Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T08:33:47.768Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A review of fighting adaptations in dinocephalians (Reptilia, Therapsida)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2016

Herbert R. Barghusen
Herbert R. Barghusen*
Affiliation:
Depts. Anat. and Oral Anat., Univ. Illinois Medical Center; Chicago, Ill. 60680
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The cranial structure of anteosaurid and many tapinocephalid dinocephalians became modified in a manner consistent with Geist's hypothesis that they used their heads for pushing and ramming during intraspecific combat. These modifications are most pronounced in certain tapinocephalids by the evolution of a strong dorsal head shield supported by a massive arch network suitable for receiving and supporting blows delivered to the dorsal surface of the head. The position of the occipital condyle reduced the torque created by such blows at the craniocervical joint. Evidence also indicates that the head was reoriented into a position suitable for butting. The cranial architecture displayed by dinocephalians suspected of headbutting differs from that of living mammalian rammers. The differences can be directly attributed to the modification, in the former, of a reptilian skull with its relatively unexpanded braincase into a ramming instrument.

Type
Research Article
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , Summer 1975 , pp. 295 - 311
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Bakker, R. T. 1975. Dinosaur renaissance. Sci. Am. 232:58–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barghusen, H. R. 1973. The adductor jaw musculature of Dimetrodon (Reptilia, Pelycosauria). J. Paleontol. 47:823–834.Google Scholar
Boonstra, L. D. 1934. On an aberrant gorgonopsian, Burnetia mirabilis Broom. S. Afr. J. Sci. 31:462–470.Google Scholar
Boonstra, L. D. 1952. 'n Nuwe tapinocephalide, Riebeeckosaurus longirostris gen. et sp. nov. Tydskrif vir Wetenskap en Kuns. 12:246–249.Google Scholar
Boonstra, L. D. 1954. The cranial structure of the titanosuchian Anteosaurus. Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 42:108–148.Google Scholar
Boonstra, L. D. 1962. The dentition of the titanosuchian dinocephalians. Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 46:57–112.Google Scholar
Boonstra, L. D. 1963a. Early dichotomies in the therapsids. S. Afr. J. Sci. 59:176–195.Google Scholar
Boonstra, L. D. 1963b. Diversity within the South African Dinocephalia. S. Afr. J. Sci. 59:196–206.Google Scholar
Boonstra, L. D. 1968. The braincase, basicranial axis and median septum in the Dinocephalia. Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 50:195–273.Google Scholar
Boonstra, L. D. 1969. The fauna of the Tapinocephalus Zone (Beaufort beds of the Karroo). Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 56:1–73.Google Scholar
Boonstra, L. D. 1971. The early therapsids. Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 59:17–46.Google Scholar
Brink, A. A. 1958. Struthiocephalus kitchingi sp. nov. Palaeontol. Afr. 5:39–56.Google Scholar
Chudinov, P. K. 1965. New facts about the Upper Permian of the U. S. S. R. J. Geol. 73:117–130.Google Scholar
Efremov, J. A. 1940. Ulemosaurus svijagensis Riab—ein Dinocephale aus den Ablagerungen des Perm der UdSSR. Nova acta Leopoldina (New Series). 9:155–205.Google Scholar
Eibl-Eibesfeldt, I. 1955. Der Kommentkampf der Meerechse (Amblyrhynchus cristatus Bell) nebst einigen Notizen zur Biologie dieser Art. Z. Tierpsychol. 12:49–62.Google Scholar
Ewer, R. F. 1968. Ethology of Mammals. 418 pp. Plenum Press; New York, N. Y.Google Scholar
Fradrich, H. 1965. Zur Biologie und Ethologie des Warzenschweines (Phacochoerus aethiopicus Pallas), unter Berücksichtigung des Verhaltens anderer Suiden. Z. Tierpsychol. 22:328–393.Google Scholar
Geist, V. 1966. The evolution of horn-like organs. Behaviour. 27:175–214.Google Scholar
Geist, V. 1972. An ecological and behavioural explanation of mammalian characteristics, and their implication to therapsid evolution. Z. Säugetierkunde. 37:1–15.Google Scholar
Geist, V. 1974. On fighting strategies in animal combat. Nature. 250:354.Google Scholar
Gould, S. J. 1970. Evolutionary paleontology and the science of form. Earth Sci. Rev. 6:77–119.Google Scholar
Hopson, J. A. 1975. The evolution of cranial display structures in hadrosaurian dinosaurs. Paleobiology. 1:21–43.Google Scholar
Jenkins, F. A. 1971. The postcranial skeleton of African cynodonts. Bull. Peabody Mus. Nat. Hist. 36:1–216.Google Scholar
Mohr, E. 1960. Wilde Schweine—Die Neue Brehm Bücherei. A. Ziemsen; Wittenberg-Lutherstadt.Google Scholar
Olson, E. C. 1960. Morphology, paleontology, and evolution. pp. 523–545. In: Tax, S., ed. Evolution After Darwin. Univ. Chicago Press; Chicago, Ill.Google Scholar
Olson, E. C. 1962. Late Permian terrestrial vertebrates, U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. Am. Phil. Soc. Trans. 52:1–224Google Scholar
Orlov, J. A. 1958. Predatory dinocephalians from the fauna of Isheyevo (Titanosuchia). Trudy Palaeontol. Inst. Akad. Nauk. 72:1–114.Google Scholar
Romer, A. S., and Price, L. J. 1940. Review of the Pelycosauria. Geol. Soc. Am., Spec. Pap. 28:1–538.Google Scholar
Schaffer, W. M. 1968. Intraspecific combat and the evolution of the Caprini. Evolution. 22:817–825.Google Scholar
Stanley, S. M. 1974. Relative growth of the titanothere horn: a new approach to an old problem. Evolution. 28:447–457.Google Scholar