The family Remingtonocetidae is a basal family of Eocene cetaceans only known from near shore marine environments of India and Pakistan. We describe a new skull for Remingtonocetus harudiensis which elucidates the anatomy and functional morphology of…
The origin of whales (order Cetacea) from a four-footed land animal is one of the best understood examples of macroevolutionary change. This evolutionary transition has been substantially elucidated by fossil finds from the Indian subcontinent in the…
Until the 1990s, the notion of brain lateralization—the division of labor between the two hemispheres—and its more visible behavioral manifestation, handedness, remained fiercely defined as a human specific trait. Since then, many studies have…
Study Design. A descriptive study of the association between sacroiliac joint bridging ( SIB) and age, gender, laterality, and ethnic origin in a normal skeletal population. The effectiveness of radiographs in identifying SIB was also evaluated.…
Improvements in three-dimensional imaging technologies have renewed interest in the study of functional and ecological morphology. Quantitative approaches to shape analysis are used increasingly to study form-function relationships. These methods are…
The horned dinosaur Pachyhinosaurus possesses rugose bony bosses across the skull roof in lieu of the projecting bony horn cores seen in most ceratopsians. This elaboration of typical ceratopsian ornaments provides an opportunity to test hypotheses…
A premaxillary fragment of Sivapithecus parvada preserving the germs of the right central and lateral incisors is described. The specimen was recovered in situ during excavation at locality Y311 in the upper Nagri Formation (ca. 9.2 m.y.a.) of the…
Forty-one isolated large hominoid teeth, as well as most of the mandibular and three maxillary teeth associated with a partial skeleton, were recovered from middle Miocene Muruyur sediments near Kipsaramon in the Tugen Hills, Baringo District, Kenya.…
Multituberculate and eutriconodontan endocasts differ from those of primitive therian mammals in their lack of visible midbrain exposure oil the dorsal side and in having a vermis-like triangular bulge (recognized herein as the cast of a large…
Tracing the evolution of ancient diseases depends on the availability and accessibility of suitable biomarkers in archaeological specimens. DNA is potentially information-rich but it depends on a favourable environment for preservation. In the case…
The ability of some mammals to forage on vines or terminal branches depends upon their grasping extremities. This study tests the functional link between use of small-diameter supports and grasping abilities by comparing hand and foot proportions in…
Embryogenesis of cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises) is best known in Stenella attenuata, the pan-tropical spotted dolphin, based on a remarkably complete and well-studied prenatal ontogenetic series. Our study expands understanding of cetacean…
The present analysis evaluated extant hominoid subnasal morphological variation from an ontogenetic perspective, documenting both qualitative and allometric details of subnasal maturation in Hylobates, great apes and modern humans. With respect to…
The proliferation of geometric morphometrics (GM) in biological anthropology and more broadly throughout the biological sciences has resulted in a multitude of studies that adopt landmark-based approaches for addressing a variety of questions in…
The hypothesis that flower shape affects nectar-feeding performance was examined for the nectarivorous bat, Syconycteris australis. Experiments using feeders with artificial flowers of different diameters demonstrated that the narrow flower diameter…
Recent comprehensive studies of DNA sequences support the monophyly of Afrotheria, comprising elephants, sirenians (dugongs and manatees), hyraxes, tenrecs, golden moles, aardvarks, and elephant shrews, as well as that of Paenungulata, comprising…
The skulls and isolated tympanics are described for the earliest whales, pakicetids, from the H-GSP Locality 62 in the Ganda Kas area in Northern Pakistan. Currently three pakicetid genera are known: Pakicetus, Ichthyolestes, and Nalacetus.…
The marsupial middle ear performs an anatomical impedance matching for acoustic energy travelling in air to reach the cochlea. The size of the middle ear sets constraints for the frequencies transmitted. For generalized placental mammals, it has been…
The early Eocene of Panandhro Mine (northwestern India) has produced a rich snake fauna largely dominated by palaeophiids. Three families are present: Palaeophiidae, ?Madtsoiidae or Boidae, and an indeterminate family of Colubroidea. The…
Von Economo neurons (VENs) are specialized projection neurons with a characteristic spindle-shaped soma and thick basal and apical dendrites. VENs have been described in restricted cortical regions, with their most frequent appearance in layers III…
There is significant diversity in growth plate behavior among sites within an individual skeleton and between skeletons of different species. This variation within wild-type animals is an underutilized resource for studying skeletal development. One…
Recognition of muscle attachment sites and their modification has been an important tool in anthropologic and paleontologic research, but has been compromised by limited ability to recognise sites of tendinous attachments. We investigated bone-tendon…
Decompression syndrome (caisson disease or the "the bends") resulting in avascular necrosis has been documented in mosasaurs, sauropterygians, ichthyosaurs, and turtles from the Middle Jurassic to Late Cretaceous, but it was unclear that this disease…
The anterior position of the human foramen magnum is often explained as an adaptation for maintaining balance of the head atop the cervical vertebral column during bipedalism and the assumption of orthograde trunk postures. Accordingly, the relative…
The Career Development Quarterly has been the premier journal in the field of vocational guidance and career intervention since its inception 100 years ago. To celebrate its centennial, 3 former editors trace its evolution from a modest and…
Since 2005, an extensive literature documents individuals from several families afflicted with "Uner Tan Syndrome (UTS)," a condition that in its most extreme form is characterized by cerebellar hypoplasia, loss of balance and coordination, impaired…
A partial skeleton was recovered from middle Miocene Muruyur sediments near Kipsaramon in the Tugen Hills, Baringo District, Kenya. The specimen, representing much of the upper skeleton, comes from locality BPRP#122 dated between 15(.)58 Ma and…
Significant new material of the plesiadapiform Elphidotarsius russelli is described from Montana and Alberta. Previously the most poorly documented carpolestid, this species is now known from numerous isolated teeth and many jaw fragments. New…
Avian wing elements have been shown to experience both dorsoventral bending and torsional loads during flapping flight. However, not all birds use continuous flapping as a primary flight strategy. The pelecaniforms exhibit extraordinary diversity in…
Two bat families, the leaf-nosed (Phyllostomidae) and fruit bats (Pteropodidae), have independently evolved the ability to consume plant resources. However, despite their similar ages, species richness and the strong selective pressures placed on the…
The jaw-closing muscles are responsible for generating many of the forces and movements associated with feeding. Muscle physiologic cross-sectional area (PCSA) and fiber length are two architectural parameters that heavily influence muscle function.…
