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| Neuroanatomy of flying reptiles and implications for flight, posture and behaviour |
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| Author(s): Witmer LM, Chatterjee S, Franzosa J, Rowe T |
| Source: NATURE Volume: 425 Issue: 6961 Pages: 950-953 Published: OCT 30 2003 |
| Times Cited: 30 References: 31 |
| Abstract: Comparison of birds and pterosaurs, the two archosaurian flyers, sheds light on adaptation to an aerial lifestyle. The neurological basis of control holds particular interest in that flight demands on sensory integration, equilibrium, and muscular coordination are acute(1-8). Here we compare the brain and vestibular apparatus in two pterosaurs based on high-resolution computed tomographic (CT) scans from which we constructed digital endocasts. Although general neural organization resembles birds, pterosaurs had smaller brains relative to body mass than do birds. This difference probably has more to do with phylogeny than flight, in that birds evolved from nonavian theropods that had already established trends for greater encephalization(5,9). Orientation of the osseous labyrinth relative to the long axis of the skull was different in these two pterosaur species, suggesting very different head postures and reflecting differing behaviours. Their enlarged semicircular canals reflect a highly refined organ of equilibrium, which is concordant with pterosaurs being visually based, aerial predators. Their enormous cerebellar floccular lobes may suggest neural integration of extensive sensory information from the wing, further enhancing eye- and neck-based reflex mechanisms for stabilizing gaze. |
| Document Type: Article |
| Language: English |
| Reprint Address: Witmer, LM (reprint author), Ohio Univ, Coll Osteopath Med, Dept Biomed Sci, Athens, OH 45701 USA |
Addresses:
1. Ohio Univ, Coll Osteopath Med, Dept Biomed Sci, Athens, OH 45701 USA
2. Texas Tech Univ Museum, Lubbock, TX 79409 USA
3. Univ Texas, Jackson Sch Geosci, Austin, TX 78712 USA |
| Publisher: NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP, MACMILLAN BUILDING, 4 CRINAN ST, LONDON N1 9XW, ENGLAND |
| Subject Category: Multidisciplinary Sciences |
| IDS Number: 737KY |
| ISSN: 0028-0836 |
| DOI: 10.1038/nature02048 |
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| | | | | | | | | Record from Web of Science® | | | | | | | | | |