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Modified skulls but conservative brains?: the palaeoneurology and endocranial anatomy of baryonychine dinosaurs (Theropoda: Spinosauridae)

Modified skulls but conservative brains?: the palaeoneurology and endocranial anatomy of baryonychine dinosaurs (Theropoda: Spinosauridae)
Modified skulls but conservative brains?: the palaeoneurology and endocranial anatomy of baryonychine dinosaurs (Theropoda: Spinosauridae)
The digital reconstruction of neurocranial endocasts has elucidated the gross brain structure and potential ecological attributes of many fossil taxa, including Irritator, a spinosaurine spinosaurid from the “mid” Cretaceous (Aptian) of Brazil. With unexceptional hearing capabilities, this taxon was inferred to integrate rapid and controlled pitch-down movements of the head that perhaps aided in the predation of small and agile prey such as fish. However, the neuroanatomy of baryonychine spinosaurids remains to be described, and potentially informs on the condition of early spinosaurids. Using micro-computed tomographic scanning (μCT), we reconstruct the braincase endocasts of Baryonyx walkeri and Ceratosuchops inferodios from the Wealden Supergroup (Lower Cretaceous) of England. We show that the gross endocranial morphology is similar to other non-maniraptoriform theropods, and corroborates previous observations of overall endocranial conservatism amongst more basal theropods. Several differences of unknown taxonomic utility are noted between the pair. Baryonychine neurosensory capabilities include low-frequency hearing and unexceptional olfaction, whilst the differing morphology of the floccular lobe tentatively suggests less developed gaze stabilisation mechanisms relative to spinosaurines. Given the morphological similarities observed with other basal tetanurans, baryonychines likely possessed comparable behavioural sophistication, suggesting that the transition from terrestrial hypercarnivorous ancestors to semi-aquatic “generalists” during the evolution of Spinosauridae did not require substantial modification of the brain and sensory systems.
Baryonychinae, endocast, palaeoneurology, sensory anatomy, Spinosauridae, Theropoda
0021-8782
1124-1145
Barker, Christopher Tijani
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Naish, Darren W.
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Trend, Jacob
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Michels, Lysanne Veerle
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Witmer, Lawrence
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Ridgley, Ryan
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Rankin, Katy
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Clarkin, Claire
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Schneider, Philipp
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Gostling, Neil J.
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Barker, Christopher Tijani
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Naish, Darren W.
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Trend, Jacob
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Michels, Lysanne Veerle
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Witmer, Lawrence
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Ridgley, Ryan
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Rankin, Katy
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Clarkin, Claire
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Schneider, Philipp
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Gostling, Neil J.
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Barker, Christopher Tijani, Naish, Darren W., Trend, Jacob, Michels, Lysanne Veerle, Witmer, Lawrence, Ridgley, Ryan, Rankin, Katy, Clarkin, Claire, Schneider, Philipp and Gostling, Neil J. (2023) Modified skulls but conservative brains?: the palaeoneurology and endocranial anatomy of baryonychine dinosaurs (Theropoda: Spinosauridae). Journal of Anatomy, 242 (6), 1124-1145. (doi:10.1111/joa.13837).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The digital reconstruction of neurocranial endocasts has elucidated the gross brain structure and potential ecological attributes of many fossil taxa, including Irritator, a spinosaurine spinosaurid from the “mid” Cretaceous (Aptian) of Brazil. With unexceptional hearing capabilities, this taxon was inferred to integrate rapid and controlled pitch-down movements of the head that perhaps aided in the predation of small and agile prey such as fish. However, the neuroanatomy of baryonychine spinosaurids remains to be described, and potentially informs on the condition of early spinosaurids. Using micro-computed tomographic scanning (μCT), we reconstruct the braincase endocasts of Baryonyx walkeri and Ceratosuchops inferodios from the Wealden Supergroup (Lower Cretaceous) of England. We show that the gross endocranial morphology is similar to other non-maniraptoriform theropods, and corroborates previous observations of overall endocranial conservatism amongst more basal theropods. Several differences of unknown taxonomic utility are noted between the pair. Baryonychine neurosensory capabilities include low-frequency hearing and unexceptional olfaction, whilst the differing morphology of the floccular lobe tentatively suggests less developed gaze stabilisation mechanisms relative to spinosaurines. Given the morphological similarities observed with other basal tetanurans, baryonychines likely possessed comparable behavioural sophistication, suggesting that the transition from terrestrial hypercarnivorous ancestors to semi-aquatic “generalists” during the evolution of Spinosauridae did not require substantial modification of the brain and sensory systems.

