Heinrich Mallison

Palaeo3D

Taphonomic and diagenetic processes inevitably distort the original skeletal morphology of fossil vertebrate remains. Key aspects of palaeobiological datasets may be directly impacted by such morphological deformation, such as taxonomic diagnoses and phylogenetic hypotheses, interpretations of the shape and orientation of anatomical structures, and...

Biomechanical models and simulations of musculoskeletal function rely on accurate muscle parameters, such as muscle masses and lines of action, to estimate force production potential and moment arms. These parameters are often obtained through destructive techniques (i.e., dissection) in living taxa, frequently hindering the measurement of other re...

Sauropodomorph dinosaurs include the largest terrestrial animals that ever lived on Earth. The early representatives of this clade were, however, relatively small and partially to totally bipedal, conversely to the gigantic and quadrupedal sauropods. Although the sauropod bauplan is well defined, notably by the acquisition of columnar limbs, the ev...

Biomechanical musculoskeletal models rely on accurate muscle parameters, such as muscle masses and lines of action, to estimate force production and leverage of individual muscles. Unfortunately, these parameters are often obtained through destructive techniques (i.e. dissection and dice-CT scanning) in extant taxa, frequently hindering the measure...

Herein we describe a new and exceptionally well-preserved skeleton of the metriorhynchid thalattosuchian Cricosaurus from the upper Kimmeridgian Torleite Formation of Painten in Bavaria (Southern Germany). The specimen is articulated, shows soft-tissue preservation, and represents one of the most complete metriorhynchid skeletons known. The excepti...

The use of surface digitization techniques and methods in palaeontology has increased in the last two decades, mainly due to recent improvements in devices and software. However, many digitization efforts are published only as 3D models, with only a few details on the exact protocols used and sometimes not even indicating how to access these digita...

Dinosaur locomotion and biomechanics, especially of their pelvic girdles and hindlimbs, have been analyzed in numerous studies. However, detailed volumetric musculoskeletal models of their tails are rarely developed. Here, we present the first detailed three-dimensional volumetric reconstruction of the caudal epaxial and hypaxial musculature of the...

Here we describe a new species of the metriorhynchid thalattosuchian Cricosaurus, C. bambergensis sp. nov., from the Upper Jurassic Torleite Formation of Wattendorf near Bamberg, Bavaria (southern Germany). The holotype and only known specimen is a nearly complete skeleton that shows a number of diagnostic traits including a bicarinate dentition fo...

Synopsis Tyrannosaurid dinosaurs had large preserved leg muscle attachments and low rotational inertia relative to their body mass, indicating that they could turn more quickly than other large theropods. Methods To compare turning capability in theropods, we regressed agility estimates against body mass, incorporating superellipse-based modeled m...

Paleopathologies document skeletal damage in extinct organisms and can be used to infer the causes of injury, as well as aspects of related biology, ecology and behavior. To date, few studies have been undertaken on Jurassic marine reptiles, while ichthyosaur pathologies in particular have never been systematically evaluated. Here we survey 41 spec...

MeshLab is an open source system for processing and editing 3D triangular meshes. The install file can be downloaded from http://www.meshlab.net/#download. Versions for Win 64, MacOS, and Linux are available. In order to view a mesh, drag and drop it into Meshlab or open it via the File menu, option Import mesh. Meshlab will automatically display t...

3D Photogrammetric reconstruction of SMNS 15950 showing the pathological area in the skull at the left premaxilla, maxilla and dentary (Fig 5b and 5c–5f). (PLY)

Percentage of completeness of the specimens of Temnodontosaurus from the museum collections, according to its anatomical units. (XLSX)

3D Photogrammetric reconstruction of SMNS 15950. (PLY)

3D Photogrammetric reconstruction of SMNS 13488 showing the area with fibre remodeling at the right and left premaxillae and left dentary (Fig 4a and 4e). (PLY)

3D Photogrammetric reconstruction of SMNS 13488 showing the pathological area at the right lower jaw (Fig 4h and 4k–4n). (PLY)

Frequency of preserved anatomical units of Temnodontosaurus. (TIF)

Total specimens of Temnodontosaurus studied in the museum collections. (XLSX)

3D Photogrammetric reconstruction of SMNS 13488. (PLY)

Instructions for viewing the 3D files in MeshLab software. (DOCX)

The biomechanical constraints for life at massive size can be directly observed in the evolutionary history of sauropodomorph dinosaurs. Members of this lineage underwent a number of major postural transitions as they increased in size from relatively small bipedal dinosaurs to massive titanosaurs that include the largest terrestrial animals of all...

