Soichiro Kawabe

Fukui Prefectural University · Dinosaur Research Institute

The morphology of lizard skulls is highly diverse, and it is crucial to understand the factors that constrain and promote their evolution to understand how lizards thrive. The results of interactions between cranial bones reflecting these factors can be detected as integration and modularity, and the analysis of integration and modularity allows us...

The morphology of lizard skulls is highly diverse, and it is crucial to understand the factors that constrain and promote their evolution to understand how lizards thrive. The results of interactions between cranial bones reflecting these factors can be detected as integration and modularity, and the analysis of integration and modularity allows us...

A bizarre coelurosaurian theropod Fukuivenator paradoxus is known only from the holotype specimen preserving majority of the skeleton from the Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry of the Lower Cretaceous Kitadani Formation, Tetori Group, Fukui, Japan. With aids of computed tomography techniques, a re-examination of the holotype specimen reveals additional feat...

The cover image is based on the Research Article Palaeoneurology of the early cretaceous iguanodont Proa valdearinnoensis and its bearing on the parallel developments of cognitive abilities in theropod and ornithopod dinosaurs by Fabien Knoll et al., https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.25224.

The morphology of the neurovascular canal in the jaw has been analysed in several fossil reptiles, including theropod dinosaurs. However, the details of the neurovascular canal in the dentary of theropods have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we described the well-preserved dentary of Tyrannosaurus rex, analysed the morphology of the neuro...

Proa valdearinnoensis is a relatively large‐headed and stocky iguanodontian dinosaur from the latest Early Cretaceous of Spain. Its braincase is known from three specimens. Similar to that of other dinosaurs, it shows a mosaic ossification pattern in which most of the bones seem to have fused together indistinguishably while a few (frontoparietal,...

It is nearly 100 years ago that the “foramen singulare” was first identified in cetacean periotics. Since then, the “foramen singulare” has been recognized in periotics of many cetacean species, extant or extinct. Surprisingly, however, it has never been confirmed if the foramen singulare in cetacean periotics is really homologous to that in other...

Triceratops is one of the well-known Cretaceous ceratopsian dinosaurs. The ecology of Triceratops has been controversial because of its unique morphological features. However, arguments based on brain and inner ear structures have been scarce. In this study, two braincases (FPDM-V-9677 and FPDM-V-9775) were analyzed with computed tomography to gene...

Researchers disagree on the identity of dinosaurs that left footprints in the Lower Cretaceous Tetori Group of the Oshirakawa area (Japan). To clarify these identities, we quantitatively analyzed footprint data obtained from three-dimensional laser scanning technology. From these data, we identified six tracks belonging to dinosaurs. These six trac...

Relative brain sizes in birds can rival those of primates, but large-scale patterns and drivers of avian brain evolution remain elusive. Here, we explore the evolution of the fundamental brain-body scaling relationship across the origin and evolution of birds. Using a comprehensive dataset sampling> 2,000 modern birds, fossil birds, and theropod di...

In birds, the brain (especially the telencephalon) is remarkably developed, both in relative volume and complexity. Unlike in most early‐branching sauropsids, the adults of birds and other archosaurs have a well‐ossified neurocranium. In contrast to the situation in most of their reptilian relatives but similar to what can be seen in mammals, the b...

The Early Cretaceous basal birds were known largely from just two-dimensionally preserved specimens from north-eastern China (Jehol Biota), which has hindered our understanding of the early evolution of birds. Here, we present a three-dimensionally-preserved skeleton (FPDM-V-9769) of a basal bird from the Early Cretaceous of Fukui, central Japan. U...

The upper beak bone of birds is known to be overlain by the rhinotheca, which is composed of the horny sheath of keratinous layers. However, the details of the structure and growth pattern of the rhinotheca are yet to be understood. In this study, the microstructure of the rhinotheca from chicken specimens of different growth stages (ranging from 1...

Abstract available in: Kawabe, S., Sonoda, T., Imai, T., & Hirayama, R. 2018. Relationship between inner ear morphology and ecological habitats in extant turtles: possible application to fossil taxa. in Hirayama et al. (eds) Turtle Evolution Symposium. Scidinge Hall Verlag Tübingen, ISBN 978-3-947020-06-5.

The beak has independently been evolved accompanied by the edentulism in many tetrapod linages, including extant Testudinata and Aves, and its form and function have been greatly diversified. The beak is formed by beak bones and the overlying keratinous cover, although their profiles are different from each other. Therefore, it is difficult to reli...

