Jordi Marcé Nogué

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• phd
• Professor (Associate) at Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Macroevolutionary, palaeoecological and biomechanical analyses in deep time offer the possibility to decipher the structural constraints, ecomorphological patterns and evolutionary history of extinct groups. Here, 3D comparative biomechanical analyses of the extinct giant early amphibian group of stereospondyls together with living lissamphibians a...

The talus is one of the most commonly preserved post-cranial elements in the platyrrhine fossil record. Talar morphology can provide information about postural adaptations because it is the anatomical structure responsible for transmitting body mass forces from the leg to the foot. The aim of this study is to test whether the locomotor behaviour of...

There is considerable debate regarding whether mandibular morphology in ungulates primarily reflects phylogenetic affinities or adaptation to specific diet. In an effort to help resolve this debate, we use three-dimensional finite element analysis (FEA) to assess the biomechanical performance of mandibles in eleven ungulate taxa with well-establish...

Currently, there are no living platyrrhine primates inhabiting the main Caribbean islands. Nevertheless, the fossil record of this area has provided outstanding findings of different New World monkeys that were part of a diverse radiation exhibiting remarkably unusual morphologies. Among these, the Cuban genus Paralouatta corresponds to one of the...

An on-going debate concerning the dietary adaptations of archaic hominins and early Homo has been fuelled by contradictory inferences obtained using different methodologies. This work presents an extensive comparative sample of 30 extant primate species that was assembled to perform a morpho-functional comparison of these taxa with 12 models corres...

Understanding cranial sutures and how they relieve and dissipate stress is essential to assess their role in cranial biomechanics and to develop highly accurate predictive models. This involves examining how ontogeny affects cranial sutures, as well as their morphology and function, and how these changes through time may impact essential biomechani...

Diplocaulids (Lepospondyli: Nectridea) stand out as some of the most bizarre animals ever lived. Their remains have been found in North America, Africa, and Europe. These aquatic animals, characterized by short trunks and long tails, inhabited ponds, lakes, streams or swamps. Their skull was akinetic, flattened, ended in a short, blunt snout, and b...

Research on species' evolution has benefited from advanced engineering techniques like Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). CFD, particularly effective for studying aquatic species, models fluid flow using numerical methods to explore behaviors such as prey capture and suction-feeding. Using software like OpenFOAM,...

Zebrafish, an essential vertebrate model, has greatly expanded our understanding of hearing. However, one area that remains unexplored is the biomechanics of the Weberian apparatus, crucial for sound conduction and perception. Using micro-computed tomography (μCT) bioimaging, we created three-dimensional finite element models of the zebrafish Weber...

Some members of Lepospondyli, such as Diplocaulus magnicornis, are renowned for their distinctive boomerang-shaped skulls. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted to analyze their hydrodynamic performance under various environmental conditions.

Finite element analysis (FEA) is no longer a new technique in the fields of palaeontology, anthropology, and evolutionary biology. It is nowadays a well-established technique within the virtual functional-morphology toolkit. However, almost all the works published in these fields have only applied the most basic FEA tools i.e ., linear materials in...

The objective of this study was to analyse the stress distribution in the periodontal ligament and tooth structure of a cementum-reinforced tooth, a dentine-reinforced tooth and an immature tooth during orthodontic loads using a finite element analysis. A finite element model of a maxillary incisor and its supporting tissues was developed. The root...

The radula, a chitinous membrane with embedded tooth rows, is the molluscan autapomorphy for feeding. The morphologies, arrangements and mechanical properties of teeth can vary between taxa, which is usually interpreted as adaptation to food. In previous studies, we proposed about trophic and other functional specialisations in taenioglossan radula...

The radula, a chitinous membrane with embedded tooth rows, is the molluscan autapomorphy for feeding. The morphologies, arrangements and mechanical properties of teeth can vary between taxa, which is usually interpreted as adaptation to food. In previous studies, we proposed about trophic and other functional specialisations in taenioglossan radula...

The molluscan radula, a thin membrane with embedded rows of teeth, is the structure for mechanical food processing. For proper functioning, structural failure, resulting from high local stress when interacting with the preferred food, must be either avoided or reduced. In this case study on four gastropod species from Lake Tanganyika, we tested the...

Arthropods (i.e. insects, spiders, crustaceans, myriapods and others), are the most successful Phanerozoic animals. The group are characterised by the possession of a segmented body, jointed limbs and a hard cuticle that is episodically moulted. One highly successful, but now extinct, group of arthropods are the trilobites. Trilobites underwent epi...

Teeth are the hardest and most durable parts of the mammalian body. Even after millions of years they provide a wealth of paleobiologic information. Teeth reflect the interaction of mammals with the environment, as evident from their shape and traces of mastication on their surface. Teeth of fossil and extant mammals provide information on the diet...

Finite element analysis was applied to analyze six individuals from different primate species (Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758, Homo neanderthalensis King, 1864, Pan troglodytes Blumenbach, 1779, Gorilla gorilla Savage, 1847, Pongo pygmaeus Linnaeus, 1760 and Hylobates lar Linnaeus, 1771) to identify stress distribution patterns on the pollical proxima...

Molluscs are a highly successful group of invertebrates characterised by a specialised feeding organ called the radula. The diversity of this structure is associated with distinct feeding strategies and ecological niches. However, the precise function of the radula (each tooth type and their arrangement) remains poorly understood. Here for the firs...

PurposeBrain expansion during ontogeny has been identified as a key factor for explaining the growth pattern of neurocranial bones. However, the dynamics of this relation are only partially understood and a detailed characterization of integrated morphological changes of the brain and the neurocranium along ontogeny is still lacking. The aim of thi...

The zebrafish Weberian apparatus is an emerging model for human conductive hearing system. Their Weberian apparatus comprises minute bones and ligamentary links, and conducts sound pressure transmission from the gas bladder to inner ear through four pairs of Weberian ossicles along the vertebral column. We herein present a methodological study usin...

Inferring the locomotor behaviour of the last common ancestor (LCA) of humans and African apes is still a divisive issue. An African great-ape-like ancestor using knuckle-walking is still the most parsimonious hypothesis for the LCA, despite diverse conflicting lines of evidence. Crucial to this hypothesis is the role of the centrale in the hominoi...

Although extensive research has been carried out in recent years on the origin and evolution of human bipedalism, a full understanding of this question is far from settled. Miocene hominoids are key to a better understanding of the locomotor types observed in living apes and humans. Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, an extinct stem great ape from the m...

With the aim of characterising the different stress patterns in several egg types and evaluating the resistivity of the eggshell while impacting in free fall, experimental tests and computational simulations have been performed on eggs of the species Gallus gallus (domestic hen), Struthio camelus (ostrich), and Testudo sp. (tortoise). The different...

Cranial sutures connect adjacent bones of the skull and play an important role in the absorption of stresses that may occur during different activities. The Late Triassic temnospondyl amphibian Metoposaurus krasiejowensis has been extensively studied over the years in terms of skull biomechanics, but without a detailed description of the function o...

Summary Histological analyses of revitalized teeth demonstrated that apical closure and narrowing of the root canal is mostly based on apposition of cementum instead of tubular dentine. As cementum is less hard and elastic than dentine the question arises whether a root developed with cementum can endure mechanical stress similarly to roots complet...

Ancient" Lake Tanganyika is a hotspot of freshwater biodiversity because of the high number of endemic species. Its paludomid gastropods represent a spectacular example of closely related taxa with an extraordinarily interspecific diversity of radular tooth morphologies. In order to understand, whether this can be explained by trophic specializatio...

Aim To investigate the stress distribution in an immature maxillary incisor and the same tooth after simulated revitalization with deposition of tubular dentine or cementum by finite element analysis (FEA). Methodology A finite element model of a maxillary central incisor was developed on the basis of a μCT‐scan. The tooth was segmented in two par...

Percent of the variance of the PC scores. For the six biting cases (DOCX)

Plots displaying the first two PCs of the different PCAs for N = 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100 for case 2. Lateral biting in the second molar. The species are coloured by order: blue: Perissodactyla and brown Cetartiodactyla. The axes of each pair of PCs are in the same scale. (TIF)

FEA results for the lateral biting cases. Number of mandible mesh elements and statistics: Arithmetic Mean (AM), Mesh-Weighted Arithmetic Mean (MWAM), Percentage Error of the Arithmetic Mean (PEofAM), Median (M), Mesh-Weighted Median (MWM), Percentage Error of the Median (PEofM) and the value quartiles (M25, M50, M75 and M95) according to Marcé-Nog...

