Preliminary assessment of bone histology in the extinct elephant bird Aepyornis (Aves, Palaeognathae) from Madagascar

Ricqlès, Armand de; Bourdon, Estelle; Legendre, Lucas J.; Cubo, Jorge

doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2015.01.003

Cited by 22 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(53 reference statements)

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“…Secondary reconstruction was observed in all the skeletal elements, but compared to the femur and the tibiotarsi studied, the tarsometatarsus was the most extensively reconstructed element, with dense Haversian bone tissue present. This finding agrees with [35] that there is a proximodistal gradient in terms of secondary reconstruction with more distal elements being more extensively remodelled. Note that in the aepyornithids, the fibula was the most reconstructed element [5], but in the current study, fibulae were not sampled.…”

Section: Secondary Reconstructionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Histovariability and Palaeobiological Implications of the Bone Histology of the Dromornithid, Genyornis newtoni

Chinsamy

Worthy

2021

Diversity

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The bone microstructure of extinct animals provides a host of information about their biology. Although the giant flightless dromornithid, Genyornis newtoni, is reasonably well known from the Pleistocene of Australia (until its extinction about 50–40 Ka), aside from various aspects of its skeletal anatomy and taxonomy, not much is known about its biology. The current study investigated the histology of fifteen long bones of Genyornis (tibiotarsi, tarsometatarsi and femora) to deduce information about its growth dynamics and life history. Thin sections of the bones were prepared using standard methods, and the histology of the bones was studied under normal and polarised light microscopy. Our histological analyses showed that Genyornis took more than a single year to reach sexual maturity, and that it continued to deposit bone within the OCL for several years thereafter until skeletal maturity was attained. Thus, sexual maturity and skeletal maturity were asynchronous, with the former preceding the latter. Our results further indicated that Genyornis responded to prevailing environmental conditions, which suggests that it retained a plesiomorphic, flexible growth strategy. Additionally, our analyses of the three long bones showed that the tibiotarsus preserved the best record of growth for Genyornis.

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Section: Secondary Reconstructionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Histovariability and Palaeobiological Implications of the Bone Histology of the Dromornithid, Genyornis newtoni

Chinsamy

Worthy

2021

Diversity

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“…2012), with the exception of extremely dense Haversian systems present in penguin bones (related to the aquatic lifestyle of these animals (Meister, 1962) and paleognaths (Bourdon et al, 2009;de Ricqlès et al, 2016;Chinsamy et al, 2020a). With respect to the mid-shaft of the humerus and femur, the results of this investigation concur with these studies, and only rare, small, localized areas of osteonal remodeling were observed (e.g., in the wild turkey humerus).…”

Section: Adult Histologysupporting

confidence: 83%

A histological survey of avian post-natal skeletal ontogeny

Atterholt

Woodward

2021

PeerJ

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Bone histology of crown-group birds is a research topic of great interest, permitting insight into the evolution of remarkably high growth rates in this clade and variation across the altricial-precocial spectrum. In this study, we describe microanatomical characteristics of the humerus and femur in partial growth series from 14 crown group birds representing ten major clades (Struthioniformes, Galliformes, Apodiformes, Columbiformes, Charadriiformes, Accipitriformes, Strigiformes, Psittaciformes, Falconiformes, and Passeriformes). Our goals were to: (1) describe the microanatomy of each individual; (2) make inter-and intra-taxonomic comparisons; (3) assess patterns that correspond with developmental mode; and (4) to further parse out phylogenetic, developmental, and functional constraints on avian osteological development. Across taxa, the femoral and humeral tissue of neonates can be broadly characterized as highly-vascularized, disorganized woven bone with great variation in cortical thickness (inter-and intrataxonomically, within an individual specimen, and within a single section). The tissue of precocial chicks is relatively more mature at hatching than in altricial, but other categories along the developmental spectrum were less easy to distinguish, thus we were unable to identify a definitive histological proxy for developmental mode. We did not find evidence to support hypotheses that precocial chicks exclusively have thicker cortices and more mature bone in the femur than the humerus at time of hatching; instead, this is a characteristic of nearly all taxa (regardless of developmental mode), suggesting deep evolutionary origins and the effects of developmental channeling. Bone tissue in adults exhibited unexpected variation, corresponding to differences in body size. Large-bodied birds have cortices of fibrolamellar bone, but organization of tissue increases and vascularity decreases with diminishing body size. The outer circumferential layer (OCL) also appears at earlier growth stages in small-bodied taxa. Thus, while the OCL is indicative of a cessation of appositional growth it is not always indicative of cortical maturity (that is, maximum organization of bony tissue for a given taxon). Small size is achieved by truncating the period of fast growth; manipulation of the timing of offset of bone growth is therefore an important factor in changing growth trajectories to alter adult body size.

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“…At present, it is not clear if the method of textural ageing could be applied to basal birds where the presence of different growth regimes has been suggested by histological studies (e.g., Chinsamy, ; Chinsamy‐Turan, ). A sustained and interrupted growth regime has been reported also in some palaeognathous birds, including Apteryx (Beale, ; Bourdon et al, ), Dinornithiformes (Turvey et al, ; Turvey and Holdaway, 2005), and Aepyornis (de Ricqlès et al, ). It has been found that an apparently smooth surface texture can occur on long bones of immature individuals of Alligator mississippiensis (American alligator) which has cyclical interrupted growth (Tumarkin‐Deratzian et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Ontogeny of Surface Texture of Limb Bones in Modern Aquatic Birds and Applicability of Textural Ageing

Watanabe

2018

The Anatomical Record

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Despite its importance in various disciplines, a general method to assess ontogenetic ages of skeletal and fossil specimens has been lacking for birds. Although the textural ageing method was formulated to assess relative ontogenetic ages of specimens from inspection of bone surface textures, the exact correspondence of surface textures to ontogenetic stages has not yet been clear. In this study, bone surface textures of six major limb bones (humerus, ulna, carpometacarpus, femur, tibiotarsus, and tarsometatarsus) were described in postnatal ontogenies of four species of modern birds (Calonectris leucomelas, Phalacrocorax capillatus, Larus crassirostris, and Cerorhinca monocerata) from 14 to 28 individuals of known ontogenetic stages for each species. Consistently with the previous postulation, it was found that bones of chicks were characterized by rough surface textures with numerous grooves/depressions that host minute foramina. Bones of fledglings/juveniles, which are generally as large as those of adults but more slender, were characterized by the occasional presence of depressions and foramina. Histological observations confirmed that these rough surface textures were underlain by fibrolamellar bone tissue which is associated with active periosteal ossification. These results indicate that the smooth surface texture in adults is formed after the cessation of circumferential bone growth, which probably takes place between fledging and the attainment of sexual maturity. The available evidence suggests that the textural ageing is probably applicable to the entire Neognathae, a clade containing most crown-group birds. Anat Rec, 301:1026-1045, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Preliminary assessment of bone histology in the extinct elephant bird Aepyornis (Aves, Palaeognathae) from Madagascar

Cited by 22 publications

References 43 publications

Histovariability and Palaeobiological Implications of the Bone Histology of the Dromornithid, Genyornis newtoni

Histovariability and Palaeobiological Implications of the Bone Histology of the Dromornithid, Genyornis newtoni

A histological survey of avian post-natal skeletal ontogeny

Ontogeny of Surface Texture of Limb Bones in Modern Aquatic Birds and Applicability of Textural Ageing

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