Titre du projet
From small bipeds to giant quadrupeds. What does the inner structure of sauropodomorph long bones say?
Descriptif du projet
This project aims at investigating the biomechanical adaptation of weight-bearing limb bones in the heaviest animals that walked on earth: sauropodomorph dinosaurs. One major shift in the evolution of this iconic group concerns the transition from a bipedal to a quadrupedal posture with a progressive shift in function of the forelimb, from stronger grasping adaptations to dominant and then exclusive locomotor function. This shift is assumed to be accompanied by strong changes in external morphology, but also in the bone inner structure. The latter is almost unknown in sauropodomorph long bones. Its analysis in both obligate and facultative bipedal prosauropods and obligatory quadrupedal sauropods will be a first. It will provide not only new major data on how bones are structured in these heavy animals, and which types of mechanical constraints they could undergo, but it will also highlight which changes occurred through this postural shift. It will thus greatly enhance our understanding of the biomechanics of sauropodomorph long bone evolution.

Travaux réalisés par la plateforme AST-RX

Collection No Inventaire Descriptif Vignette Equipement
F LES15.6 scan partiel - test - fast scan (présence d'éléments trop denses à l'intérieur pour une étude des trabéculaires) 2019-10-23-MNHN.F.LES15.6_LES15.7-fast- v|tome|x L 240-180