Speaker
Ms
Safiyyah Iqbal
(University of the Witwatersrand, Evolutionary Studies Institute)
Description
Therapsids were severely affected by the Permian-Triassic mass extinction event and only a few lineages were able to survive. One of the main behavioural responses that most likely aided in Therapsid survival across the extinction event was burrowing. Several fossils of the therapsid, Thrinaxodon were found in curled up position and assumed to have died in a burrow, leading to the idea that this taxon was perhaps a digger. To date, limb structure of Thrinaxodon has not been systematically compared to extant burrowing specialists. Besides exhibiting potential burrowing adaptations, the limbs of Thrinaxodon have been described as exhibiting a transitional phase between classic sprawled limbs of reptiles and mammalian parasagittal postures. The forelimb (humerus, radius and ulna) of Thrinaxodon liorhinus is compared with cursorial forms such as the reptile Varanus, and mammals Felis domesticus and Thylacinus cynocephalus, as well as with digging mammals, Vombatus and Lasiorhinus. This series of nested comparisons permits interpretation of the functional morphology of the fossil Thrinaxodon as being more similar to a cursorial or digger animal. New insights into the behaviour of the fossil Thrinaxodon are discussed by describing and completing morphometric analyses on forelimb skeletal elements. These results advance present understanding of Thrinaxodon limb structure, mobility, habitat and ecological preference.
| Submit a paper<br>for peer review<br>(SA Journal of Science)?<br>(Yes / No / Maybe) | Maybe |
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Primary author
Ms
Safiyyah Iqbal
(University of the Witwatersrand, Evolutionary Studies Institute)
Co-authors
Dr
Fernando Abdala
(University of the Witwatersrand, Evolutionary Studies Institute)
Dr
Kristian Carlson
(University of the Witwatersrand, Evolutionary Studies Institute)
