Bite of the cats: relationships between functional integration and mechanical performance as revealed by mandible geometry.
- P. Piras, L. Maiorino, P. Raia
- BiologySystematic Biology
- 1 November 2013
There is significant correlation between integration at the clade level and per-clade averaged stress values, on both original data and by partialling out interclade allometry from shapes when calculating integration, which suggests a strong interaction between natural selection and the evolution of developmental and functional modules at theClade level.
The role of post‐natal ontogeny in the evolution of phenotypic diversity in Podarcis lizards
- P. Piras, D. Salvi, T. Kotsakis
- BiologyJournal of Evolutionary Biology
- 1 December 2011
A model of how simple heterochronic perturbations can produce phenotypic variation, and thus potential for further evolutionary change, is suggested, even within a strictly constrained developmental pathway.
Reassessing the earliest Oligocene vertebrate assemblage of Monteviale (Vicenza, Italy)
- L. Pandolfi, G. Carnevale, T. Kotsakis
- Geography, Environmental Science
- 1 February 2017
The faunal assemblage of Monteviale (Vicenza, northern Italy) represents a rare condition among the earliest Oligocene assemblages of south-eastern Europe at the ‘Grande-Coupure’. The lignitic…
Variation in the shape and mechanical performance of the lower jaws in ceratopsid dinosaurs (Ornithischia, Ceratopsia)
- L. Maiorino, A. Farke, T. Kotsakis, L. Teresi, P. Piras
- Biology, Environmental ScienceJournal of Anatomy
- 1 November 2015
Structural performance, as evaluated using a 2D FEA, is similar across all groups as measured by overall stress, with the exception of Triceratopsini, which is reconstructed as relatively much more stressed in triceratopopsins.
Who is the most stressed? Morphological disparity and mechanical behavior of the feeding apparatus of ceratopsian dinosaurs (Ornithischia, Marginocephalia)
- L. Maiorino, A. Farke, T. Kotsakis, P. Raia, P. Piras
- Geography, Environmental Science
- 1 April 2018
Is Torosaurus Triceratops? Geometric Morphometric Evidence of Late Maastrichtian Ceratopsid Dinosaurs
- L. Maiorino, A. Farke, T. Kotsakis, P. Piras
- Environmental Science, GeographyPLoS ONE
- 26 November 2013
This new approach confirms the taxonomic status of Torosaurus as well as the comparatively low diversity of ceratopsids at the end of the Maastrichtian in North America.
Males Resemble Females: Re-Evaluating Sexual Dimorphism in Protoceratops andrewsi (Neoceratopsia, Protoceratopsidae)
- L. Maiorino, A. Farke, T. Kotsakis, P. Piras
- BiologyPLoS ONE
- 7 May 2015
Sexual dimorphism within Protoceratops andrewsi is not strongly supported by the results, and Anatomical traits such as height and width of the frill, and skull size thus may not be sexually dimorphic.
Evolution of the sabertooth mandible: A deadly ecomorphological specialization
- P. Piras, D. Silvestro, P. Raia
- Geography, Environmental Science
- 1 May 2018
Functional and phylogenetic constraints in Rhinocerotinae craniodental morphology
- P. Piras, L. Maiorino, T. Kotsakis
- Biology
- 2010
The degree of morphological integration between the upper tooth row and the other structures is relatively low, indicating that the former component is the least phylogenetically constrained.
Reassessment of the Largest Pleistocene Rhinocerotine Rhinoceros platyrhinus (Mammalia, Rhinocerotidae) from the Upper Siwaliks (Siwalik Hills, India)
- L. Pandolfi, L. Maiorino
- Environmental Science, GeographyJournal of Vertebrate Paleontology
- 6 February 2016
A well-preserved, large skull of a rhinoceros, NHMUK 36661, collected in 1860 from Upper Siwalik deposits is described and it is suggested that the generic name Punjabitherium erected for R. platyrhinus represents a junior synonym of Rhinocero due to the morphological affinities of NHM UK 36661 with R. unicornis.
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