Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Structural features of neural spines of the caudal vertebrae of protoceratopoids (Ornithischia: Neoceratopsia)

  • Published:
Paleontological Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The structure of caudal neural spines of protoceratopoids displays adaptation for aquatic and terrestrial mode of life. The increasing height of caudal neural spines in the series Leptoceratops, Udanoceratops, Protoceratops, Bagaceratops is connected with the extent of adaptation for swimming and changes in inclination of neural spines are connected with the mechanical balance of the lever. Thus, the anterior caudal vertebrae (1cd–15cd) of Protoceratops and Bagaceratops show an anticliny, which promotes extension (rise) of a heavy tail in terrestrial conditions. In the middle part of the tail (16cd–23cd), with the greatest height of neural spines, a decrease in width and increase in thickness counteract transverse loads accompanying movements on land. At the same time, the supraspinal ligament prevents divergence of neural spines caused by curvature of the tail as it is raised above the ground.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahlberg, P.E., Clack, J.A., and Blom, H., The axial skeleton of the Devonian tetrapod Ichthyostega, Nature, 2005, vol. 437, pp. 137–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alekperov, A.M., Zemnovodnye i presmykayushchiesya Azerbaidzhana (Amphibians and Reptiles of Azerbaijan), Baku: Elm, 1978.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, R.M., Dynamics of Dinosaurs and Other Extinct Giants, New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brovar, V.Ya., Biomechanics of the withers (in connection with the role of the neural spine in vertebrates, Tr. Mosk. Zootekh. Inst., 1935, vol. 2, pp. 217–251.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brovar, V.Ya., Analysis of relationships between the head weight and length of neural spines of the dorsal vertebrae, Arkh. Anat. Gistol. Embriol., 1940, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 54–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, B. and Schlaikjer, E.M., The structure and relationship of protoceratops, Ann. New York Acad. Sci., 1940, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 133–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cott, H.B., Scientific results of an inquiry into the ecology and economic status of the Nile crocodile, Crocodylus niloticus, in Uganda and northern Rhodesia, Trans. Zool. Soc. London, 1961, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 211–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darevsky, I.S., The Lizard suborder (Sauria), in Zhizn’ zhivotnykh. Zemnovodnye i presmykayushchiesya (Life of Animals: Amphibians and Reptiles), Moscow: Prosveshchenie, 1969, pp. 202–319.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dombrovsky, B., Anticliny in mammals and its functional implications, Zool. Zh., 1935, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 37–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, E., Biomechanics of terrestrial locomotion in crocodiles, in Sonderforschungsbereich 230 (Natürliche Konstruktionen), Konzepte, vol. 4: Konstruktionsprinzipien lebender und ausgestorbener Reptilien., Stuttgart, 1985, vol. 4, pp. 145–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, E., Anatomie des Körperstammes von Alligator mississippiensis Daudin, Stuttgart. Beitr. Naturk. Ser. A, 1988a, no. 424, pp. 1–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, E., Das Tragsystem der Krokodile-eine biomechanische und phylogenetische Analyse, Stuttgart. Beitr. Naturk. Ser. A, 1988b, no. 426, pp. 6–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haines, R.W., Epiphyses and sesamoids, in Biology of the Reptilia, Gans, C., d’Bellairs, A., and Parsons, T.S., Eds., London-New York, 1969, vol. 1, pp. 81–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinde, R.A., Animal Behaviour: A Synthesis of Ethology and Comparative Psychology, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haendel, A., Grundgesetze der physik, Leipzig: Fachbuchverlag, 1955.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kummer, B., Baumprinzipien des Saugerskeletes, Stuttgart, 1959.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuznetsov, A.N. and Tereschenko, V.S., A method for estimation of lateral and vertical mobility between platycoelous vertebrae of tetrapods, Paleontol. Zh., 2010, no. 2, pp. 83–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maryan-ska, T. and Osmólska, H., Some implication of hadrosaurian postcranial anatomy, Acta Palaeontol. Polon., 1983, vol. 28, nos. 1–2, pp. 205–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maryańska, T. and Osmólska, H., Postcranial anatomy of Saurolophus angustirostris with comments on other hadrosaurs, Palaeontol. Polon., 1984, vol. 46, pp. 119–141.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mikhailov, K.E., How did dinosaurs nest, Nauka i Zhizn’, 1997, no. 3, pp. 73–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niedźwiedzki, G., Singer, T., Gierliński, G.D., et al., A protoceratopsid skeleton with an associated track from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia, Cret. Res., 2012, vol. 33, pp. 7–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romer, A.S., The pelvic musculature of ornithischian dinosaurs, Acta Zool., 1927, vol. 8, pp. 225–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slijper, E.J., Over de wervelkolom van ouze huisdieren, Tijolsehrift Diergeneeskunde, 1946a, vol. 71, no. 17, pp. 677–687.