Within a dinosaur's head: Ankylosaur was sluggish and deaf
Fossil braincase provides new surprising insights

Date:
January 11, 2022
Source:
University of Vienna
Summary:
Scientists took a closer look at the braincase of a dinosaur from
Austria. The group examined the fossil with a micro-CT and found
surprising new details: it was sluggish and deaf.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Ankylosaurs could grow up to eight meters in body length and represent
a group of herbivorous dinosaurs, also called 'living fortresses':
Their body was cluttered with bony plates and spikes. Some of their representatives, the ankylosaurids sometimes possessed a club tail, while nodosaurids had elongated spikes on their necks and shoulders. However,
some aspects of their lifestyle are still puzzling.


========================================================================== While many dinosaurs likely lived in groups, at least some ankylosaurs
seemed to prefer a lonesome life because of an inferior sense of
hearing. That's what the scientists from the universities of Greifswald
and Vienna concluded when they examined the braincase of the Austrian
dinosaur with a high-resolution computer tomograph to produce a digital three-dimensional cast.

Fossil braincases, which once housed the brain and other neurosensory
tissues, are rare but important for science because these structures
can provide insights into the lifestyle of a given animal. For example,
the inner ears can hint to auditory capacities and skull orientation.

Struthiosaurus austriacus is a comparably small nodosaurid from the
Late Cretaceous (80 Ma) of Austria and comes from a locality near Muthmannsdorf, south of Vienna. The fossil remains of this dinosaur
already belonged to the collection of the Institute for Paleontology in
Vienna in the 19th century. For their study, Marco Schade (University of Greifswald), Cathrin Pfaff (University of Vienna) and their colleagues
examined the tiny (50 mm) braincase to reveal new details of the anatomy
and lifestyle of Struthiosaurus austriacus. With these data, it was
possible to learn more about its sense of equilibrium and audition.

The results of this study show that Struthiosaurus' brain was very
similar to the brains of its close relatives. For example, the flocculus,
an evolutionary old part of the brain, was very small. The flocculus
is important for the fixation of the eyes during motions of the head,
neck and whole body, which can be very useful if such an animal was
trying to target potential competitors or aggressors. "In contrast to
its Northamerican relative Euoplocephalus, which had a tail club and a
clear flocculus on the brain cast, Struthiosaurus austriacus may rather
relied on its body armor for protection," says Marco Schade. Together
with the form of the semicircular canals in the inner ear, this hints
towards an exceptionally sluggish lifestyle of this Austrian plant
eater. Furthermore, the scientists found the -- so far -- shortest lagena
of a dinosaur. The lagena is the part of the inner ear where audition
takes place and its size can help to infer auditory capacities. This
study delivers new insights into the evolutionary history of dinosaurs
and their world, in which Europe was largely submerged in the ocean.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Vienna. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Related Multimedia:
* Struthiosaurus_austriacus_from_the_Late_Cretaceous_of_Austria ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Marco Schade, Sebastian Stumpf, Ju"rgen Kriwet, Christoph Kettler,
Cathrin Pfaff. Neuroanatomy of the nodosaurid Struthiosaurus
austriacus (Dinosauria: Thyreophora) supports potential ecological
differentiations within Ankylosauria. Scientific Reports, 2022;
12 (1) DOI: 10.1038/ s41598-021-03599-9 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220111100014.htm

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