ArticleScientific reports2020
High browsing skeletal adaptations in Spinophorosaurus reveal an evolutionary innovation in sauropod dinosaurs.
Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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8 citing papers in PubMed.
- An unusual titanosaur axis from the Upper Cretaceous of Brazil and its significance for sauropod anatomy and systematics.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2026Article
- Computed tomography reveals multiple origins of extreme caudal vertebral pneumaticity in sauropod dinosaurs.Journal of anatomy · 2026Article
- New perspectives on body size and shape evolution in dinosaurs.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- Article
- Centres of rotation and osteological constraints on caudal ranges of motion in the sauropod dinosaurRoyal Society open science · 2025Article
- Biomechanics and morphological comparisons of the caudal region of titanosaurs from the Cretaceous of Brazil: Paleobiology and paleoecology inferences.Journal of anatomy · 2025Article
- Big boned: How fat storage and other adaptations influenced large theropod foraging ecology.PloS one · 2023Article
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Abstract
Sauropods were among the most diverse lineages of dinosaurs, with an ample geographic distribution throughout the Mesozoic. This evolutionary success is largely attributed to neck elongation and its impact on feeding efficiency. However, how neck elongation influenced exactly on feeding strategies is subject of debate. The process of mounting a nearly complete virtual skeleton of Spinophorosaurus nigerensis, from the Middle (?) Jurassic of Niger, has revealed several previously unknown osteological adaptations in this taxon. Wedged sacral and posterior dorsal vertebrae cause the presacral column to deflect antero-dorsally. This, together with elongated scapulae and humeri make the anterior region of the skeleton vertically lengthened. Also, elongated prezygapophyseal facets on the cervical vertebrae and a specialized first dorsal vertebra greatly increase the vertical range of motion of the neck. These characters support this early eusauropod as a more capable high browser than more basally branching sauropods. While limb proportions and zygapophyseal facets vary among Eusauropoda, the sacrum retained more than 10° of wedging in all Eusauropoda. This implied a functional constraint for sauropod species which evolved lower browsing feeding strategies: the antero-dorsal sloping caused by the sacrum had to be counteracted with further skeletal modifications, e.g. a ventrally curved mid to anterior presacral spine to hinder the dorsal slope of the whole presacral series caused by the wedged sacrum. This suggests that at least the last common ancestor of Eusauropoda developed high browsing capabilities, partially due to the modified wedged sacrum, likely a potential synapomorphy of the clade and key in the evolutionary history of the group.
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