The evolution of extraordinarily large size among Sauropoda was associated with a number of biomechanical adaptations. Changes in muscle moment arms undoubtedly accompanied these adaptations, but since muscles rarely fossilise, our ability to understand them has been restricted. Here, we use three‐dimensional (3D) musculoskeletal modelling to recon...

Synopsis: Tyrannosaurid dinosaurs had larger than predicted preserved leg muscle attachments and low rotational inertia relative to their body mass, indicating that they could turn more quickly than other large theropods. Methods: To compare turning capability in theropods, we regressed agility estimates against body mass, incorporating superellips...

Synopsis: Tyrannosaurid dinosaurs had larger than predicted preserved leg muscle attachments and low rotational inertia relative to their body mass, indicating that they could turn more quickly than other large theropods. Methods: To compare turning capability in theropods, we regressed agility estimates against body mass, incorporating superellips...

The Late Jurassic Tendaguru site (Tanzania, East Africa) is well-known from the German expeditions made at the beginning of the 20th century, and the impressive dinosaur specimens that were recovered from there. The most frequently found dinosaurs from Tendaguru are sauropods, which are preserved with nearly complete or partial skeletons and isolat...

Paleopatologías documentan daños esqueléticos y enfermedades que ocurren en poblaciones fósiles. Estudios paleopatológicos ayudan a determinar las causas de una lesión traumática e interpretar aspectos de la biología, ecología y comportamiento del animal. Existen pocos estudios paleopatológicos en reptiles marinos y paleopatologías nunca han sido a...

Analyses of muscle moment arms using 3D musculoskeletal computer models have been developed in fore and hindlimbs of several basal (Lesothosaurus) and more derived (e.g. Argentinosaurus and Tyrannosaurus) dinosaurs. Muscle moment arms are major determinants of skeletal muscle functions, and these analyses are of great value for assessing locomotion...

Paleopathologies document ancient skeletal damage and can be used to infer the causes of injury, as well as aspects of related biology, ecology and behaviour. Few studies have been undertaken on Jurassic marine reptiles, and ichthyosaur pathologies in particular have never been evaluated at a generic level. Here we survey 51 specimens from the Earl...

Here we describe a new genus and species of giant ground sloth, Xibalbaonyx oviceps (Megalonychidae, Xenarthra), from the drowned cave system of the northeastern Yucatán Peninsula. The specimen is Late Pleistocene in age and was discovered in the Zapote sinkhole (cenote) near Puerto Morelos in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. Xibalbaonyx oviceps...

http://biowikifarm.net/v-mfn/3d-handbook/Photogrammetry_MfN

Novel research technologies are improving and enhancing the classical approach to the study of sauropod biomechanics, helping us to better comprehend biological aspects of these giants. Thanks to 3D skeletal mounts we can assess postures and ranges of motion (e.g. with the CAD program McNeel Associates Rhinoceros 5.0. NURBS Modeling), but also musc...

Biomechanical studies of sauropods are often centered on the mobility of the postcranial skeleton, like the locomotor capabilities of the limbs, or the flexibility and range of motion of the axial skeleton. Neck posture and stabilization, and their association with feeding range, have been studied in Sauropoda for a long time, developing and using...

The tails of extant crocodilians are anatomically the closest approximation of the tails of non-avian dinosaurs, and therefore a good starting point for any reconstruction of non-avian dinosaur tail muscles. However, we here demonstrate some methodological problems using crocodile tails, firstly regarding the general reconstruction of tail mobility...

The tails of extant crocodilians are anatomically the closest approximation of the tails of non-avian dinosaurs, and therefore a good starting point for any reconstruction of non-avian dinosaur tail muscles. However, we here demonstrate some methodological problems using crocodile tails, firstly regarding the general reconstruction of tail mobility...

The central ridge in the Turpan Basin (Xinjiang, NW China) contains excellent exposures of Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Paleogene non-marine clastic sediments yielding invertebrate and vertebrate fossils. Between 2007 and 2012, expeditions of a Sino-German research group successfully prospected Middle and Late Jurassic sediments east of Shanshan count...

The careful documentation of objects and areas with digital photography allows the photogrammetric creation of 3D models that can serve as objective datasets for research. On one hand, despite the recent exceptional advances in software development, the computation of detailed photogrammetric 3D-models of outdoor areas larger than 100 m2 is still v...

The oviraptorid dinosaur Citipati osmolskae (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) is known from brooding specimens and from MPC 100/978, an excellently preserved specimen with bones that are fully prepared from its host matrix. We present a detailed photogrammetric 3D model of the tail of MPC100/978 which was reconstructed from high-detail digital photogra...

