THE EVOLUTION OF MANUS SHAPE IN SAUROPOD DINOSAURS: IMPLICATIONS FOR FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY, FORELIMB ORIENTATION, AND PHYLOGENY

@inproceedings{Bonnan2003THEEO,
  title={THE EVOLUTION OF MANUS SHAPE IN SAUROPOD DINOSAURS: IMPLICATIONS FOR FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY, FORELIMB ORIENTATION, AND PHYLOGENY},
  author={Matthew F. Bonnan},
  year={2003}
}
  • Matthew F. Bonnan
  • Published 12 September 2003
  • Geography, Biology, Environmental Science
Abstract Sauropods have a unique digitigrade and semi-tubular manus whose shape has been used as a synapomorphy that unites most sauropod taxa. The vertical orientation and semi-tubular arrangement of the metacarpals suggest the sauropod manus improved the mechanical ability of the forelimb to support great weight. However, the evolutionary mechanism responsible for modifying the relatively flat metacarpus of basal saurischians into a semi-tubular arrangement has remained uninvestigated… 
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118 Citations

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This work aims to tackle this evolutionary episode by investigating shape variation in the six limb long bones for the first time using three‐dimensional geometric morphometrics and highlights differences in hindlimb bone allometries between the sauropods and the non‐sauropodan sauropodomorphs.

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Except for some rare exceptions, the arrangement of the carpus remains poorly understood among sauropodomorphs, mainly because of a bad preservation in the fossil record. When preserved, it is…
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