Open AccessLong bone cortices in a growth series of Apatosaurus sp. ( D inosauria: D iplodocidae): geometry, body mass, and crystallite orientation of giant animals
Author(s) -
Dumont Maitena,
Borbely Andras,
KaysserPyzalla Anke,
Sander P. Martin
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
biological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.906
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1095-8312
pISSN - 0024-4066
DOI - 10.1111/bij.12335
Subject(s) - texture (cosmology) , crystallite , cortical bone , anatomy , bone mass , biology , orientation (vector space) , long axis , materials science , geometry , mathematics , osteoporosis , artificial intelligence , computer science , image (mathematics) , endocrinology , metallurgy
Comparative studies of body mass, cortical bone geometry, and preferred crystallographic orientation (texture) of bone mineral in an ontogenetic series of the sauropod, Apatosaurus sp., and recent animals are reported. The cortical bone geometry shows that sauropods have an expansion of the cortical thickness as a result of their heavier mass. It is shown that a universal power‐law relationship connects body mass to bone length, suggesting the validity of W olff's law for sauropods. Moreover, sauropod and mammalian bones seem to be exposed to the same compressive bone stress. X ‐ray texture measurements of long bones were used to study the orientation of carbonated hydroxyapatite ( HA ) crystals. All bones investigated showed a 001‐fibre texture, in which the c‐axis of the HA crystals is oriented along the bone axis. Texture strength (defined by the alignment of HA crystals) appears to be of only minor importance regarding the mechanical strength and seems to be influenced by the loading mode of the bone. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2014, 112 , 782–798.