Enigmatic dinosaur precursors bridge the gap to the origin of Pterosauria

MD Ezcurra, SJ Nesbitt, M Bronzati, FM Dalla Vecchia… - Nature, 2020 - nature.com
Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight 1 and comprised one of the
main evolutionary radiations in terrestrial ecosystems of the Mesozoic era (approximately …

Evolution of sensory systems

P Oteiza, MW Baldwin - Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 2021 - Elsevier
Sensory systems evolve and enable organisms to perceive their sensory Umwelt, the unique
set of cues relevant for their survival. The multiple components that comprise sensory …

The locomotory apparatus and paraxial swimming in fossil and living marine reptiles: comparing Nothosauroidea, Plesiosauria, and Chelonioidea

A Krahl - PalZ, 2021 - Springer
The terrestrial origins of the diapsid Sauropterygia and Testudines are uncertain, with the
latter being highly controversially discussed to this day. For only 15 Ma, Nothosauroidea …

Independent origin of large labyrinth size in turtles

SW Evers, WG Joyce, JN Choiniere, GS Ferreira… - Nature …, 2022 - nature.com
The labyrinth of the vertebrate inner ear is a sensory system that governs the perception of
head rotations. Central hypotheses predict that labyrinth shape and size are related to …

Inner ear sensory system changes as extinct crocodylomorphs transitioned from land to water

JA Schwab, MT Young, JM Neenan… - Proceedings of the …, 2020 - National Acad Sciences
Major evolutionary transitions, in which animals develop new body plans and adapt to
dramatically new habitats and lifestyles, have punctuated the history of life. The origin of …

Deep evolutionary diversification of semicircular canals in archosaurs

M Bronzati, RBJ Benson, SW Evers, MD Ezcurra… - Current Biology, 2021 - cell.com
Living archosaurs (birds and crocodylians) have disparate locomotor strategies that evolved
since their divergence∼ 250 mya. Little is known about the early evolution of the sensory …

The early origin of a birdlike inner ear and the evolution of dinosaurian movement and vocalization

M Hanson, EA Hoffman, MA Norell, BAS Bhullar - Science, 2021 - science.org
Reptiles, including birds, exhibit a range of behaviorally relevant adaptations that are
reflected in changes to the structure of the inner ear. These adaptations include the capacity …

Contrasting brains and bones: neuroanatomical evolution of turtles (Testudinata)

GS Ferreira, I Werneburg, S Lautenschlager… - … of amniotes: new …, 2022 - Springer
Turtles are relatively species-poor, but anatomically very distinct from other reptiles, which
yields longstanding debates about their origin among amniotes. On the other hand, an …

Neurovascular anatomy of the protostegid turtle Rhinochelys pulchriceps and comparisons of membranous and endosseous labyrinth shape in an extant turtle

SW Evers, JM Neenan, GS Ferreira… - Zoological Journal of …, 2019 - academic.oup.com
Chelonioid turtles are the only surviving group of reptiles that secondarily evolved marine
lifestyles during the Mesozoic Early chelonioid evolution is documented by fossils of their …

Aquatic habits and niche partitioning in the extraordinarily long-necked Triassic reptile Tanystropheus

SNF Spiekman, JM Neenan, NC Fraser, V Fernandez… - Current Biology, 2020 - cell.com
Tanystropheus longobardicus is one of the most remarkable and iconic Triassic reptiles.
Mainly known from the Middle Triassic conservation Lagerstätte of Monte San Giorgio on the …