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1. Vertebral pneumaticity is correlated with serial variation in vertebral shape in storks

   https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.13322  

   Moore, Andrew J. (September 2020, Journal of Anatomy)

   ABSTRACT Birds and their ornithodiran ancestors are unique among vertebrates in exhibiting air‐filled sinuses in their postcranial bones, a phenomenon called postcranial skeletal pneumaticity. The factors that account for serial and interspecific variation in postcranial skeletal pneumaticity are poorly understood, although body size, ecology, and bone biomechanics have all been implicated as influencing the extent to which pneumatizing epithelia invade the skeleton and induce bone resorption. Here, I use high‐resolution computed‐tomography to holistically quantify vertebral pneumaticity in members of the neognath family Ciconiidae (storks), with pneumaticity measured as the relative volume of internal air space. These data are used to describe serial variation in extent of pneumaticity and to assess whether and how pneumaticity varies with the size and shape of a vertebra. Pneumaticity increases dramatically from the middle of the neck onwards, contrary to previous predictions that cervical pneumaticity should decrease toward the thorax to maintain structural integrity as the mass and bending moments of the neck increase. Although the largest vertebrae sampled are also the most pneumatic, vertebral size cannot on its own account for serial or interspecific variation in extent of pneumaticity. Vertebral shape, as quantified by three‐dimensional geometric morphometrics, is found to be significantly correlated with extent of pneumaticity, with elongate vertebrae being less pneumatic than craniocaudally short and dorsoventrally tall vertebrae. Considered together, the results of this study are consistent with the hypothesis that shape‐ and position‐specific biomechanics influence the amount of bone loss that can be safely tolerated. These results have potentially important implications for the evolution of vertebral morphology in birds and their extinct relatives. 

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2. A neck-like vertebral motion in fish

   https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.1091  

   Camp, Ariel L. (August 2021, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences)

   Tetrapods use their neck to move the head three-dimensionally, relative to the body and limbs. Fish lack this anatomical neck, yet during feeding many species elevate (dorsally rotate) the head relative to the body. Cranial elevation is hypothesized to result from the craniovertebral and cranial-most intervertebral joints acting as a neck, by dorsally rotating (extending). However, this has never been tested due to the difficulty of visualizing and measuring vertebral motion in vivo . I used X-ray reconstruction of moving morphology to measure three-dimensional vertebral kinematics in rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) and Commerson's frogfish ( Antennarius commerson ) during feeding. Despite dramatically different morphologies, in both species dorsoventral rotations extended far beyond the craniovertebral and cranial intervertebral joints. Trout combine small (most less than 3°) dorsal rotations over up to a third of their intervertebral joints to elevate the neurocranium. Frogfish use extremely large (often 20–30°) rotations of the craniovertebral and first intervertebral joint, but smaller rotations occurred across two-thirds of the vertebral column during cranial elevation. Unlike tetrapods, fish rotate large regions of the vertebral column to rotate the head. This suggests both cranial and more caudal vertebrae should be considered to understand how non-tetrapods control motion at the head–body interface. 

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3. Examination of magnitudes of integration in the catarrhine vertebral column

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.102998  

   Jung, Hyunwoo; Simons, Evan A.; von Cramon-Taubadel, Noreen (July 2021, Journal of Human Evolution)

   null (Ed.)
4. Geometries of topological groups

   https://doi.org/10.1090/bull/1807  

   Rosendal, Christian (October 2023, Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society)

   The paper provides an overarching framework for the study of some of the intrinsic geometries that a topological group may carry. An initial analysis is based on geometric nonlinear functional analysis, that is, the study of Banach spaces as metric spaces up to various notions of isomorphism, such as bi-Lipschitz equivalence, uniform homeomorphism, and coarse equivalence. This motivates the introduction of the various geometric categories applicable to all topological groups, namely, their uniform and coarse structure, along with those applicable to a more select class, that is, (local) Lipschitz and quasimetric structure. Our study touches on Lie theory, geometric group theory, and geometric nonlinear functional analysis and makes evident that these can all be seen as instances of a single coherent theory. 

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5. Effect of captivity on the vertebral bone microstructure of xenarthran mammals

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.24817  

   Zack, Ellianna H.; Smith, Stephanie M.; Angielczyk, Kenneth D. (November 2021, The Anatomical Record)

   null (Ed.)

   Captive specimens in museum collections facilitate study of rare taxa, but the lifestyles, diets, and lifespans of captive animals differ from their wild counterparts. Trabecular bone architecture adapts to in vivo forces, and may reflect interspecific variation in ecology and behavior as well as intraspecific variation between captive and wild specimens. We compared trunk vertebrae bone microstructure in captive and wild xenarthran mammals to test the effects of ecology and captivity. We collected μCT scans of the last six presacral vertebrae in 13 fossorial, terrestrial, and suspensorial xenarthran species (body mass: 120 g to 35 kg). For each vertebra, we measured centrum length; bone volume fraction (BV.TV); trabecular number and mean thickness (Tb.Th); global compactness (GC); cross-sectional area; mean intercept length; star length distribution; and connectivity and connectivity density. Wild specimens have more robust trabeculae, but this varies with species, ecology, and pathology. Wild specimens of fossorial taxa (Dasypus) have more robust trabeculae than captives, but there is no clear difference in bone microstructure between wild and captive specimens of suspensorial taxa (Bradypus, Choloepus), suggesting that locomotor ecology influences the degree to which captivity affects bone microstructure. Captive Tamandua and Myrmecophaga have higher BV.TV, Tb.Th, and GC than their wild counterparts due to captivity-caused bone pathologies. Our results add to the understanding of variation in mammalian bone microstructure, suggest caution when including captive specimens in bone microstructure research, and indicate the need to better replicate the habitats, diets, and behavior of animals in captivity. 

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