Mandibular musculature constrains brain-endocast disparity between sarcopterygians.

ABSTRACT: The transition from water to land by the earliest tetrapods in the Devonian Period is seen as one of the greatest steps in evolution. However, little is understood concerning changes in brain morphology over this transition. Here, we determine the brain-braincase relationship in fishes and basal lissamphibians as a proxy to elucidate the changes that occurred over the fish-tetrapod transition. We investigate six basal extant sarcopterygians spanning coelacanths to salamanders (Latimeria chalumnae, Neoceratodus, Protopterus aethiopicus, P. dolloi, Cynops, Ambystoma mexicanum) using micro-CT and MRI and quantify the brain-braincase relationship in these extant taxa. Our results show that regions of lowest brain-endocast disparity are associated with regions of bony reinforcement direc

SUBMITTER: Challands TJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7540775 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature