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Osteology and digital reconstruction of the skull of the early tetrapod Whatcheeria deltae

Rawson, JRG; Porro, LB; Martin-Silverstone, E; Rayfield, EJ; (2021) Osteology and digital reconstruction of the skull of the early tetrapod Whatcheeria deltae. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology , 41 (2) , Article e1927749. 10.1080/02724634.2021.1927749. Green open access

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Abstract

The Early Carboniferous stem tetrapod Whatcheeria deltae is among the earliest-branching limbed tetrapods represented by multiple near-complete specimens, making it an important taxon in understanding the vertebrate water-to-land transition. However, all preserved skulls of Whatcheeria suffer from post-mortem crushing and lateral compression, which has made cranial reconstruction problematic. In this study, computed tomography data of three Whatcheeria specimens were segmented using visualization software to digitally separate each individual skull bone from matrix. Digital methods were used to repair and retrodeform the bones and produce the first complete three-dimensional skull reconstruction of Whatcheeria. We provide a revised description of the cranial and lower jaw anatomy of Whatcheeria based on CT data, focusing on sutural morphology and previously unknown anatomical details. Our findings suggest that Whatcheeria had one of the narrowest skulls of any known early tetrapod, a gap between the nasals, and significant overlap of the lacrimal onto the nasal and prefrontal. Sutural morphology is used to infer loading regime in the skull during feeding and suggests the skull of Whatcheeria was well adapted to resist stresses induced by biting large prey with its enlarged anterior fangs.

Type: Article
Title: Osteology and digital reconstruction of the skull of the early tetrapod Whatcheeria deltae
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2021.1927749
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2021.1927749
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Paleontology, FUNCTIONAL INTERPRETATION, PRIMITIVE TETRAPOD, CRANIAL ANATOMY, EARLY EVOLUTION, STEM TETRAPOD, MORPHOLOGY, SUTURES, FISH, DISPARITY, STRAIN
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Cell and Developmental Biology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10137072
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