Linked Life Data

19248155

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/19248155

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
2009-3-5
pubmed:abstractText
This study aims to disentangle the main features of the avian neurocranium at high taxonomic scales using geometric morphometric tools. When surveying the variation across 60% of avian orders (sampled among 72 individuals), our results verify that the central nervous system has an important influence upon the architecture of the avian neurocranium, as in other very encephalized vertebrates such as mammals. When the avian brain expands relative to the cranial base it causes more "reptilian-like" neurocranial configurations to shape into rounder ones. This rounder appearance is achieved because the cranial base becomes relatively shorter and turns its flexure from concave to convex, at the same time forcing the foramen magnum to reorient ventrally instead of caudally. However, our analyses have also revealed that an important morphological difference between birds resides between the occiput and the cranial roof. This variation was unexpected since it had not been reported thus far, and entertains two plausible interpretations. Although it could be due to a trade-off between the relative sizes of the supraoccipital and the parietal bones, the presence of an additional bone (the intra- or post-parietal) between the latter two bones could also explain the variation congruently. This descriptive insight stresses the need for further developmental studies focused in understanding the evolutionary disparity of the avian neurocranium.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Mar
pubmed:issn
1932-8494
pubmed:author
pubmed:copyrightInfo
(c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:volume
292
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
364-70
pubmed:dateRevised
2009-12-16
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2009
pubmed:articleTitle
New insight on the anatomy and architecture of the avian neurocranium.
pubmed:affiliation
Unidad de Paleontología, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain. jesus.marugan@uam.es
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't