A test of the lateral semicircular canal correlation to head posture, diet and other biological traits in "ungulate" mammals.

ABSTRACT: For over a century, researchers have assumed that the plane of the lateral semicircular canal of the inner ear lies parallel to the horizon when the head is at rest, and used this assumption to reconstruct head posture in extinct species. Although this hypothesis has been repeatedly questioned, it has never been tested on a large sample size and at a broad taxonomic scale in mammals. This study presents a comprehensive test of this hypothesis in over one hundred "ungulate" species. Using CT scanning and manual segmentation, the orientation of the skull was reconstructed as if the lateral semicircular canal of the bony labyrinth was aligned horizontally. This reconstructed cranial orientation was statistically compared to the actual head posture of the corresponding species using a dataset

SUBMITTER: Benoit J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7658238 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature