Divergent patterns of cranial suture fusion in marsupial and placental mammals.

ABSTRACT: Cranial sutures, both open and closed, support a myriad of skull functions, including redistributing strain, accommodating brain expansion, supporting cranial bone growth, and protecting the brain. Thus, variation in the degree, timing, and pattern of suture fusion has functional implications. Using a comparative ontogenetic framework across Mammalia, we quantified degree and pattern of suture fusion through ontogeny for 22 mammalian species (N = 165). Suture closure was scored on a discrete scale for 31 cranial sutures and used to calculate closure scores for individual sutures and specimens. Ancestral state estimations found the degree of ancestral marsupial fusion to be more derived, differing from both the ancestral placental and ancestral therian. The average placental pattern

SUBMITTER: White HE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7617424 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature