Foreflipper and hindflipper muscle reconstructions of Cryptoclidus eurymerus in comparison to functional analogues: introduction of a myological mechanism for flipper twisting.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Plesiosaurs, diapsid crown-group Sauropterygia, inhabited the oceans from the Late Triassic to the Late Cretaceous. Their most exceptional characteristic are four hydrofoil-like flippers. The question whether plesiosaurs employed their four flippers in underwater flight, rowing flight, or rowing has not been settled yet. Plesiosaur locomotory muscles have been reconstructed in the past, but neither the pelvic muscles nor the distal fore- and hindflipper musculature have been reconstructed entirely.

Methods

All plesiosaur locomotory muscles were reconstructed in order to find out whether it is possible to identify muscles that are necessary for underwater flight including those that enable flipper rotation and twisting. Flipper twisting has been proven by hydrodyna

SUBMITTER: Krahl A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8684327 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature