Quantitative assessment of the vertebral pneumaticity in an anhanguerid pterosaur using micro-CT scanning

Abstract Research on the postcranial skeletal pneumaticity in pterosaurs is common in the literature, but most studies present only qualitative assessments. When quantitative, they are done on isolated bones. Here, we estimate the Air Space Proportion (ASP) obtained from micro-CT scans of the sequen...

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Autores principales: Richard Buchmann, Borja Holgado, Gabriela Sobral, Leonardo dos Santos Avilla, Taissa Rodrigues
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Publicado: Nature Portfolio 2021
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:dce7fe316166424d859b4477476d2d082021-12-02T17:27:03ZQuantitative assessment of the vertebral pneumaticity in an anhanguerid pterosaur using micro-CT scanning10.1038/s41598-021-97856-62045-2322https://doaj.org/article/dce7fe316166424d859b4477476d2d082021-09-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-97856-6https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Research on the postcranial skeletal pneumaticity in pterosaurs is common in the literature, but most studies present only qualitative assessments. When quantitative, they are done on isolated bones. Here, we estimate the Air Space Proportion (ASP) obtained from micro-CT scans of the sequence from the sixth cervical to the fourth dorsal vertebra of an anhanguerine pterosaur to understand how pneumaticity is distributed in these bones. Pneumatisation of the vertebrae varied between 68 and 72% of their total volume. The neural arch showed higher ASP in all vertebrae. Anhanguerine vertebral ASP was generally higher than in sauropod vertebrae but lower than in most extant birds. The ASP observed here is lower than that calculated for the appendicular skeleton of other anhanguerian pterosaurs, indicating the potential existence of variation between axial and appendicular pneumatisation. The results point to a pattern in the distribution of the air space, which shows an increase in the area occupied by the trabecular bone in the craniocaudal direction of the vertebral series and, in each vertebra, an increase of the thickness of the trabeculae in the zygapophyses. This indicates that the distribution of pneumatic diverticula in anhanguerine vertebrae may not be associated with stochastic patterns.Richard BuchmannBorja HolgadoGabriela SobralLeonardo dos Santos AvillaTaissa RodriguesNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Medicine
R
Science
Q
spellingShingle Medicine
R
Science
Q
Richard Buchmann
Borja Holgado
Gabriela Sobral
Leonardo dos Santos Avilla
Taissa Rodrigues
Quantitative assessment of the vertebral pneumaticity in an anhanguerid pterosaur using micro-CT scanning
description Abstract Research on the postcranial skeletal pneumaticity in pterosaurs is common in the literature, but most studies present only qualitative assessments. When quantitative, they are done on isolated bones. Here, we estimate the Air Space Proportion (ASP) obtained from micro-CT scans of the sequence from the sixth cervical to the fourth dorsal vertebra of an anhanguerine pterosaur to understand how pneumaticity is distributed in these bones. Pneumatisation of the vertebrae varied between 68 and 72% of their total volume. The neural arch showed higher ASP in all vertebrae. Anhanguerine vertebral ASP was generally higher than in sauropod vertebrae but lower than in most extant birds. The ASP observed here is lower than that calculated for the appendicular skeleton of other anhanguerian pterosaurs, indicating the potential existence of variation between axial and appendicular pneumatisation. The results point to a pattern in the distribution of the air space, which shows an increase in the area occupied by the trabecular bone in the craniocaudal direction of the vertebral series and, in each vertebra, an increase of the thickness of the trabeculae in the zygapophyses. This indicates that the distribution of pneumatic diverticula in anhanguerine vertebrae may not be associated with stochastic patterns.
format article
author Richard Buchmann
Borja Holgado
Gabriela Sobral
Leonardo dos Santos Avilla
Taissa Rodrigues
author_facet Richard Buchmann
Borja Holgado
Gabriela Sobral
Leonardo dos Santos Avilla
Taissa Rodrigues
author_sort Richard Buchmann
title Quantitative assessment of the vertebral pneumaticity in an anhanguerid pterosaur using micro-CT scanning
title_short Quantitative assessment of the vertebral pneumaticity in an anhanguerid pterosaur using micro-CT scanning
title_full Quantitative assessment of the vertebral pneumaticity in an anhanguerid pterosaur using micro-CT scanning
title_fullStr Quantitative assessment of the vertebral pneumaticity in an anhanguerid pterosaur using micro-CT scanning
title_full_unstemmed Quantitative assessment of the vertebral pneumaticity in an anhanguerid pterosaur using micro-CT scanning
title_sort quantitative assessment of the vertebral pneumaticity in an anhanguerid pterosaur using micro-ct scanning
publisher Nature Portfolio
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/dce7fe316166424d859b4477476d2d08
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