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A surrogate forelimb: Evolution, function and development of the avian cervical spine

Marek, Ryan D; (2023) A surrogate forelimb: Evolution, function and development of the avian cervical spine. Journal of Morphology , 284 (10) , Article e21638. 10.1002/jmor.21638. Green open access

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Abstract

The neck is a critical portion of the avian spine, one that works in tandem with the beak to act as a surrogate forelimb and allows birds to manipulate their surroundings despite the lack of a grasping capable hand. Birds display an incredible amount of diversity in neck morphology across multiple anatomical scales—from varying cervical counts down to intricate adaptations of individual vertebrae. Despite this morphofunctional disparity, little is known about the drivers of this enormous variation, nor how neck evolution has shaped avian macroevolution. To promote interest in this system, I review the development, function and evolution of the avian cervical spine. The musculoskeletal anatomy, basic kinematics and development of the avian neck are all documented, but focus primarily upon commercially available taxa. In addition, recent work has quantified the drivers of extant morphological variation across the avian neck, as well as patterns of integration between the neck and other skeletal elements. However, the evolutionary history of the avian cervical spine, and its contribution to the diversification and success of modern birds is currently unknown. Future work should aim to broaden our understanding of the cervical anatomy, development and kinematics to include a more diverse selection of extant birds, while also considering the macroevolutionary drivers and consequences of this important section of the avian spine.

Type: Article
Title: A surrogate forelimb: Evolution, function and development of the avian cervical spine
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1002/jmor.21638
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.21638
Language: English
Additional information: © 2023 The Authors. Journal of Morphology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
Keywords: Avian, axial, biomechanics, development, evolution, neck, vertebrae
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/10179178
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