Convergence of the R2 values of the PC scores. Each value is the R2 for a different pair of PCAs of the correlation matrix. Each PC was correlated with the equivalent PC of the PCA developed using a larger number of intervals. (DOCX)

Intervals’ method data of Von Mises stress when N = 100 M for the six biting cases. (XLSX)

Plots displaying the first two PCs of the different PCAs for N = 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100 for case 1. Lateral biting in the first molar. The species are coloured by order: blue: Perissodactyla and brown Cetartiodactyla. The axes of each pair of PCs are in the same scale. (TIF)

FEA results for the orthal biting cases. Number of mandible mesh elements and statistics: Arithmetic Mean (AM), Mesh-Weighted Arithmetic Mean (MWAM), Percentage Error of the Arithmetic Mean (PEofAM), Median (M), Mesh-Weighted Median (MWM), Percentage Error of the Median (PEofM) and the value quartiles (M25, M50, M75 and M95) according to Marcé-Nogu...

Plots displaying the first two PCs of the different PCAs for N = 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100 for case 3. Lateral biting in the third molar. The species are coloured by order: blue: Perissodactyla and brown Cetartiodactyla. The axes of each pair of PCs are in the same scale. (TIF)

Plots displaying the first two PCs of the different PCAs for N = 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100 for case 5. Orthal biting in the second molar. The species are coloured by order: blue: Perissodactyla and brown Cetartiodactyla. The axes of each pair of PCs are in the same scale. (TIF)

Plots displaying the first two PCs of the different PCAs for N = 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100 for case 6. Orthal biting in the third molar. The species are coloured by order: blue: Perissodactyla and brown Cetartiodactyla. The axes of each pair of PCs are in the same scale. (TIF)

Plots displaying the first two PCs of the different PCAs for N = 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100 for case 4. Orthal biting in the first molar. The species are coloured by order: blue: Perissodactyla and brown Cetartiodactyla. The axes of each pair of PCs are in the same scale. (TIF)

Phylomorphospace of the extant platyrrhine sample computed using the morphometric data.

Alignment procedure prior to FEA; Case-specific fossil reconstruction procedures; Description of the applied FEA statistics; Normality test for the stress percentiles; Further details about the Intervals' method; Further methodological details and brief description of the machine learning algorithms applied to classify the fossil sample into broad...

Primates are interpreted to be ancestrally adapted to frugivory, although some modern groups show clear adaptations to other diets. Among them, pitheciids stand out for specifically predating seeds. This dietary specialization is known as sclerocarpy and refers to the extraction of seeds from surrounding hard tissues using the anterior dentition fo...

Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is a useful method for understanding form and function. However, modelling of fossil taxa invariably involves assumptions as a result of preservation-induced loss of information in the fossil record. To test the validity of predictions from FEA, given such assumptions, these results could be compared to independent lin...

The relationship between primate mandibular form and diet has been previously analysed by applying a wide array of techniques and approaches. Nonetheless, most of these studies compared few species and/or infrequently aimed to elucidate function based on an explicit biomechanical framework. In this study, we generated and analysed 31 Finite Element...

Developmental changes in salamander skulls, before and after metamorphosis, affect the feeding capabilities of these animals. How changes in cranial morphology and tissue properties affect the function of the skull are key to decipher the early evolutionary history of the crown-group of salamanders. Here, 3D cranial biomechanics of the adult Salama...

Background In this paper, we propose a new method, named the intervals’ method, to analyse data from finite element models in a comparative multivariate framework. As a case study, several armadillo mandibles are analysed, showing that the proposed method is useful to distinguish and characterise biomechanical differences related to diet/ecomorphol...

Document S1 Convergence of the mesh.

Document S3 Influence of the homogeneity of the mesh.

Document S4 Intervals for the armadillos.

Document S5 Scores of different intervals.

Document S2 Influence of the size of the mesh.

A comparative Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was carried out to study the biomechanical behaviour of the talus in 40 extant platyrrhine species to test if it was possible to distinguish locomotor behaviours (i.e. suspension, quadrupedalism and leaping).

