Evolutionary implications of the divergent long bone histologies of Nothosaurus and Pistosaurus (Sauropterygia, Triassic)

Anna Krahl,P Sander,Nicole Klein

doi:10.1186/1471-2148-13-123

Abstract

BackgroundEosauropterygians consist of two major clades, the Nothosauroidea of the Tethysian Middle Triassic (e.g., Nothosaurus) and the Pistosauroidea. The Pistosauroidea include rare Triassic forms (Pistosauridae) and the Plesiosauria of the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Long bones of Nothosaurus and Pistosaurus from the Muschelkalk (Middle Triassic) of Germany and France and a femur of the Lower Jurassic Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus were studied histologically and microanatomically to understand the evolution of locomotory adaptations, patterns of growth and life history in these two lineages.ResultsWe found that the cortex of adult Nothosaurus long bones consists of lamellar zonal bone. Large Upper Muschelkalk humeri of large-bodied Nothosaurus mirabilis and N. giganteus differ from the small Lower Muschelkalk (Nothosaurus marchicus/N. winterswijkensis) humeri by a striking microanatomical specialization for aquatic tetrapods: the medullary cavity is much enlarged and the cortex is reduced to a few millimeters in thickness. Unexpectedly, the humeri of Pistosaurus consist of continuously deposited, radially vascularized fibrolamellar bone tissue like in the Plesiosaurus sample. Plesiosaurus shows intense Haversian remodeling, which has never been described in Triassic sauropterygians.ConclusionsThe generally lamellar zonal bone tissue of nothosaur long bones indicates a low growth rate and suggests a low basal metabolic rate. The large triangular cross section of large-bodied Nothosaurus from the Upper Muschelkalk with their large medullary region evolved to withstand high bending loads. Nothosaurus humerus morphology and microanatomy indicates the evolution of paraxial front limb propulsion in the Middle Triassic, well before its convergent evolution in the Plesiosauria in the latest Triassic. Fibrolamellar bone tissue, as found in Pistosaurus and Plesiosaurus, suggests a high growth rate and basal metabolic rate. The presence of fibrolamellar bone tissue in Pistosaurus suggests that these features had already evolved in the Pistosauroidea by the Middle Triassic, well before the plesiosaurs radiated. Together with a relatively large body size, a high basal metabolic rate probably was the key to the invasion of the Pistosauroidea of the pelagic habitat in the Middle Triassic and the success of the Plesiosauria in the Jurassic and Cretaceous.

Highlights

Eosauropterygians consist of two major clades, the Nothosauroidea of the Tethysian Middle Triassic (e.g., Nothosaurus) and the Pistosauroidea
At the suprageneric level, the bone microanatomy and histology of the sampled sauropterygian taxa is described in the order of the phylogenetic hypothesis of Rieppel [4] and Liu et al [5] (Figure 1B)
Biomechanical implications of Nothosaurus microanantomy Our histological study of Nothosaurus long bones shows that biomechanical adaptations evolved within the genus during the Middle Triassic and that the changes are correlated with increasing body size [79]

Summary

Introduction

Eosauropterygians consist of two major clades, the Nothosauroidea of the Tethysian Middle Triassic (e.g., Nothosaurus) and the Pistosauroidea. The Pistosauroidea include rare Triassic forms (Pistosauridae) and the Plesiosauria of the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Sauropterygia are divided into the Placodontia and the Eosauropterygia which, in turn, classically consist of the Eusauropterygia and the Pachypleurosauria [3,4,5] (see Figure 1). Eusauropterygia are divided into the plesiosaur lineage (Pistosauroidea) and the nothosaur lineage (Nothosauroidea). The Plesiosauria, termed “crown-group sauropterygians”, first occur in the earliest Jurassic (or possibly latest Triassic) of Europe [1], but they spread rapidly around the world during the later Jurassic and Cretaceous to become the most diverse group of marine reptiles [15]

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