Elbow joint adductor moment arm as an indicator of forelimb posture in extinct quadrupedal tetrapods

Fujiwara, Shin-ichi; Hutchinson, John R.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2012.0190

Cited by 34 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Trackway data (Thompson and Holmes 2007) and evidence from manual pathologies (Rega et al 2010) indicates that, during stance, the ceratopsid elbow was abducted from the parasagittal plane (but see Fujiwara and Hutchinson 2012 for an alternative view), and the similarity in both osteology and reconstructed myology between ceratopsids and stegosaurs makes this stance reasonable for stegosaurs also. Such a stance position would load weight on the medial side of the manus, and is supported by the observation that both stegosaurs and ceratopsids only possess hoof-like, weight-bearing ungual phalanges on the medial digits ).…”

Section: Forelimbmentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of ornithischian quadrupedality

Barrett

Maidment

2017

J Iber Geol

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Ornithischian dinosaurs were primitively bipedal, but reverted to quadrupedality on at least three (and potentially several more) occasions: in Ceratopsia, Thyreophora and Hadrosauriformes. Each of these reversals was accompanied by anatomical changes to the whole skeleton that enabled the forelimb to function in weight bearing and that also resulted in numerous changes to the hip and hind limb musculature. Each quadrupedal clade acquired a suite of similar biomechanical characters, although they varied in terms of function and in how these character complexes were assembled. Some similar changes occurred in parallel among sauropodomorph dinosaurs as they transitioned from bipedality to quadrupedality. It is unclear why bipedal ornithischians reverted to quadrupedalism, but neither increases in body size nor the acquisition of dermal armour seem to have played a significant role. Increased head size might have influenced the position of the centre of mass and stance in ceratopsians and it is plausible that the evolution of herbivory played an important role in both ornithischians and sauropods, but the latter hypothesis is difficult to test.Resumen Los dinosaurios Ornitísquios, bípedos en origen, revertieron a la condición cuadrúpeda en al menos tres (y potencialmente más) ocasiones: en Ceratopsia, Thyreophora y Hadrosauriformes. Cada una de estas reversiones vino acompañada de cambios anatómicos en el resto de esqueleto que permitieron a la extremidad anterior funcionar para soportar su peso y llevaron a cambios en la cadera y la musculatura dela extremidad posterior. Cada clado cuadrúpedo adquirió una serie de caracteres biomecánicos parecidos, aunque variaron en su función y en la manera en la que estos conjuntos de caracteres encajaban. Cambios parecidos aparecieron paralelamente entre los dinosaurios sauropodomorfos durante su transición de bípedos a cuadrúpedos. Aunque no queda claro por qué los ornitísquios revertieron al cuadrupedismo, ni el aumento de masa corporal ni la adquisición de armadura parecen haber jugado un papel significativo. Un mayor tamaño de la cabeza pudo haber repercutido en el cambio de posición del centro de masas y cambio en la postura en los ceratopsios, y es posible que la evolución de la fitofagia jugara un papel importante, tanto en ornitísquios como saurópodos, aunque sea una hipótesis difícilmente contrastable.Palabras clave Ornithischia Á Dinosauria Á Locomoción Á Cuadrupedismo Á Biomecánica Á Morfología funcional Á Evolución

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Section: Forelimbmentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of ornithischian quadrupedality

Barrett

Maidment

2017

J Iber Geol

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“…Indeed, Michilsens et al. () found that siamangs maximise moment arms around the elbow during the support phase of brachiation, and Fujiwara & Hutchinson () found that relative elbow moment arms reliably indicate different limb postures in terrestrial quadrupeds. Payne et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 3D musculoskeletal model of the western lowland gorilla hind limb: moment arms and torque of the hip, knee and ankle