Mandibular biomechanical models of 31 different extant primate species –including hominoidea- were analysed as a planar models using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). Four different bite positions were simulated (i.e. incisive, canine, premolar and molar biting) thus obtaining von Mises stress patterns.

The knee plays a central role for primate locomo- tion since it participates in body weight bearing, propulsion and support. Living non-human homi- noids show a versatile knee that allows them to rely on a varied and non-stereotyped set of joint movements during orthograde behaviors. In this regard, studying the Miocene primates becomes essential t...

The Late Triassic freshwater ecosystems were occupied by different tetrapod groups including large-sized anamniotes, such as metoposaurids. Most members of this group of temnospondyls acquired gigantic sizes (up to 5 m long) with a nearly worldwide distribution. The paleoecology of metoposaurids is controversial; they have been historically conside...

In recent years important advances have been accomplished in comparative functional analysis of vertebrate structures. That involved the introduction of virtual models that allowed testing of functional hypotheses using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and its combination with Geometric Morphometrics (GMM) and mathematical, statistical and engineering...

Biomechanics and forces as well as properties of teeth are demonstrated to be crucial to understand diet, dental functional traits and evolution in primates. In this work, biomechanics of extant and extinct primate jaws during chewing were analysed using a classical two-dimensional lever approach. First, we aim to test for correlation between indic...

Three-dimensional Finite Element Analysis is a powerful tool in understanding ecomorphological patterns because it shows how deformation and stress distribution relates to different biological geometries. Over the last years, FE analysis has often been combined with Geometric Morphometrics. FEA may also be complemented with other techniques, such a...

Xenarthra is an American clade that was widespread in the past whose diversity has been greatly reduced, being now represented only by sloths, anteaters and armadillos. Armadillos are the most diverse group of extant xenarthrans, with more than 30 species included in 3 subfamilies. The objective of this work was to explore the eco-variation between...

Carnivorans are a highly diversified group that shows adaptations to many different ecological niches. Despite the relationship between jaw shape and biomechanics has been thoroughly studied in the past, no study has analysed both characteristics in an evolutionary framework using Finite Elements Analysis (FEA) together with Geometric Morphometrics...

Computing the average Von Mises stress of Finite Element Models to obtain a single measurement that represents the relative strength of vertebrate structures has been used recently in different works in palaeobiology. However, due to the nature of the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) data, which depends on the size of the elements of the mesh, this ap...

Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is a powerful tool for functional morphology purposes. The accuracy of the final results depends on the mesh generation and the quality of the mesh. This is especially important in vertebrates as they present a complex biological structure, implying a complex geometry and, consequently, mesh generation should be perfor...

For the first time in vertebrate palaeontology, the potential of joining Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Parametrical Analysis (PA) is used to shed new light on two different cranial parameters from the orbits to evaluate their biomechanical role and evolutionary patterns. The early tetrapod group of Stereospondyls, one of the largest groups of T...

Finite element analyses (FEA) were applied to assess the lower jaw biomechanics of cingu-late xenarthrans: 14 species of armadillos as well as one Pleistocene pampathere (11 ex-tant taxa and the extinct forms Vassallia, Eutatus and Macroeuphractus). The principal goal of this work is to comparatively assess the biomechanical capabilities of the man...

Mechanical comparison of different species is performed with the help of computational tools like Finite Element Analysis FEA. In palaeobiology it is common to consider bone like an isotropic material for simulations but often real data of bone materials is impossible to know. This work investigates the influence of choice of bone materials propert...

Coupling finite element analysis and multibody system dynamics for biological research. Palaeontologia Electronica 18.2.5T: 1-14 palaeo-electronica.org/content/2015/1197-coupling-fea-and-msd ABSTRACT Flexible Multibody System Dynamics (FMSD) is a simulation technique that can be used to study the behavior of the mechanical systems that consists of...

Biting is an integral feature of the feeding mechanism for aquatic and terrestrial salamanders to capture, fix or immobilize elusive or struggling prey. However, little information is available on how it works and the functional implications of this biting system in amphibians although such approaches might be essential to understand feeding system...

