Braincase, Neuroanatomy, and neck posture of Amargasaurus Cazaui
0 comentarios Publicado por Leonardo Filippi en 13:54
Ariana
Paulina Carabajal, José L. Carballido, and Philip J. Currie
The braincase of Amargasaurus cazaui from the Lower
Cretaceous of Argentina represents the only dicraeosaurid sauropod neurocranial
material known from South America. It has been computer tomographically (CT)
scanned and three-dimensional digital reconstructions of the endocranium and
inner ear have been made. The cranial endocast is complete, with a volume of
approximately 94–98 ml, excluding the dorsal sinuses. The labyrinth of the
inner ear is dorsoventrally taller than the lagena, which is conical, and
relatively short. The anterior semicircular canal is longer than the posterior
and lateral semicircular canals, as in most non-titanosaurid sauropods.When the
braincase is oriented with the lateral semicircular canal positioned
horizontally, the occipital condyle is oriented posteroventrally, suggesting
that the head was held with the muzzle pointing downward. The morphology of the
atlas and axis, together with the reconstruction of the osteological neutral pose
of the neck, supports this neck and head position, and also indicates the
presence of the proatlas in this taxon. The evidence presented here for the
skull and neck position of Amargasaurus
fits with a midheight food-gathering strategy. The presence of titanosauriforms
and rebbachisaurids, together with Amargasaurus,
supports the niche partitioning hypothesis for the La Amarga Formation
sauropods.
Paulina Carabajal, A., Carballido, J. L. and Currie, P. J. 2014. Braincase,
Neuroanatomy, and neck posture of Amargasaurus
Cazaui (Sauropoda, Dicraeosauridae) and its implications for understanding head
posture in Sauropods. Journal
of Vertebrate Paleontology
34(4):870–882.
La Inveranda, exposición de Dinosaurios en el MAU
0 comentarios Publicado por Leonardo Filippi en 6:11
Durante las vacaciones de invierno, el MAU (Museo Municipal Argentino Urquiza) de Rincón de los Sauces, esta desarrollando una importante exposición con los nuevos ejemplares de dinosaurios y fauna asociada, recuperados en una campaña paleontológica durante el 2013. Estos dinosaurios corresponden a un grupo de saurópodos titanosaurios, uno de ellos juvenil, el primer dinosaurios carnívoro para Rincón, correspondiente a un terópodo abelisauridae muy completo y muy bien preservado y un ejemplar de tortuga chelidae indeterminada. Durante los primeros días de la muestra, la misma ha sido muy visitada, por lo que el balance resulta muy positivo.
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