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Softening the steps to gigantism in sauropod dinosaurs through the evolution of a pedal pad.

ABSTRACT: How sauropod dinosaurs were able to withstand the forces associated with their immense size represents one of the most challenging biomechanical scenarios in the evolution of terrestrial tetrapods, but also one lacking robust biomechanical testing. Here, we use finite element analyses to quantify the biomechanical effects of foot skeletal postures with and without the presence of a soft tissue pad in sauropodomorphs. We find that none of the models can maintain bone stresses that fall within optimal bone safety factors in the absence of a soft tissue pad. Our findings suggest that a soft tissue pad in sauropods would have reduced bone stresses by combining the mechanical advantages of a functionally plantigrade foot with the plesiomorphic skeletally digitigrade saurischian condition. The acquisition of a developed soft tissue pad by the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic may represent one of the key adaptations for the evolution of gigantism that has become emblematic of these dinosaurs.

SUBMITTER: Jannel A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9365286 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Softening the steps to gigantism in sauropod dinosaurs through the evolution of a pedal pad.

Jannel Andréas A Salisbury Steven W SW Panagiotopoulou Olga O

Science advances 20220810 32

How sauropod dinosaurs were able to withstand the forces associated with their immense size represents one of the most challenging biomechanical scenarios in the evolution of terrestrial tetrapods, but also one lacking robust biomechanical testing. Here, we use finite element analyses to quantify the biomechanical effects of foot skeletal postures with and without the presence of a soft tissue pad in sauropodomorphs. We find that none of the models can maintain bone stresses that fall within opt ...[more]

PMID: 35947665

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Project description:BackgroundTooth replacement rate can be calculated in extinct animals by counting incremental lines of deposition in tooth dentin. Calculating this rate in several taxa allows for the study of the evolution of tooth replacement rate. Sauropod dinosaurs, the largest terrestrial animals that ever evolved, exhibited a diversity of tooth sizes and shapes, but little is known about their tooth replacement rates.Methodology/principal findingsWe present tooth replacement rate, formation time, crown volume, total dentition volume, and enamel thickness for two coexisting but distantly related and morphologically disparate sauropod dinosaurs Camarasaurus and Diplodocus. Individual tooth formation time was determined by counting daily incremental lines in dentin. Tooth replacement rate is calculated as the difference between the number of days recorded in successive replacement teeth. Each tooth family in Camarasaurus has a maximum of three replacement teeth, whereas each Diplodocus tooth family has up to five. Tooth formation times are about 1.7 times longer in Camarasaurus than in Diplodocus (315 vs. 185 days). Average tooth replacement rate in Camarasaurus is about one tooth every 62 days versus about one tooth every 35 days in Diplodocus. Despite slower tooth replacement rates in Camarasaurus, the volumetric rate of Camarasaurus tooth replacement is 10 times faster than in Diplodocus because of its substantially greater tooth volumes. A novel method to estimate replacement rate was developed and applied to several other sauropodomorphs that we were not able to thin section.Conclusions/significanceDifferences in tooth replacement rate among sauropodomorphs likely reflect disparate feeding strategies and/or food choices, which would have facilitated the coexistence of these gigantic herbivores in one ecosystem. Early neosauropods are characterized by high tooth replacement rates (despite their large tooth size), and derived titanosaurs and diplodocoids independently evolved the highest known tooth replacement rates among archosaurs.

Dataset Information

Softening the steps to gigantism in sauropod dinosaurs through the evolution of a pedal pad.

Publications

Softening the steps to gigantism in sauropod dinosaurs through the evolution of a pedal pad.

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