Comparative Biology has a historical background in the comparison of anatomical features of organisms in biology for centuries. In recent works using virtual reconstruction of vertebrate structures the combination of different computational methods, such as Finite Element Analysis (FEA), as well as mathematical, statistical, and engineering approac...

Stereospondyls were secondarily aquatic animals that mainly inhabited freshwater but were also present in brackish swamps and deltas and shallow marine environments. After the Permian mass extinction, the ecological differentiation among stereospondyls increased and they occupied a wide range of ecological niches. Most stereospondyl groups are infe...

Finite elements analysis (FEA) allows simulating the biomechanical behaviour of biological structures, in order to understand how they react under different loads. This technique has been shown very useful in palaeontology, as it allow researchers to test their functional hypothesis. In spite of its great power, only in the best of circumstances on...

Key Words: Finite Element Method / Flexible Multibody System Dynamics / Multibody System Dynamics / vertebrate / feeding mechanism.

The potential of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) as an analytical technique in biological research has been widely highlighted in recent years. In spite of its great power, only in the best of circumstances one can compare the behaviour of models that differ in size and shape. Here, a new and easy procedure to scale FE models of plane elasticity is p...

The classical interpretation of myocardial activation assumes that the myocardium is homogeneous and that the electrical propagation is radial. However, anatomical studies have described a layered anatomical structure resulting from a continuous anatomical helical disposition of the myocardial fibers. To further investigate the sequence of electrom...

The main objective of this work is to generate a set of exercises to improve the autonomous learning in "Continuum Mechanics" through a virtual platform. Students will have to resolve four exercises autonomously related to the subject developed in class and they will post the solutions on the virtual platform within a deadline. Students will self-c...

Different feeding systems are known for salamanders. Aquatic feeding is widespread among this group using suction to capture the prey while terrestrial feeding involves typically the tongue. When prey is small, the jaws and dentition do not contact the prey but larger taxa feeding on larger prey usually used jaws and probably experience important l...

An impact test of the crash of a hen egg and a computational simulation using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) have been implemented to determine the different types of failure occurred correlating with the values and the stress maps obtained in the computational simulation. The experimental procedure consists in releasing seventeen eggs from a height...

Purpose: Unlike standard dental implants, the stabilization of orthodontic microscrews removed after treatment is done without osseointegration and achieved by several components: cortical bone thickness (CBT), microscrew geometry, and drilling depth. The purpose of this study was to evaluate 10 different microscrews and the influence of their geo...

Stereospondyls were Permian and Triassic temnospondyl amphibians characterized by dorsoventrally flattened and strongly ossified skulls. Some groups of Stereospondyls, like tematosaurs, metoposaurs and capitosaurs, acquired medium to gigantic size, becoming the aquatic top predators of the Permian an Triassic ecosystems. Different morphological cha...

Quantifying the kinematics of the patella is essential for understanding the role of the knee joint in locomotion, but also a challenge due to the complexity of function of the muscles and ligaments around the joint. Previous studies focusing on the human knee have postulated two different biomechanical models for the patella, the short-beam and th...

Objectives: Orthodontic mini-implants (OMIs) are increasingly used in orthodontics but can fail for various reasons. This study investigates the effects of OMI design characteristics on the mechanical properties in artificial bone. Material and Methods: Twelve self-drilling OMIs (2 small, 6 medium, 4 large) from 8 manufacturers were tested for the...

The Community of Practice GRAPAU, related to the RIMA project (http://www.upc.edu/rima), has been focusing their work on collecting activities and experiences related to Autonomous Learning and developing a decalogue of good teaching practices to improve the quality of Autonomous Learning in Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC-BARCELONATECH)...

This work approaches the structural performance of masonry arches that have a small ratio between number of vossoirs and span length. The aim of this research is to compare and validate three different methods of analysis (funicular limit analysis F.L.A., kinematic limit analysis K.L.A. and plane stress Finite Element Analysis F.E.A.) with an exper...

Capitosaurians are Triassic temnospondyl amphibians characterized by large, parabolic and heavy skulls as well as extensive pectoral girdles. They exhibit aquatic features such as flattened skulls, decreased bone ossification, and lateral line canals. Cosmopolitan in distribution, these amphibious top-predators haunted the brackish, fluvial, and so...