et al. 2017

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Three‐dimensional musculoskeletal models have become increasingly common for investigating muscle moment arms in studies of vertebrate locomotion. In this study we present the first musculoskeletal model of a western lowland gorilla hind limb. Moment arms of individual muscles around the hip, knee and ankle were compared with previously published data derived from the experimental tendon travel method. Considerable differences were found which we attribute to the different methodologies in this specific case. In this instance, we argue that our 3D model provides more accurate and reliable moment arm data than previously published data on the gorilla because our model incorporates more detailed consideration of the 3D geometry of muscles and the geometric constraints that exist on their lines‐of‐action about limb joints. Our new data have led us to revaluate the previous conclusion that muscle moment arms in the gorilla hind limb are optimised for locomotion with crouched or flexed limb postures. Furthermore, we found that bipedalism and terrestrial quadrupedalism coincided more regularly with higher moment arms and torque around the hip, knee and ankle than did vertical climbing. This indicates that the ability of a gorilla to walk bipedally is not restricted by musculoskeletal adaptations for quadrupedalism and vertical climbing, at least in terms of moment arms and torque about hind limb joints.

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“…First, because no alternative exists, we are limited to the sprawled/parasagittal and presence/absence of active pronation ability dichotomies. Many authors have noted that problems lie with the current dichotomy of either sprawled or parasagittal forelimb posture (e.g., [16], [19]). Considering that there would have been a gradual shift from the sprawled posture seen in many sauropsids to a parasagittal posture seen in many mammals, this criticism is not surprising and can also be applied to the dichotomy for pronation ability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The transition from bipedality to quadrupedality is a rare transition in vertebrate evolution, occurring only once outside Dinosauria in silesaurid dinosauriforms [15]. Previous research on forelimb posture in dinosaurs has largely focused on ceratopsids [16]–[23] and sauropodomorphs [24]–[30]. In ceratopsids, it has been recognized that forelimb posture may have played a role during intraspecific combative behavior (e.g., [31]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies on postural evolution using transitional forms such as Aardonyx [28], ontogenetic changes in Massospondylus [29], and morphometric studies [26], [30] have given great insight into the anatomy and evolution of forelimb posture in sauropodomorphs. However, few locomotor-based functional studies on ceratopsians include non-ceratopsid neoceratopsians [16], [33] or any other marginocephalian and are largely qualitative [17]–[19], [21]. While qualitative studies are important for our understanding of forelimb posture in ceratopsids and other quadrupedal dinosaurs, they are not repeatable and many produce conflicting results due to uncertainties in the articulations of the pectoral girdle and forelimb elements [34]–[37].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Forearm Posture and Mobility in Quadrupedal Dinosaurs

VanBuren

Bonnan

2013

PLoS ONE

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Quadrupedality evolved four independent times in dinosaurs; however, the constraints associated with these transitions in limb anatomy and function remain poorly understood, in particular the evolution of forearm posture and rotational ability (i.e., active pronation and supination). Results of previous qualitative studies are inconsistent, likely due to an inability to quantitatively assess the likelihood of their conclusions. We attempt to quantify antebrachial posture and mobility using the radius bone because its morphology is distinct between extant sprawled taxa with a limited active pronation ability and parasagittal taxa that have an enhanced ability to actively pronate the manus. We used a sliding semi-landmark, outline-based geometric morphometric approach of the proximal radial head and a measurement of the angle of curvature of the radius in a sample of 189 mammals, 49 dinosaurs, 35 squamates, 16 birds, and 5 crocodilians. Our results of radial head morphology showed that quadrupedal ceratopsians, bipedal non-hadrosaurid ornithopods, and theropods had limited pronation/supination ability, and sauropodomorphs have unique radial head morphology that likely allowed limited rotational ability. However, the curvature of the radius showed that no dinosaurian clade had the ability to cross the radius about the ulna, suggesting parallel antebrachial elements for all quadrupedal dinosaurs. We conclude that the bipedal origins of all quadrupedal dinosaur clades could have allowed for greater disparity in forelimb posture than previously appreciated, and future studies on dinosaur posture should not limit their classifications to the overly simplistic extant dichotomy.

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Elbow joint adductor moment arm as an indicator of forelimb posture in extinct quadrupedal tetrapods

Cited by 34 publications

References 42 publications

The evolution of ornithischian quadrupedality

The evolution of ornithischian quadrupedality

A 3D musculoskeletal model of the western lowland gorilla hind limb: moment arms and torque of the hip, knee and ankle

Forearm Posture and Mobility in Quadrupedal Dinosaurs

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