A new study by Smyth and colleagues identifies pterosaur trackmakers and shows that several lineages of Jurassic and Cretaceous pterosaurs independently evolved to thrive in terrestrial ecosystems, foraging on foot rather than on the wing!
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822%2825%2900446-4
#science #paleontology #pterosaurs #pterodactyl #mesozoic #reptiles #paleoecology #ecology #locomotion #functionalmorphology
#Spinosaurus living up to its name - elongate neural spine on a distal caudal vertebra.
#dinosaurs #paleontology #fossil #science #functionalmorphology
#NewPaper #Zoology #FunctionalMorphology
Edwin Dickinson, Melody W. Young, Nicholas D. Flaim, Aleksander Sawiec and Michael C. Granatosky (2023)
A functional framework for interpreting phalangeal form
Journal of The Royal Society Interface 20(205): 20230251
doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2023.0251
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2023.0251
#NewPaper #Paleontology #FunctionalMorphology
Gônet, J., Laurin, M., & Hutchinson, J. R. (2023). Evolution of posture in amniotes–Diving into the trabecular architecture of the femoral head. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 00, 1– 16. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.14187
#NewPaper #Paleontology #Paleoanthropology #FunctionalMorphology
Ashleigh L. A. Wiseman (2023)
Three-dimensional volumetric muscle reconstruction of the Australopithecus afarensis pelvis and limb, with estimations of limb leverage
Royal Society Open Science 10(6): 230356
In his #JEB100 ECR Spotlight V. David Munteanu talks about his work on the strain in limb bones of #iguanas as they navigate different terrains and how rewarding it was to be involved in every step of the research process
https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/226/10/jeb246069/310722
Read the full article here
https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/226/10/jeb245175/310723
ECR Spotlight is a series of interviews with early-career authors from a selection of papers published in Journal of Experimental Biology and aims to promote not only the diversity of early-career researchers (ECRs) working in experimental biology during our centenary year, but also the huge variety of animals and physiological systems that are essential for the ‘comparative’ approach. V. David Munteanu is an author on ‘ Limb bone strains during climbing in green iguanas (Iguana iguana): testing biomechanical release as a mechanism promoting morphological transitions in arboreal vertebrates’, published in JEB. David is a PhD student in the lab of Richard Blob at Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, USA, investigating the biomechanics of habitat transitions in vertebrates.
#NewPaper #Herpetology #FunctionalMorphology
Graham Turnbull, Sutejas Chari, Zehao Li, Ziyue Yang, Catharina Maria Alam, Christofer J Clemente & Parvez Alam (2023)
The influence of claw morphology on gripping efficiency
Biology Open 12(5): bio059874.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/bio.059874
https://journals.biologists.com/bio/article/12/5/bio059874/310404/The-influence-of-claw-morphology-on-gripping
#NewPaper #Paleontology #Paleomammalogy #FunctionalMorphology
Tseng, Z. Jack, Garcia-Lara Sergio, Flynn John J., Holmes Emily, Rowe Timothy B. and Dickson Blake V. 2023A switch in jaw form–function coupling during the evolution of mammalsPhil. Trans. R. Soc. B3782022009120220091
http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0091
#NewPaper #Herpetology #FunctionalMorphology
Jordan Gônet, Jérémie Bardin, Marc Girondot, John R Hutchinson & Michel Laurin (2023)
Deciphering locomotion in reptiles: application of elliptic Fourier transforms to femoral microanatomy
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, zlad006
doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad006
https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/advance-article/doi/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad006/7151257
Stella Angelika Ludwig
Thomas Holtz
Max, overwintering bug
Journal of Exp Biol
