Histology shows that elongated neck ribs in sauropod dinosaurs are ossified tendons

Biology Letters

Volumn 8, Issue 6, 2012, Pages 1032-1035

  Klein, Nicole ^a   Christian, Andreas ^b   Sander, P Martin ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BONN   (Germany)

^b UNIVERSITY OF FLENSBURG   (Germany)

Author keywords

Cervical ribs; Histology; Neck mechanics; Ossified tendons; Sauropoda

Indexed keywords

BONE; DINOSAUR; DOMINANCE; HISTOLOGY; HYPOTHESIS TESTING; MUSCLE;

EID: 84869845693     PISSN: 17449561     EISSN: 1744957X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0778     Document Type: Article

References (25)

1. Sander, P. M. et al. 2011 Biology of the sauropod dinosaurs: The evolution of gigantism. Biol. Rev. 86, 117-155. (doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2010. 00137.x)
2. Sander, P. M., Christian, A. & Gee, C. T. 2009 Response to sauropods kept their heads down. Science 323, 1671-1672. (doi:10.1126/science.323.5922. 1671)
3. Preuschoft, H., Hohn, B., Stoinski, St. & Witzel, U. 2011 Why so huge? Biomechanical reasons for the aquisition of large size in sauropod and theropod dinosaurs. In Biology of the sauropod dinosaurs: understanding the life of giants (eds N. Klein, K. Remes, C. T. Gee & P. M. Sander), pp. 305-316. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
4. Wilkinson, D. M. & Ruxton, G. D. 2011 Understanding selection for long necks in different taxa. Biol. Rev. 87, 616-630. (doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X. 2011.00212.x)
5. Seymour, R. S. 2009 Sauropods kept their heads down. Science 323, 1671-1672. (doi:10.1126/science.323. 5922.1671)
6. Bakker, R. 1987 The dinosaur heresies. New York, NY: William Morrow.
7. Paul, G. S. 1988 The brachiosaur giants of the Morrison and Tendaguru with a description of a new subgenus, Giraffatitan, and a comparison of the word's largest dinosaurs. Hunteria 2, 1-14.
8. Martin, J. 1987 Mobility and feeding of Cetiosaurus (Saurischia: Sauropoda)-why the long neck? In 4th Symp. Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems (eds P. J. Curry & E. H. Koster), pp. 154-159. Drumheller, Canada: Tyrell Museum of Paleontology.
9. Stevens, K. A. & Parrish, M. J. 1999 Neck posture and feeding habits of two Jurassic sauropod dinosaurs. Science 284, 798-800. (doi:10.1126/science. 284.5415.798) (Pubitemid 29291343)
10. Stevens, K. A. & Parrish, M. J. 2005 Digital reconstructions of sauropod dinosaurs and implications for feeding. In The Sauropods: evolution and paleobiology (eds J. A. Wilson & K. Curry Rogers), pp. 178-200. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
11. Stevens, K. A. & Parrish, M. J. 2005 Neck posture, dentition and feeding strategies in Jurassic sauropod dinosaurs. In Thunder lizards: The sauropodomorph dinosaurs (eds V. Tidwell & K. Carpenter), pp. 212-232. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
12. Christian, A. & Dzemski, G. 2007 Reconstruction of the cervical skeleton posture of Brachiosaurus brancai Janensch, 1914 by an analysis of the intervertebral stress along the neck and a comparison with the results of different approaches. Fossil Rec. 10, 37-48.
13. Christian, A. & Dzemski, G. 2011 Neck posture in sauropods. In Biology of the sauropod dinosaurs: understanding the life of giants (eds N. Klein, K. Remes, C. T. Gee & P. M. Sander), pp. 251-260. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
14. Taylor, M. P., Wedel, M. J. & Naish, D. 2009 Head and neck posture in sauropod dinosaurs inferred from extant animals. Acta Palaeontol. Pol. 54, 213-220. (doi:10. 4202/app. 2009.0007)
15. Christian, A. 2010 Some sauropods raised their necks: evidence for high browsing in Euhelopus zdanskyi. Biol. Lett. 6, 823-825. (doi:10.1098/rsbl.2010. 0359)
16. Frey, E. & Martin, J. 1997 Long necks of sauropods. In Encyclopedia of dinosaurs (eds P. J. Currie & K. Padian), pp. 406-409. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
17. Martin, J., Martin-Rolland, V. & Frey, E. 1998 Not cranes or masts, but beams: The biomechanics of sauropod necks. Oryctos 1, 113-120.
18. Berman, D. S. & Rothschild, B. M. 2005 Neck posture of sauropods determined using radiological imaging to reveal three dimensional structure of cervical vertebrae. In Thunder lizards: The sauropodomorph dinosaurs (eds V. Tidwell & K. Carpenter), pp. 233-247. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
19. Christian, A. 2002 Neck posture and overall body design in sauropods. Mitteilungen des Museums für Naturkunde Berlin, Geowissenschaftliche Reihe 5, 269-279.
20. Upchurch, P., Barrett, P. M. & Dodson, P. 2004 Sauropoda. In The dinosauria (eds D. B. Weishampel, P. Dodson & H. Osmolska), pp. 259-322, 2nd edn. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
21. Janensch, W. 1950 Die Wirbelsäule von Brachiosaurus brancai. Palaeontograph. Suppl. 7, 27-92.
22. Wedel, M. J., Cifelli, R. L. & Sanders, R. K. 2000 Osteology, paleobiology, and relationships of the sauropod dinosaur Sauroposeidon. Acta Palaeontol. Pol. 45, 343-388. (Pubitemid 32013292)
23. Organ, Ch. & Adams, J. 2005 The histology of ossified tendons in dinosaurs. J. Vert. Paleontol. 25, 602-613. (doi:10. 1671/0272-4634(2005) 025[0602:THOOTI]2.0. CO;2)
24. Klein, N. & Sander, P. M. 2007 Bone histology and growth of the prosauropod Plateosaurus engelhardti Meyer, 1837 from the Norian bonebeds of Trossingen (Germany) and Frick (Switzerland). Special Pap. Palaeontol. 77, 169-206.
25. Wedel, M. J. & Sanders, R. K. 2002 Osteological correlates of cervical musculature in Aves and Sauropoda (Dinosauria: Saurischia), with comments on the cervical ribs of Apatosaurus. PaleoBios 22, 1-6.