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Article: Skeletal microstructure of Stenopterygius quadriscissus (Reptilia, Ichthyosauria) from the Posidonienschiefer (Posidonia Shale, Lower Jurassic) of Germany

Palaeontology - Vol. 62 Part 3 - Cover Image
Publication: Palaeontology
Volume: 62
Part: 3
Publication Date: May 2019
Page(s): 433 449
Author(s): Katherine L. Anderson, Patrick S. Druckenmiller, Gregory M. Erickson, and Erin E. Maxwell
Addition Information

How to Cite

ANDERSON, K.L., DRUCKENMILLER, P.S., ERICKSON, G.M., MAXWELL, E.E. 2019. Skeletal microstructure of Stenopterygius quadriscissus (Reptilia, Ichthyosauria) from the Posidonienschiefer (Posidonia Shale, Lower Jurassic) of Germany . Palaeontology, 62, 3, 433-449. DOI: /doi/10.1111/pala.12408

Author Information

  • Katherine L. Anderson - Department of Geosciences University of Alaska Museum University of Alaska Fairbanks 1962 Yukon Dr. Fairbanks AK 99775‐6960 USA
  • Patrick S. Druckenmiller - Department of Geosciences University of Alaska Museum University of Alaska Fairbanks 1962 Yukon Dr. Fairbanks AK 99775‐6960 USA
  • Gregory M. Erickson - Department of Biological Science Florida State University 319 Stadium Dr. Tallahassee FL 32306‐4295 USA
  • Erin E. Maxwell - Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart Rosenstein 1 70191 Stuttgart Germany

Publication History

  • Issue published online: 22 April 2019
  • Manuscript Accepted: 18 September 2018
  • Manuscript Received: 12 March 2018

Funded By

Division of Graduate Education. Grant Number: DGE‐0948029
Otto Geist Fund
University of Alaska Museum
University of Alaska Fairbanks Graduate School Travel Grant
National Science Foundation

Online Version Hosted By

Wiley Online Library
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Abstract

Ichthyosaurians (Ichthyosauria) are a major clade of secondarily aquatic marine tetrapods that occupied several major predatory niches during the Mesozoic Era. Multiple lines of evidence including isotopic, body shape and swimming modality analyses suggest they exhibited elevated growth and metabolic rates, and body temperatures. However, applications of osteohistological methods to test hypotheses regarding their physiology are few. Previous studies focused on the humeri, vertebrae and ribs from a small number of taxa. Here, we use osteohistological methods to describe the bone microstructure of over 30 cranial and post‐cranial elements from a nearly complete, articulated individual of Stenopterygius quadriscissus from the Posidonienschiefer Formation (Posidonia Shale, Lower Jurassic) of Germany. The specimen shows highly vascularized primary bone and spongious secondary bone in its limbs, suggesting an overall shift to a lighter spongious‐structured skeleton was achieved through multiple developmental mechanisms. The modified perichondral ossification in elements of the limbs distal to the stylopodium informs our understanding of functional morphology, including hydrodynamic forces on the paddles. The ribs show variation in cortical thickness and trabecular organization along their length. Cyclical growth is inferred from changes in vascularization and osteocyte density as well as the presence of annuli in primary fibrolamellar bone. Cranial elements, due to their relative density and better preservation of growth marks, may prove to be of particular importance in future skeletochronological studies of post‐Triassic ichthyosaurians. We infer and corroborate hypotheses of elevated growth rates and metabolic rates in ichthyosaurians, and the potential for thermoregulation similar to extant homeothermic ectotherms.

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