Disentangling biological variability and taphonomy: shape analysis of the limb long bones of the sauropodomorph dinosaur Plateosaurus

PeerJ

article

Rémi Lefebvre¹  Ronan Allain²  Alexandra Houssaye¹  Raphaël Cornette³ 

[1] Mécanismes Adaptatifs et Évolution, UMR 7179, MNHN, CNRS, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle;Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie - Paris, UMR 7207, MNHN, CNRS, SU, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle;Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, UMR7205, MNHN, CNRS, SU, EPHE, UA, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle

关键词: Dinosauria;    Sauropodomorpha;    3D Geometric morphometrics;    Deformation;    Comparative anatomy;    Paleobiology;    Saurischia;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.9359

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Sauropodomorph dinosaurs constitute a well-studied clade of dinosaurs, notably because of the acquisition of gigantism within this group. The genus Plateosaurus is one of the best-known sauropodomorphs, with numerous remains from various localities. Its tumultuous taxonomic history suggests the relevance of addressing its intrageneric shape variability, mixed with taphonomic modifications of the original bone shape. Here we investigate quantitatively the morphological variation of Plateosaurus occurring at the genus level by studying the shape variation of a sample of limb long bones. By means of 3D geometric morphometrics, the analysis of the uncorrelated variation permits separation of the variation estimated as obviously taphonomically influenced from the more biologically plausible variation. Beyond the dominant taphonomic signal, our approach permits interpretation of the most biologically plausible features, even on anatomical parts influenced by taphonomic deformations. Those features are thus found on a quantitative basis from the variation of samples containing fossil specimens, by taking the impact of taphonomy into account, which is paramount in order to avoid making biologically ambiguous interpretations.

【 授权许可】

CC BY