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Journal of Anatomy - 2023 - Barker - Modified skulls but conservative brains The palaeoneurology and endocranial anatomy - Version of Record
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Accepted/In Press date: 17 January 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 13 February 2023
Published date: June 2023
Additional Information: Funding Information: We would like to thank: Martin Munt and Alex Peaker (Dinosaur Isle Museum) and Angela Milner and Sandra Chapman (Natural History Museum) for access to the specimens; Gary Blackwell (Dinosaur Isle Museum) for expert preparation of the braincase; Orestis Katsamenis, Ronan Smith, Rich Broadman and Mark Mavrogordato (μ‐VIS X‐Ray Imaging Centre, University of Southampton, UK) for their help and advice with the scans; Susannah Maidment (Natural History Museum) for providing the femoral shaft data; Michael Hanson for providing the dataset for the hearing inferences; Logan King for discussion; and Arjan Westerdiep for help with the application. We would also like to thank Marco Schade for commenting on an earlier draft of the manuscript. We are grateful for the detailed comments of Ariana Paulina‐Carabajal and Serjoscha Evers, which improved the manuscript. Phil Cox and Edward Fenton are additionally thanked for handling the paper. Chris Tijani Barker is funded by the Institute for Life Sciences (University of Southampton) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC; Project Ref: 2283360). Grant to Lawrence Witmer & Ryan Ridgley from the United States National Science Foundation (NSF IOB‐0517257, IOS‐1050154, IOS‐1456503) and the Swedish Research Council (SRC 2021‐02973). Ceratosuchops Ceratosuchops Baryonyx Voxeliser Funding Information: We would like to thank: Martin Munt and Alex Peaker (Dinosaur Isle Museum) and Angela Milner and Sandra Chapman (Natural History Museum) for access to the specimens; Gary Blackwell (Dinosaur Isle Museum) for expert preparation of the Ceratosuchops braincase; Orestis Katsamenis, Ronan Smith, Rich Broadman and Mark Mavrogordato (μ-VIS X-Ray Imaging Centre, University of Southampton, UK) for their help and advice with the Ceratosuchops scans; Susannah Maidment (Natural History Museum) for providing the Baryonyx femoral shaft data; Michael Hanson for providing the dataset for the hearing inferences; Logan King for discussion; and Arjan Westerdiep for help with the Voxeliser application. We would also like to thank Marco Schade for commenting on an earlier draft of the manuscript. We are grateful for the detailed comments of Ariana Paulina-Carabajal and Serjoscha Evers, which improved the manuscript. Phil Cox and Edward Fenton are additionally thanked for handling the paper. Chris Tijani Barker is funded by the Institute for Life Sciences (University of Southampton) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC; Project Ref: 2283360). Grant to Lawrence Witmer & Ryan Ridgley from the United States National Science Foundation (NSF IOB-0517257, IOS-1050154, IOS-1456503) and the Swedish Research Council (SRC 2021-02973). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Journal of Anatomy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Anatomical Society.
Keywords: Baryonychinae, endocast, palaeoneurology, sensory anatomy, Spinosauridae, Theropoda

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 477653
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/477653
ISSN: 0021-8782
PURE UUID: b3fee582-e168-489c-bc0e-d4205c64ff08
ORCID for Christopher Tijani Barker: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8792-3307
ORCID for Katy Rankin: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8458-1038
ORCID for Philipp Schneider: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-7499-3576
ORCID for Neil J. Gostling: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5960-7769

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Date deposited: 12 Jun 2023 16:43
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:34

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Contributors

Author: Christopher Tijani Barker ORCID iD
Author: Darren W. Naish
Author: Jacob Trend
Author: Lawrence Witmer
Author: Ryan Ridgley
Author: Katy Rankin ORCID iD
Author: Claire Clarkin

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