Myological reconstruction of the pelvic girdle of Anhanguera piscator (Pterosauria: Pterodactyloidea) using three-dimensional virtual animation

Abstract

Despite muscular reconstructions of fossil vertebrates that have been performed for many years, sites of origin and attachment of muscles are rarely visible because their preservation on bones relies upon favorable circumstances. Limited attempts at reconstructing the pelvic muscles of pterosaurs have been made, but there is no report in the literature concerning a full detailed description of the pelvic girdle musculature of these fl ying reptiles. Thus, the aim of this study is to perform the reconstruction of the pelvis and hind limb myology in Anhanguera piscator Kellner & Tomida using the Extant Phylogenetic Bracket Method and advanced three-dimensional computer graphics, a methodological approach that has not yet been used for this purpose. Each muscle from the dorsal and ventral groups was individually reconstructed and outlined in the osteological model as lines whose ends represent their sites of origin and attachment in the bone. The authors used the Extant Phylogenetic Bracket Method to study these muscles in a more detailed way considering their divisions, such as Mm. iliotibiales 1-3, M. iliofemoralis externus/M. iliotrochantericus caudalis, and Mm. fl exores tibiales internus 1-4.

The first pterosaur pelvic material from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian) and implications for azhdarchid locomotion

“…Frigot (2017) reconstructed the ITB of Vectidraco as originating along a small lateral strip of the preacetabular process, but it is situated more dorsally in UALVP 56200. Frigot (2017) did not reconstruct the ITC in Vectidraco, but based on the inferences of Costa et al (2014a), it appears to occupy much of the lateral surface of the preacetabular process in UALVP 56200 and would have played a major role in femoral abduction and hip flexion. Similarly, an expanded supraacetabular portion of the ilium of UALVP 56200 is marked by a muscular origin, which we infer to be an anteriorly expanded head of IFM.…”

Reconstruction of the pelvic girdle and hindlimb musculature of the early tetanurans Piatnitzkysauridae (Theropoda, Megalosauroidea)

“…Over a century of studies has focused on the variations in pelvic and hindlimb functional morphology in extinct and extant archosaur species and its implications for muscle architecture and locomotor biomechanics. These studies have provided broad datasets, a solid background, and general inferences that have led to a greater understanding of comparative myology and biomechanical evolution of locomotion at different levels (e.g., Allen et al., 2021; Bates, Benson, & Falkingham, 2012; Bates, Maidment, et al., 2012; Bishop, Hocknull, Clemente, Hutchinson, Barret, et al., 2018; Bishop, Hocknull, Clemente, Hutchinson, Farke, et al., 2018; Bishop, Cuff, & Hutchinson, 2021; Carrano & Hutchinson, 2002; Cerroni et al., 2022; Costa et al., 2014; Cuff, Demuth, et al., 2023; Cuff, Wiseman, et al., 2023; Farlow et al., 1995, 2000; Gatesy, 1990; Gatesy & Middleton, 1997; Gregory & Camp, 1918; Grillo & Azevedo, 2011; Hutchinson, 2001a, 2004a, 2004b, 2012; Hutchinson et al., 2005; Hutchinson & Allen, 2009; Hutchinson & Garcia, 2002; Langer, 2003; Liparini & Schultz, 2013; Maidment & Barrett, 2011; Mallison, 2010; Piechowski & Tałanda, 2020; Romer, 1923a, 1923b, 1923c, 1927; Rowe, 1986; Russell, 1972; Schachner et al., 2011; Smith, 2021, 2023; Tarsitano, 1983; Zinoviev, 2011).…”

“…The EPB has been particularly popular for studying locomotor form and function in archosaurs (e.g., Bates, Maidment, et al., 2012; Bishop, Hocknull, Clemente, Hutchinson, Barret, et al., 2018; Bishop, Hocknull, Clemente, Hutchinson, Farke, et al., 2018; Carrano & Hutchinson, 2002; Grillo & Azevedo, 2011; Hutchinson, 2001a, 2001b; Langer, 2003; Liparini & Schultz, 2013; Otero, 2018; Otero et al., 2017; Rhodes et al., 2021; Smith, 2021). Because many extinct organisms do not have analogous extant taxa (Bishop et al., 2021; Costa et al., 2014), muscle reconstructions can provide different a posteriori interpretations and revisions of previously raised hypotheses (e.g., for Tyrannosaurus rex , pelvic muscle reconstructions by Romer, 1923b vs. Carrano & Hutchinson, 2002; and running abilities by Paul, 1988 vs. Hutchinson & Garcia, 2002).…”

Does postcranial palaeoneurology provide insight into pterosaur behaviour and lifestyle? New data from the azhdarchoid Vectidraco and the ornithocheirids Coloborhynchus and Anhanguera

“…) and musculature (Costa et al . ; Frigot ) have at least provided a foundation for our understanding of pterosaur pelvic anatomy and biomechanics.…”