Caudal pneumaticity in derived titanosaurs (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) |
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| Institution: | 1. Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Carrer de l''Escola Industrial, 23, Sabadell, Catalonia 08201, Spain;2. Departament de Geologia, Facultat de Ciències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Carrer de l''Eix central, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain;3. Centro de Estudios y Experimentación de Obras Públicas, Calle Alfonso XII, 3-5, Madrid 28014, Spain;4. Museu de la Conca Dellà, Carrer del Museu, 4, 25650, Isona, Lleida, Catalonia, Spain;5. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via di Vigna Murata, 605, Rome 00143, Italy |
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| Abstract: | Among extant vertebrates, only birds have a respiratory system associated with pneumatic diverticula. However, several extinct clades also had pneumatic diverticula, including the sauropod dinosaurs. Among sauropods, Saltasaurini are characterized by extreme postcranial pneumaticity, which extends as far down the spinal column as the posterior caudal vertebrae. In this paper the pneumatic foramina in both the neural arches and the centra are described in detail, and the relative proportion of air spaces in the caudal vertebrae is established, revealing that the skeleton of Rocasaurus muniozi was more pneumatized than that of Neuquensaurus australis, with Saltasaurus loricatus intermediate. The level of pneumatization varies between the three saltasaurine taxa: in Neuquensaurus, only the neural arch is pneumatized, whereas in the other two saltasaurines both neural arches and centra are pneumatized. This allows us to hypothesize that the timing of pneumatization varied between the three species, with Rocasaurus muniozi pneumatized earliest in ontogeny. This ontogenetic pattern is correlated with evolutionary derivation: the most derived taxa show pneumatization in both the neural arch and the centrum. |
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| Keywords: | Abdominal air sacs Titanosauria Saltasaurini Pneumatic diverticula Caudal pneumaticity |
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