (ii)
even the most extreme neck postures attained by living giraffes in the wild
do not require to disarticulate cervical vertebrae; (iii) both living
giraffes and Spinophorosaurus have large intervertebral spaces between
their cervical centra in early ontogenetical stages, which decrease as
ontogeny advances; and (iv) that grown specimens have a greater
osteological range of motion in living giraffes and Spinophorosaurus.

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div><br></div>Ben Creisler<div><a href=3D"mailto:bcreisle=
[email protected]">[email protected]</a></div><div><br></div><div>New in PLoS O=
NE (free pdf):<br><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Daniel Vidal, Pedro Mo=
cho, Adri=C3=A1n P=C3=A1ramo, Jos=C3=A9 Luis Sanz &amp; Francisco Ortega (2=
020) <br>Ontogenetic similarities between giraffe and sauropod neck osteolo=
gical mobility. <br>PLoS ONE 15(1): e0227537<br>doi: <a href=3D"https://url=
defense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttps-3A__doi.org_10.1371_journal.pone.02=
27537&amp;d=3DDwMFaQ&amp;c=3DclK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&am=
p;r=3DRy_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&amp;m=3DAp92IwXC-1nAMrvfU=
UQe2h2NzGEFO7Khd1hqJoJlDo0&amp;s=3DgmoM-00bG_zT6LT4sF9-ewD-ZVTnIs5qgONNaYDZ=
yY0&amp;e=3D">https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227537</a><br><a href=
=3D"https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttps-3A__journals.plos.or=
g_plosone_article-3Fid-3D10.1371_journal.pone.0227537&amp;d=3DDwMFaQ&amp;c=
=3DclK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&amp;r=3DRy_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9My=
ZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&amp;m=3DAp92IwXC-1nAMrvfUUQe2h2NzGEFO7Khd1hqJoJlDo0=
&amp;s=3D-XBjPSxW0bkDhcbQVLmjNbLWCS4635b-AqinvVHRvqw&amp;e=3D">https://jour=
nals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=3D10.1371/journal.pone.0227537</a></div><d=
iv><br>Free pdf:<br><a href=3D"https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=
=3Dhttps-3A__journals.plos.org_plosone_article_file-3Fid-3D10.1371_journal.=
pone.0227537-26type-3Dprintable&amp;d=3DDwMFaQ&amp;c=3DclK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0=
NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&amp;r=3DRy_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI=
&amp;m=3DAp92IwXC-1nAMrvfUUQe2h2NzGEFO7Khd1hqJoJlDo0&amp;s=3DSf-IoUWW-ONTsl=
LchPIddYt7CxZtqXHNokCOEg1nfAE&amp;e=3D">https://journals.plos.org/plosone/a=
rticle/file?id=3D10.1371/journal.pone.0227537&amp;type=3Dprintable</a><br><=
/div><div><br></div><div>The functional morphology of sauropod dinosaur lon=
g necks has been studied extensively, with virtual approaches yielding resu=
lts that are difficult to obtain with actual fossils, due to their extreme =
fragility and size. However, analyses on virtual fossils have been question=
ed on several of their premises, such as the ability to accurately reconstr=
uct intervertebral tissue with only skeletal data; or whether zygapophyseal=
 overlap can be used to determine the limits of range of motion, since some=
 extreme neck poses in extant giraffes have been claimed not to retain any =
zygapophyseal overlap. We compared articulation and range of motion in exta=
nt giraffes with the exceptionally well-preserved and complete basally bran=
ching eusauropod Spinophorosaurus nigerensis from the Middle (?) Jurassic o=
f Niger, under the same virtual paleontology protocols. We examined the art=
iculation and range of motion on grown and young specimens of both Spinopho=
rosaurus and giraffes in order to record any potential changes during ontog=
eny. Also, the postures of virtual giraffes were compared with previously p=
ublished data from living animals in the wild. Our analyses show that: (i) =
articulation of virtual bones in osteologically neutral pose (ONP) does ena=
ble accurate prediction of the amount of inter-vertebral space in giraffes =
and, roughly, in Spinophorosaurus; (ii) even the most extreme neck postures=
 attained by living giraffes in the wild do not require to disarticulate ce=
rvical vertebrae; (iii) both living giraffes and Spinophorosaurus have larg=
e intervertebral spaces between their cervical centra in early ontogenetica=
l stages, which decrease as ontogeny advances; and (iv) that grown specimen=
s have a greater osteological range of motion in living giraffes and Spinop=
horosaurus.<br></div><div><br></div></div></div>

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