2021/04/01 by Cariad J. Williams, Martino Pani, Andrea Bucchi +5 · 28 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Ichthyology and Marine Biology #Anatomy #Cervical vertebrae #Geology #Biology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.102338
published in iScience 24(4), 102338 (Cell Press)
openalex publication_date 2021/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Azhdarchid pterosaurs, the largest flying vertebrates, remain poorly understood, with fundamental aspects of their palaeobiology unknown. X-ray computed tomography reveals a complex internal micro-architecture for three-dimensionally preserved, hyper-elongate cervical vertebrae of the Cretaceous azhdarchid pterosaur, Alanqa sp. Incorporation of the neural canal within the body of the vertebra and elongation of the centrum result in a "tube within a tube" supported by helically distributed trabeculae. Linear elastic static analysis and linearized buckling analysis, accompanied with a finite element model, reveal that as few as 50 trabeculae increase the buckling load by up to 90%, implying that a vertebra without the trabeculae is more prone to elastic instability due to axial loads. Subsuming the neural tube into the centrum tube adds considerable stiffness to the cervical series, permitting the uptake of heavy prey items without risking damage to the cervical series, while at the same time allowing considerable skeletal mass reduction.