Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 106, Issue 20, Pages 8273-8277Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0813156106
Keywords
biomechanics; Lepidosauria; lower temporal bar; streptostyly
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Funding
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/E009204/1, BB/E007465/1] Funding Source: Medline
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/E007465/1, BB/E009204/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- BBSRC [BB/E009204/1, BB/E007465/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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The lepidosaurian skull has long been of interest to functional morphologists and evolutionary biologists. Patterns of bone loss and gain, particularly in relation to bars and fenestrae, have led to a variety of hypotheses concerning skull use and kinesis. Of these, one of the most enduring relates to the absence of the lower temporal bar in squamates and the acquisition of streptostyly. We performed a series of computer modeling studies on the skull of Uromastyx hardwickii, an akinetic herbivorous lizard. Multibody dynamic analysis (MDA) was conducted to predict the forces acting on the skull, and the results were transferred to a finite element analysis (FEA) to estimate the pattern of stress distribution. In the FEA, we applied the MDA result to a series of models based on the Uromastyx skull to represent different skull configurations within past and present members of the Lepidosauria. In this comparative study, we found that streptostyly can reduce the joint forces acting on the skull, but loss of the bony attachment between the quadrate and pterygoid decreases skull robusticity. Development of a lower temporal bar apparently provided additional support for an immobile quadrate that could become highly stressed during forceful biting.
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