Anisodactyl bird tracks up to 15 cm long were discovered in the Oligocene subalpine Molasse near Schangnau (Central Switzerland). The tracks are preserved as natural casts and are characterized by slender, elongated digits generally in connection with a prominent central pad. Some of them exhibit a well-preserved hallux (digit I) impression, while...

The study of footprints and trackways, modem and tossii , allows the insights of severa! aspects of trackmaker's locomotion (e.g. biomechanics of the limbs), ecology (e.g. living environment) and behaviour (e.g. gregariousness) (Falkingham, 2014). Track morphology is determined by the complex interaction between the sediment and the trackmaker, and...

It has been hypothesized that the pronounced differences of stegosaur humeral shapes, with large forms having more slender and small forms having more robust humeri, may be explained by a difference in relative centre of mass (COM) placement caused by differing distributions of osteoderms. To test this hypothesis, digital 3-D models of the bones an...

Photogrammetry is increasingly becoming the gold standard for surface digitizing in paleontology. We present techniques for specimen handling, photography and image handling in photogrammetry software that are specially adapted to typical use cases in paleontology, but are also applicable in other science disciplines like archaeology and art histor...

The mode of locomotion of the basal sauropodomorph Plateosaurus engelhardti, known from numerous finds from the late Triassic of Central Europe, has been extensively debated. Some early and recent research results indicate that the forelimb could not play role in quadrupedal locomotion. Other authors suggested facultative or even permanent quadrupe...

Photogrammetry is a method for creating three-dimensional (3D) surface models by aligning photographs of an object, originally used in architecture and mapping. With increasing computing power it has become a versatile method with a wide array of applications in paleontology. Several freeware or low-cost programs are available. Vertebrate paleontol...

A computer aided design analysis using high-resolution laser scans of the bones of the stegosaur Kentrosaurus aethiopicus Hennig 1915 from the Late Jurassic Tendaguru Formation indicates that in the habitual walking pose the forelimbs were probably held erect, and that strong humeral flexion and abduction mainly occurred in a defensive stance. Rapi...

Pereda-Suberbiola, X., Galton, P.M., Mallison, H. & Novas, F. iFirst article. A plated dinosaur (Ornithischia, Stegosauria) from the Early Cretaceous of Argentina, South America: an evaluation. Alcheringa, 1–14. ISSN 0311-5518.A re-evaluation of several vertebrae and dermal plates from the Lower Cretaceous (La Amarga Formation, Puesto Antigual Memb...

A detailed study of the relevant literature reveals that contra recent use the lectotype of the stegosaur Kentrosaurus aethiopicus Hennig, 1915 is a partial individual from excavation 'St' at Kindope, Tendaguru, Tanzania in the collection of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (MB. R.4800.1-37). This significantly influences the diagnosis of the taxon...

The herbivorous sauropod dinosaurs of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods were the largest terrestrial animals ever, surpassing the largest herbivorous mammals by an order of magnitude in body mass. Several evolutionary lineages among Sauropoda produced giants with body masses in excess of 50 metric tonnes by conservative estimates. With body mass...

Over the course of the last decades computers have evolved from a useful tool for rapidly calculating large amounts of equations to an indispensable part of everyday life. Today, cars will not run if a chip is faulty, and communication not only by phone and email, but also by conventional mail depends on computer codes. Computer generated or edited...

Stegosaurs were not built for rapid locomotion. Instead of fleeing from predators, they probably used their spiked tails as 'thagomizers' for defense. Kinetic/dynamic modeling in a computer-aided engineering program allows either using prescribed joint motions to determine joint forces or torque input models that deliver accelerations and moment of...

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Mallison, H. 2010. The digital Plateosaurus II: An assessment of the range of motion of the limbs and vertebral column and of previous reconstructions using a digital skeletal mount. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 55 (3): 433–458. Scientific literature and museum exhibits are full of explicit and implicit claims about the possible postures and motio...

Plateosaurus from the late Triassic of Central Europe is one of the best known dinosaurs. Despite the large number of finds, including complete and articulated skeletons, its posture and locomotion capabilities are still being debated. While recent assessments of the range of motion of the forelimb indicate that Plateosaurus was incapable of manus...

Three-dimensional digitized representations of bones offer several advantages over real bones or casts. However, creation of 3D files can be time consuming and expensive, and the resulting files are difficult to handle due to their size. Mechanical digitizing was hitherto limited to large bones. Here, new and improved data collection techniques for...