“…Hypothesized associations between loading regimes, internal stress regimes, and shapes of biological structures are commonly evaluated using either simple beam models (e.g., Preuschoft et al, 1983; Hylander, 1984, 1985; Daegling, 1993, 2001; Hylander and Johnson, 1994; Ravosa, 1996, 2000; Ross and Hylander, 1996; Hylander et al, 1998, 2000; Daegling and Hylander, 2000; Ravosa et al, 2000; Ross, 2001; Metzger et al, 2005; Daegling and McGraw, 2009) or, more recently, complex finite element models (FEMs) (e.g., Ross et al, 2005; Strait et al, 2005; Kupczik et al, 2009; Panagiotopoulou and Cobb, 2011; Porro et al, 2013; Prado et al, 2016; Janovic et al, 2014, 2015; Cox et al, 2011; Smith et al, 2015; Benazzi et al, 2016; Ledogar et al, 2016a; McIntosh and Cox, 2016; Panagiotopoulou et al, 2016a, b; Smith and Grosse, 2016). These modeling methods are especially important for testing hypotheses regarding formâfunction relationships (design) in skeletons of fossil animals for which in vivo data are not available (e.g., Rayfield et al, 2001; Strait et al, 2009; Berthaume et al, 2010; Grine et al, 2010; Falkingham et al, 2011a,b; Dzialo et al, 2014; Smith et al, 2015; Ledogar et al, 2016b).…”