Avian cerebellar floccular fossa size is not a proxy for flying ability in birds.
Avian cerebellar floccular fossa size is not a proxy for flying ability in birds.
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pone.0067176
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发表时间：
2013
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Sterpaio PD
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Walsh SA;Iwaniuk AN;Knoll MA;Bourdon E;Barrett PM;Milner AC;Nudds RL;Abel RL;Sterpaio PD
已经灭绝的动物行为往往是从定性评估的相对脑区大小的化石颅内铸型。例如，翼龙和早期鸟类的飞行能力是从小脑小叶的相对大小推断出来的，小脑小叶在生活中从小脑的侧面突出。小叶的主要作用是整合有关头部旋转和平移的感觉信息，以通过前庭眼反射（VOR）稳定视觉凝视。由于凝视稳定是飞行的一个关键方面，一些作者认为飞行物种的小叶扩大。这是否可以进一步扩展到高度可飞的飞行物种的絮状物扩张或不能飞的物种的絮状物减少是未知的。在这里，我们使用微型计算机断层扫描重建60种现存鸟类的“虚拟”颅内模型，以提取与化石相同水平的解剖信息。测量了絮状窝和整个脑腔的体积，这些值与飞行行为的四个指标相关。虽然一个弱的正相关关系，发现絮状窝的大小和肱指数，絮状窝的大小和任何其他飞行模式分类之间没有显着的关系。这些发现可能是骨性硬脑膜不准确地反映了神经小叶的大小的结果，但也可能反映了小叶对鸟类所有运动模式的重要性。因此，我们的结论是，在灭绝的鸟类，可能也翼龙和非鸟类恐龙的运动行为的相对大小的绒球的颅内铸型是一个不可靠的预测。
Extinct animal behavior has often been inferred from qualitative assessments of relative brain region size in fossil endocranial casts. For instance, flight capability in pterosaurs and early birds has been inferred from the relative size of the cerebellar flocculus, which in life protrudes from the lateral surface of the cerebellum. A primary role of the flocculus is to integrate sensory information about head rotation and translation to stabilize visual gaze via the vestibulo-occular reflex (VOR). Because gaze stabilization is a critical aspect of flight, some authors have suggested that the flocculus is enlarged in flying species. Whether this can be further extended to a floccular expansion in highly maneuverable flying species or floccular reduction in flightless species is unknown. Here, we used micro computed-tomography to reconstruct “virtual” endocranial casts of 60 extant bird species, to extract the same level of anatomical information offered by fossils. Volumes of the floccular fossa and entire brain cavity were measured and these values correlated with four indices of flying behavior. Although a weak positive relationship was found between floccular fossa size and brachial index, no significant relationship was found between floccular fossa size and any other flight mode classification. These findings could be the result of the bony endocranium inaccurately reflecting the size of the neural flocculus, but might also reflect the importance of the flocculus for all modes of locomotion in birds. We therefore conclude that the relative size of the flocculus of endocranial casts is an unreliable predictor of locomotor behavior in extinct birds, and probably also pterosaurs and non-avian dinosaurs.
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影响因子：
2
作者：
Hirasaki, E;Moore, ST;Cohen, B
通讯作者：
Cohen, B
DOI：
10.1139/z01-204
发表时间：
2002-01-01
期刊：
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY-REVUE CANADIENNE DE ZOOLOGIE
影响因子：
--
作者：
Iwaniuk, AN;Nelson, JE
通讯作者：
Nelson, JE
影响因子：
2.5
作者：
Iwaniuk, Andrew N.;Wylie, Douglas R. W.
通讯作者：
Wylie, Douglas R. W.
影响因子：
--
作者：
Kundrat, Martin
通讯作者：
Kundrat, Martin
影响因子：
2.8
作者：
Aleixo, A
通讯作者：
Aleixo, A