title: Evolution of bone microanatomy of the tetrapod tibia and its use in palaeobiological inference.
abstract: Bone microanatomy appears to track changes in various physiological or ecological properties of the individual or the taxon. Analyses of sections of the tibia of 99 taxa show a highly significant (P <or= 0.005) relationship between long-bone microanatomy and habitat. Randomization tests reveal a highly significant (P <or= 0.005) phylogenetic signal on several compactness profile parameters and lifestyle. Discriminant analyses yield an inference model which has a success rate of 63% when lifestyle is coded into three states (aquatic, amphibious and terrestrial) or 83% for a binary model (aquatic vs. amphibious to terrestrial). Lifestyle is inferred to have been terrestrial for the stem-tetrapod Discosauriscus (Early Permian), the basal synapsid Dimetrodon (Early Permian), the dicynodont therapsid Dicynodon (Late Permian), an unindentified gorgonopsian (Late Permian); the parareptile Pareiasaurus (Middle or Late Permian) is modelled as being aquatic, but was more likely amphibious.
authors.affiliation: Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Département Histoire de la Terre, UMR 5143, USM 0203, Paris, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kriloff
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Germain
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Canoville
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vincent
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sache
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laurin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000166:cytology*; D025061:Dinosaurs / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000033:anatomy & histology*