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Neurovascular anatomy of dwarf dinosaur implies precociality in sauropods.
Elife. 2022 12 20; 11E

Abstract

Macronaria, a group of mostly colossal sauropod dinosaurs, comprised the largest terrestrial vertebrates of Earth's history. However, some of the smallest sauropods belong to this group as well. The Late Jurassic macronarian island dwarf Europasaurus holgeri is one of the most peculiar and best-studied sauropods worldwide. So far, the braincase material of this taxon from Germany pended greater attention. With the aid of micro-computed tomography (microCT), we report on the neuroanatomy of the nearly complete braincase of an adult individual, as well as the inner ears (endosseous labyrinths) of one other adult and several juveniles (the latter also containing novel vascular cavities). The presence of large and morphologically adult inner ears in juvenile material suggests precociality. Our findings add to the diversity of neurovascular anatomy in sauropod braincases and buttress the perception of sauropods as fast-growing and autonomous giants with manifold facets of reproductive and social behaviour. This suggests that - apart from sheer size - little separated Europasaurus from its large-bodied relatives.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Schade M
University of Greifswald, Institute of Geography and Geology, Palaeontology and Historical, Greifswald, Germany. University of Greifswald, Zoological Institute and Museum, Cytology and Evolutionary Biology, Greifswald, Germany.
Knötschke N
Mineralientage, Oberhaching, Germany.
Hörnig MK
University of Greifswald, Zoological Institute and Museum, Cytology and Evolutionary Biology, Greifswald, Germany.
Paetzel C
University of Greifswald, Zoological Institute and Museum, Cytology and Evolutionary Biology, Greifswald, Germany.
Stumpf S
University of Vienna, Department of Palaeontology, Vienna, Austria.

MeSH

AnimalsPhylogenyDinosaursFossilsX-Ray MicrotomographySkullBiological Evolution

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

36537069

Citation

Schade, Marco, et al. "Neurovascular Anatomy of Dwarf Dinosaur Implies Precociality in Sauropods." ELife, vol. 11, 2022.
Schade M, Knötschke N, Hörnig MK, et al. Neurovascular anatomy of dwarf dinosaur implies precociality in sauropods. Elife. 2022;11.
Schade, M., Knötschke, N., Hörnig, M. K., Paetzel, C., & Stumpf, S. (2022). Neurovascular anatomy of dwarf dinosaur implies precociality in sauropods. ELife, 11. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.82190
Schade M, et al. Neurovascular Anatomy of Dwarf Dinosaur Implies Precociality in Sauropods. Elife. 2022 12 20;11 PubMed PMID: 36537069.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Neurovascular anatomy of dwarf dinosaur implies precociality in sauropods. AU - Schade,Marco, AU - Knötschke,Nils, AU - Hörnig,Marie K, AU - Paetzel,Carina, AU - Stumpf,Sebastian, Y1 - 2022/12/20/ PY - 2022/07/26/received PY - 2022/11/11/accepted PY - 2022/12/20/entrez PY - 2022/12/21/pubmed PY - 2022/12/22/medline KW - Europasaurus holgeri KW - Germany KW - Jurassic KW - braincase endocast KW - dinosaur KW - evolutionary biology KW - fossil KW - neuroscience JF - eLife JO - Elife VL - 11 N2 - Macronaria, a group of mostly colossal sauropod dinosaurs, comprised the largest terrestrial vertebrates of Earth's history. However, some of the smallest sauropods belong to this group as well. The Late Jurassic macronarian island dwarf Europasaurus holgeri is one of the most peculiar and best-studied sauropods worldwide. So far, the braincase material of this taxon from Germany pended greater attention. With the aid of micro-computed tomography (microCT), we report on the neuroanatomy of the nearly complete braincase of an adult individual, as well as the inner ears (endosseous labyrinths) of one other adult and several juveniles (the latter also containing novel vascular cavities). The presence of large and morphologically adult inner ears in juvenile material suggests precociality. Our findings add to the diversity of neurovascular anatomy in sauropod braincases and buttress the perception of sauropods as fast-growing and autonomous giants with manifold facets of reproductive and social behaviour. This suggests that - apart from sheer size - little separated Europasaurus from its large-bodied relatives. SN - 2050-084X UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/36537069/Neurovascular_anatomy_of_dwarf_dinosaur_implies_precociality_in_sauropods_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -