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Armored titanosaurs with extreme skeletal pneumaticity
From: Ben Creisler
bcreisler@gmail.com
A new online paper:
Ignacio A. Cerda, Leonardo Salgado and Jaime E. Powell (2012)
Extreme postcranial pneumaticity in sauropod dinosaurs from South America.
Paläontologische Zeitschrift (advance online publication)
DOI: 10.1007/s12542-012-0140
http://www.springerlink.com/content/k848j2214865166u/
Birds are unique among living tetrapods in possessing pneumaticity of
the postcranial skeleton, with invasion of bone by the lung and
air-sac system. Postcranial skeletal pneumaticity (PSP) has been
reported in numerous extinct archosaurs including pterosaurs and
non-avian dinosaurs. Here we report a case of extreme PSP in a group
of small-bodied, armored sauropod dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous
of South America. Based on osteological data, we report an extensive
invasion of pneumatic diverticula along the vertebral column, reaching
the distal portion of the tail. Also, we provide evidence of
pneumaticity in both pectoral and pelvic girdles. Our study reveals
that the extreme PSP in archosaurs is not restricted to pterosaurs and
theropod dinosaurs.