Re: The Very Very Latest Paper From 2006!!!

[Jura <pristichampsus@yahoo.com>]

--- David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at> wrote:

> Well, it's from September.
> 
> P. Martin Sander & Peter Andrássy: Lines of arrested
> growth and long bone 
> histology in Pleistocene large mammals from Germany:
> What do they tell us 
> about dinosaur physiology?, Palaeontographica Abt. A
> 277 (1 -- 6), 143 --  
> 159
> 
> Summary:
> 
> "Lines of arrested growth (LAGs) are a typical
> feature of the bone histology 
> of ectothermic tetrapods but have received little
> study in mammals and 
> birds. However, LAGs have figured prominently in the
> debate about dinosaur 
> physiology. Here we describe the bone histology,
> including the occurrence of 
> LAGs, in an extensive sample of herbivorous mammals
> from the Late [sic] 
> Pleistocene of Germany, mainly from the Rhine-Herne
> ship channel. Taxa 
> sampled include the cervids *Megaloceros giganteus*,
> *Cervus elaphus*, and 
> *Rangifer tarandus*, the bovids *Bos primigenius*
> and *Bison priscus*, the 
> equid *Equus* sp., the rhinocerotid *Coelodonta
> antiquitatis*, and the 
> elephantid *Mammuthus primigenius*. Samples were
> preselected for macroscopic 
> evidence of cyclical growth. Bones sampled were
> mainly metatarsals as well 
> as tibiae and indeterminate long bone fragments. All
> samples show 
> fibro-lamellar bone in the cortex that is replaced
> by secondary bone to 
> varying degrees. Most samples show one or more
> regularly spaced LAGs, 
> sometimes even preserved in secondary bone.
> Surprisingly, there are distinct 
> differences in the histology of the various taxa in
> terms of the arrangement 
> of the primary vascular network and the patterns of
> remodeling. The common 
> development of LAGs in these endothermic Late
> Pleistocene mammals calls into 
> question the argument that LAGs in dinosaur bone
> indicate an ectothermic 
> physiology."
> 
> Before anyone asks, I don't have the pdf and don't
> think one exists. But 
> I'll gladly answer any questions about the paper :-)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Do they offer any explanation for why these LAGs are
present?

Jason


"I am impressed by the fact that we know less about many modern [reptile] types 
than we do of many fossil groups." - Alfred S. Romer


 
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