Neurovascular anatomy of the protostegid turtle Rhinochelys pulchriceps and comparisons of membranous and endosseous labyrinth shape in an extant turtle

Autor(es)

Evers, Serjoscha W. ^{[1, 2]} ; Neenan, James M. ^[3] ; Ferreira, Gabriel S. ^{[4, 5]} ; Werneburg, Ingmar ^{[5, 6]} ; Barrett, Paul M. ^[1] ; Benson, Roger B. J. ^[2]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Nat Hist Museum, Dept Earth Sci, Cromwell Rd, London SW7 5BD - England

^[2] Univ Oxford, Dept Earth Sci, South Parks Rd, Oxford OX1 3AN - England

^[3] Univ Oxford, Museum Nat Hist, Parks Rd, Oxford OX1 3PW - England

^[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Filosofia Ciencias & Letras Ribeirao Preto, Ave Bandeirantes 3900, BR-14040901 Ribeirao Preto - Brazil

^[5] Eberhard Karls Univ Tubingen, Fachbereich Geowissensch, Holderlinstr 12, D-72074 Tubingen - Germany

^[6] Eberhard Karls Univ Tubingen, Senckenberg Ctr Human Evolut & Palaeoenvironm HEP, Sigwartstr 10, D-72076 Tubingen - Germany

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY; v. 187, n. 3, p. 800-828, NOV 2019.
• Citações Web of Science: 1

Resumo

Chelonioid turtles are the only surviving group of reptiles that secondarily evolved marine lifestyles during the Mesozoic Early chelonioid evolution is documented by fossils of their stem group, such as protostegids, which yield insights into the evolution of marine adaptation. Neuroanatomical features are commonly used to infer palaeoecology owing to the functional adaptation of the senses of an organism to its environment. We investigated the neuroanatomy and carotid circulation of the early Late Cretaceous protostegid Rhinochelys pulchriceps based on micro-computed tomography data. We show that the trigeminal foramen of turtles is not homologous to that of other reptiles. The endosseous labyrinth of R. pulchriceps has thick semicircular canals and a high aspect ratio. Comparisons among turtles and other reptiles show that the endosseous labyrinth aspect ratio is not a reliable predictor of the degree of aquatic adaptation, contradicting previous hypotheses. We provide the first models of neuroanatomical soft tissues of an extant turtle. Turtle brain morphology is not reflected by the brain cavity, and the endosseous labyrinth provides an incomplete reflection of membranous semicircular duct morphology. Membranous labyrinth geometry is conserved across gnathostomes, which allows approximate reconstruction of the total membranous labyrinth morphology from the endosseous labyrinth despite their poor reflection of duct morphology. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 14/25379-5 - Evolução, morfologia e desenvolvimento da região do pterigóide em Testudines com foco em Pleurodira
• Beneficiário: Gabriel de Souza Ferreira
• Linha de fomento: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 16/03934-2 - Evolução e desenvolvimento da câmara adutora da mandíbula em tartarugas
• Beneficiário: Gabriel de Souza Ferreira
• Linha de fomento: Bolsas no Exterior - Estágio de Pesquisa - Doutorado