Articles | Volume 20, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-20-279-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-20-279-2017
Research article
 | 
19 Dec 2017
Research article |  | 19 Dec 2017

Foramina in plesiosaur cervical centra indicate a specialized vascular system

Tanja Wintrich, Martin Scaal, and P. Martin Sander

Viewed

Total article views: 2,778 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)
HTML PDF XML Total BibTeX EndNote
1,611 907 260 2,778 99 116
  • HTML: 1,611
  • PDF: 907
  • XML: 260
  • Total: 2,778
  • BibTeX: 99
  • EndNote: 116
Views and downloads (calculated since 19 Dec 2017)
Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 19 Dec 2017)

Viewed (geographical distribution)

Total article views: 2,663 (including HTML, PDF, and XML) Thereof 2,652 with geography defined and 11 with unknown origin.
Country # Views %
  • 1
1
 
 
 
 

Cited

Latest update: 22 Apr 2024
Download
Short summary
Plesiosaurians retain a very long neck but greatly reduce neck flexibility, and the cervicals have large, paired, and highly symmetrical foramina on the ventral side of the centrum, traditionally termed subcentral foramina, and on the floor of the neural canal. We found that these dorsal and the ventral foramina are connected by a canal. The foramen are not for nutrient transfer; they are the osteological correlates of a highly paedomorphic vascular system in the neck of plesiosaurs.