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slijper, E.J., Comparative biologic-anatomical investigation on the vertebral column and spinal musculature of mammals, Verhandl. Koninkl. Nederl. Akad. Wetensch. Sect. 2, 1946b, vol. 42, no. 5, pp. 1–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stepin, P.A., Soprotivlenie materialov (Strength of Materials), Moscow: Vysshaya Shkola, 1968.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sternberg, C.M., Complete skeleton of Leptoceratops gracilis Brown from the Upper Edmonton Member on Red Deer River, Alberta, Bull. Nat. Mus. Can., 1951, no. 123, pp. 225–255.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stolpe, M., Physiologisch-Anatomische Untersuchungen über die hintere Extremität der Vögel, J. Ornithol., 1932, vol. 80, pp. 161–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tereschenko, V.S., On anticliny in lower tetrapods, Byull. Mosk. Ob-va Ispyt. Prir. Otd. Geol., 1986, vol. 61, no. 4, pp. 1–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tereschenko, V.S., Sexual dimorphism in the postcranial skeleton of protoceratopsids (Neoceratopsia, Protoceratopsidae) from Mongolia, Paleontol. Zh., 2001, no. 4, pp. 79–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tereschenko, V.S., Some adaptive structural features of the skeleton of horned dinosaurs (Protoceratopoidea, Neoceratopsia) of Mongolia, in Problemy paleontologii Tsentral’noi Azii (k 35-letiyu Sovmestnoi Rossiisko-Mongol’skoi paleontologicheskoi ekspeditsii). Sbornik tezisov dokladov mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii 27–28 maya 2004 g. (International Conference on the Problems of Paleontology of Central Asia (to the 35th Anniversary of the Joint Russian-Mongolian Paleontological Expedition, May 27–28, 2004), Moscow: Paleontol. Inst. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2004, pp. 60–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tereschenko, V.S., Key to protoceratopoid vertebrae (Ceratopsia, Dinosauria) from Mongolia, Paleontol. Zh., 2007, no. 2, pp. 59–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tereschenko, V.S., Adaptive features of protoceratopoids (Ornithischia: Neoceratopsia), Paleontol. Zh., 2008, no. 3, pp. 50–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tereschenko, V.S. and Sukhanov, V.B., Variability of the axial skeleton of protoceratopoids of Central Asia, in Problemy paleontologii Tsentral’noi Azii (k 40-letiyu Sovmestnoi Mongolo-Rossiiskoi paleontologicheskoi ekspeditsii SRMPE). Sbornik tezisov dokladov mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii 18–19 noyabrya 2009 g. (International Conference on the Problems of Paleontology of Central Asia (to the 40th Anniversary of the Joint Russian-Mongolian Paleontological Expedition, November 18–19, 2009), Moscow: Paleontol. Inst. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2009, pp. 83–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tereshchenko, V.S., Sexual dimorphism of the postcranial skeleton in a primitive ceratopsian dinosaur, Protoceratops andrewsi, in 3rd World Congress of Herpetology, August 2–10, 1997, Prague, 1997, p. 207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Webb, G.J.W. and Gans, C., Galloping in Crocodylus johnstoni-a reflection of terrestrial activity?, Rec. Austral. Mus., 1982, vol. 34, nos. 12–15, pp. 607–618.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • You, H.-L. and Dodson, P., Basal Ceratopsia, The Dinosauria, Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H., Eds., Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 2004, pp. 478–493.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yur’ev, K.B., Review of tendinous and ligamentous ossifications in extant and extinct vertebrates, Uch. Zap. LGU, Ser. Biol., 1954, no. 181, pp. 198–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yur’ev, K.B., On tendinous ossifications in dinosaurs, in Voprosy gerpetologii (Questions of Herpetology), Leningrad: Leningr. Gos. Univ., 1964, pp. 79–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, C.-F., Gao, K.-Q., and Fox, R.C., Morphology and histology of lattice-like ossified epaxial tendons in Psittacosaurus (Dinosauria: Ceratopcia), Acta Geol. Sin., 2010, vol. 84, no. 3, pp. 463–471.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhukovsky, N.E., Teoreticheskaya mekhanika (Theoretical Mechanics), Moscow: Oborongiz, 1939.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya ul. 123, Moscow, 117997, Russia

    V. S. Tereschenko

  2. Jurapark Museum, ul. Sandomierska 4, PL-27-400, Ostrowiec Sw., Poland

    T. Singer

Authors
  1. V. S. Tereschenko
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. T. Singer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to V. S. Tereschenko.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © V.S. Tereschenko, T. Singer, 2013, published in Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal, 2013, No. 6, pp. 59–72.

Article is dedicated to memory of the great paleontologist, dinosaur specialist, professor of the Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences Halszka Osmólska

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tereschenko, V.S., Singer, T. Structural features of neural spines of the caudal vertebrae of protoceratopoids (Ornithischia: Neoceratopsia). Paleontol. J. 47, 618–630 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030113060105

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030113060105

Keywords

Search

Navigation