An integrated approach to understanding the role of the long neck in plesiosaurs
An integrated approach to understanding the role of the long neck in plesiosaurs
复制标题
了解长脖子在蛇颈龙中的作用的综合方法
DOI：
10.4202/app.00334.2016
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发表时间：
2017
影响因子：
1.8
通讯作者：
M. Gómez
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
L. Noè;M. Taylor;M. Gómez
蛇颈龙长颈的进化和功能，以及如何克服与刚度或灵活性相关的问题，在进食过程中，或快速游泳在捕食者回避，进行了探索，并提出了一个新的解释蛇颈龙颈部的功能。根据颈椎椎体、神经弓和颈肋关节面的解剖结构，蛇颈龙的颈部主要适于腹侧弯曲，背侧、侧向和旋转运动都相对受限。主要的腹侧弯曲表明颈部适合在身体下方使用，这表明在水柱中，靠近海底或海底软沉积物中进食。提出了一种蛇颈龙鲍普兰的新模型，包括头部作为过滤器，过滤，筛饲料或沉积物耙装置，安装在颈部作为一个刚性的，但腹侧灵活的饲料管，连接到身体作为一个高度移动的饲料平台。蛇颈龙的许多特征，包括颅骨和牙齿的形态，颈椎的形态，身体的形状和基于肢体的推进，都符合这个模型。来自现代生物的比较数据支持这种对蛇颈龙长颈的结构和功能的新解释。这种综合分析为蛇颈龙长颈的进化提供了一种解释，这是一种关键的进化新奇现象，也解释了为什么这种明显神秘的特征在蛇颈龙漫长的进化历史中仍然是一个突出的特征。
The evolution and function of the long neck in plesiosaurs, and how the problems associated with stiffness or flexibility were overcome during feeding, or rapid swimming during predator avoidance, are explored, and a new interpretation for the function of the plesiosaur neck is presented. Based on the anatomy of the articular faces of contiguous cervical vertebral centra, neural arches, and cervical ribs, the plesiosaur neck was mainly adapted for ventral bending, with dorsal, lateral and rotational movements all relatively restricted. Predominant ventral bending indicates the neck was adapted for use beneath the body, suggesting feeding in the water column, close to the sea floor, or within soft sediments on the sea floor. A new model is proposed for the plesiosaur bauplan, comprising the head as a filter, straining, sieve feeding or sediment raking apparatus, mounted on a neck which acted as a stiff but ventrally flexible feeding tube, attached to the body which acted as a highly mobile feeding platform. Numerous features of plesiosaurs, including cranial and dental form, cervical vertebral morphology, body shape and limb-based propulsion, conform to this model. Comparative data from modern organisms support this novel explanation for the structure and function of the plesiosaur long neck. This integrative analysis offers an explanation for the evolution of the plesiosaur long neck as a key evolutionary novelty, and why this apparently enigmatic feature remained a prominent feature of plesiosaurs throughout their long evolutionary history.