Science and Technology Production
Congress
Authorship
DEGRANGE, FEDERICO JAVIER
;
Tambussi, C.P.
;
Witmer, L.
;
Ridgely, R.
;
Wroe, S.
Date
2019
Publishing House and Editing Place
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Summary
Information provided by the agent in
SIGEVA
The extinct, predominantly South AmericanPhorusrhacidae comprise small to gigantic Cenozoic terrestrial predatorswithout close functional analogues, making reconstruction of their feedingbehavior particularly challenging. Two skull morphotypes have been described: terror-birdtype and psilopterine type. In the present study, an integrative finite elementanalyses (FEA) was performed on the skull and jaw of Andalgalornis steulleti (terror-bird type), and Llallawavis scagliai (psilopterine type)to ...
The extinct, predominantly South AmericanPhorusrhacidae comprise small to gigantic Cenozoic terrestrial predatorswithout close functional analogues, making reconstruction of their feedingbehavior particularly challenging. Two skull morphotypes have been described: terror-birdtype and psilopterine type. In the present study, an integrative finite elementanalyses (FEA) was performed on the skull and jaw of Andalgalornis steulleti (terror-bird type), and Llallawavis scagliai (psilopterine type)to assess the cranial performance during trophic item capture. Anteroposterior,dorsoventral and lateromedial forces were simulated, applying published biteforces on 3D models generated from CT scans. The occipital condyle andarticular area of the jaw were constrained in space. Both skulls show higherstresses under lateral loadings, but lower under dorsoventral and ?pullback?simulations, meanwhile the jaw shows higher stress under dorsoventral andlateromedial loadings. Larger phorusrhacids such as Andalgalornis have sturdier skulls and jaws, which results in lowerstresses when compared with Llallawavis.The palatal region and the craniofacial hinge (absent in Andalgalornis) are particularly sensitive in smaller phorusrhacids.While the ?terror-bird? type could be considered as an evolutionary specialization, these twomorphotypes may have had a similar performance when handling prey. Phorusrhacids´ craniomandibular complexindicate that prey handling based on rapidly catchingthe trophic item and tearing it apart through caudally directed movements ofthe head would not pose risk to the beak. It is inferred thatall phorusrhacids had similar functional biomechanical performance, playing the role of active cursorial predators with a very particular type of hunting: using their beaks with precise dorsoventralstrikes and pullbacks to kill their prey.
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Key Words
Finite Element AnalysisSkull disparityPredator behaviorPhorusrhacids