INIBIOMA   20415
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES EN BIODIVERSIDAD Y MEDIOAMBIENTE
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Endocranial morphology of the primitive nodosaurid dinosaur Pawpawsaurus campbelli from the Early Cretaceous of North America
Autor/es:
PAULINA CARABAJAL, A.; LEE, Y-N.; JACOBS, L.
Revista:
PLOS ONE
Editorial:
PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE
Referencias:
Lugar: San Francisco; Año: 2016
ISSN:
1932-6203
Resumen:
Background: Ankylosaurs are one of the least explored clades ofdinosaurs regarding endocranial anatomy, with few available descriptions ofbraincase anatomy and even less information on brain and inner earmorphologies. The main goal of this study is to provide a detailed descriptionof the braincase and internal structures of the Early Cretaceous nodosaurid Pawpawsauruscampbelli, based on recently made CT scans. Methodology/PrincipalFindings: The skull of Pawpawsaurus was CT scanned atUniversity of Texas at Austin (UTCT). Three-dimensional models were constructedusing Mimics 18.0 (Materialise). The digital data and further processed 3Dmodels revealed inaccessible anatomic structures, allowing a detaileddescription of the lateral wall of the braincase (obscured by other bones inthe articulated skull), and endocranial structures such as the cranialendocast, the most complete inner ear morphology for a nodosaurid, and theinterpretation of the airflow system within the nasal cavities. Conslusions/Significance: The new information on the endocranial morphology ofPawpawsaurus adds anatomical data tothe poorly understand ankylosaur paleoneurology. The new set of data haspotential use not only in taxonomy and phylogeny, but also in paleobiologicalinterpretations based on the relative development of sense organs, such asolfaction, hearing and balance.