U/Pb Age Dating of Kangluang Rhyolite, Chiang Muan District, Phayao Province, Northern Thailand. Chiang Muan Dinosaur

Spina bifida aperta (SBA), one of the most common congenital malformations, causes lifelong neurological complications particularly in terms of motor dysfunction. Fetuses with SBA exhibit voluntary leg movements in utero and during early neonatal life but these disappear within the first few weeks after birth. However, the pathophysiological sequen...

Prosaposin (PS) is a secretory neurotrophic factor, as well as a regulator of lysosomal enzymes. We previously reported the up-regulation of PS and the possibility of its axonal transport by GABAergic interneurons after exocitotoxicity induced by kainic acid (KA), a glutamate analog. In the present study, we performed double immunostaining with PS...

Great variations in the size, shape, color, feather structure and behavior are observed among fowl breeds. Because many types of domestic fowls have been bred for various purposes, they are ideal to assess the relationship between brain morphology and avian biology. However, little is known about changes in brain shape that may have occurred during...

Encephalization is a core concept in comparative neurobiology, aiming to quantify the neurological capacity of organisms. For measuring encephalization, many studies have employed relative brain sizes corrected for expected allometric scaling to body size. Here we highlight the utility of a multivariate geometric morphometric (GM) approach for visu...

Citation for this article: Handa, N., and S. Kawabe. 2016. Femur of Schizotheriinae (Perissodactyla, Chalicotheriidae) from the lower Miocene Hiramaki Formation of the Mizunami Group in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2016.1131163.

Our understanding of coelurosaurian evolution, particularly of bird origins, has been greatly improved, mainly due to numerous recently discovered fossils worldwide. Nearly all these discoveries are referable to the previously known coelurosaurian subgroups. Here, we report a new theropod, Fukuivenator paradoxus, gen. et sp. nov., based on a nearly...

We attempted to produce the transparent dinosaur skull models by resin molding at low cost, which allows us to see the internal structure of the skull. Since multiple transparent models can be made in a short time after the production of the mold, it holds promise for expanding range of application of the transparent model in research and education...

The correct Fig 3 does not appear in the article. The correct Fig 4 is erroneously published as Fig 3, and the correct Fig 5 is published as both Fig 4 and Fig 5. The authors have provided the correct Fig 3 and Fig 4 here. Fig 3 Ontogenetic shape variations (#1 to #8) (not to scale). Fig 4 PCA and variation in brain shape for each principal com...

A new specimen of Paleoparadoxia found from a marine lower Miocene deposit in the Chikubetsu area, Hokkaido, Japan, is described. The material consists of a distal part of the scapula, proximal end of the humerus from the right side, as well as a fragmentary rib, preserved in a float of calcareous fine sandstone. The specimen is referred to the ord...

Paleontologists have investigated brain morphology of extinct birds with little information on post-hatching changes in avian brain morphology. Without the knowledge of ontogenesis, assessing brain morphology in fossil taxa could lead to misinterpretation of the phylogeny or neurosensory development of extinct species. Hence, it is imperative to de...

Ishiyama, Ono Town, Ibi County, Gifu Prefecture, Central Japan is one of the few distributional areas of limestone of the Mino terrane. The purposes of this study were to investigate the Ishiyama Limestone litho-biostratigraphically and to examine the depositional environments of the limestone. Results of this study are as follows: (1) the Ishiyama...

Plotopterids (Aves: Plotopteridae) are extinct flightless birds that were endemic to the North Pacific Ocean. As flightless, wing-propelled diving birds they exhibit similar skeletal morphology to Sphenisciformes (penguins), especially in their wings. In contrast to the similarity, Plotopteridae have been placed in (traditional) Pelecaniformes in m...

Plotopterids (Aves: Plotopteridae) are extinct flightless birds that were endemic to the North Pacific Ocean. As flightless, wing-propelled diving birds they exhibit similar skeletal morphology to Sphenisciformes (penguins), especially in their wings. In contrast to the similarity, Plotopteridae have been placed in (traditional) Pelecaniformes in m...

There is wide variation in brain shape among birds. Differences in brain dimensions reflect species-specific sensory capacities and behavioral repertoires that are shaped by environmental and biological factors during evolution. Most previous studies aimed at defining factors impacting brain shape have used volumetric or linear measurements. Howeve...

In this study, we explored the relationship between brain volume and brain width in a wide range of extant mammals and birds in an effort to determine whether brain width could be used as an appropriate variable for estimating the brain volume of extinct species. The relationship between brain volume and brain width in extant species was assessed u...

Brain volume provides useful information for a discussion of the behavior and cognition of animals. Obtaining accurate brain volume from extinct species is difficult, however, because fossils are often partly or largely broken. The purpose of this study was to estimate the brain volumes of birds using scant osteological information. Brain volumes w...