Farish A. Jenkins

A Devonian tetrapod-like fish and the evolution of the tetrapod body plan

The relationship of limbed vertebrates (tetrapods) to lobe-finned fish (sarcopterygians) is well established, but the origin of major tetrapod features has remained obscure for lack of fossils that document the sequence of evolutionary changes. Here we report the discovery of a well-preserved species of fossil sarcopterygian fish from the Late Devonian of Arctic Canada that represents an intermediate between fish with fins and tetrapods with limbs, and provides unique insights into how and in what order important tetrapod characters arose. Although the body scales, fin rays, lower jaw and palate are comparable to those in more primitive sarcopterygians, the new species also has a shortened skull roof, a modified ear region, a mobile neck, a functional wrist joint, and other features that presage tetrapod conditions. The morphological features and geological setting of this new animal are suggestive of life in shallow-water, marginal and subaerial habitats.

The pectoral fin of Tiktaalik roseae and the origin of the tetrapod limb.

Wrists, ankles and digits distinguish tetrapod limbs from fins, but direct evidence on the origin of these features has been unavailable. Here we describe the pectoral appendage of a member of the sister group of tetrapods, Tiktaalik roseae, which is morphologically and functionally transitional between a fin and a limb. The expanded array of distal endochondral bones and synovial joints in the fin of Tiktaalik is similar to the distal limb pattern of basal tetrapods. The fin of Tiktaalik was capable of a range of postures, including a limb-like substrate-supported stance in which the shoulder and elbow were flexed and the distal skeleton extended. The origin of limbs probably involved the elaboration and proliferation of features already present in the fins of fish such as Tiktaalik.

Three-dimensional preservation of foot movements in Triassic theropod dinosaurs

Dinosaur footprints have been used extensively as biostratigraphic markers, environmental indicators, measures of faunal diversity and evidence of group behaviour,. Trackways have also been used to estimate locomotor posture, gait and speed, but most prints, being shallow impressions of a foots plantar surface, provide little evidence of the details of limb excursion. Here we describe Late Triassic trackways from East Greenland, made by theropods walking on substrates of different consistency and sinking to variable depths, that preserve three-dimensional records of foot movement. Triassic theropod prints share many features with those of ground-dwelling birds, but also demonstrate significant functional differences in position of the hallux (digit I), foot posture and hindlimb excursion.

The functional anatomy of the shoulder of the savannah monitor lizard (Varanus exanthematicus)

The excursions of the scapulocoracoid and forelimb and the activity of 18 shoulder muscles were studied by simultaneous cineradiography and electromyography in Savannah Monitor lizards (Varanus exanthematicus) walking on a treadmill at speeds of 0.7–1.1 km/hour. During the propulsive phase, the humerus moves anteroposteriorly 40–55° and rotates a total of 30–40°. Simultaneously, the coracoid translates posteriorly along the tongue‐and‐groove coracosternal joint by a distance equivalent to about 40% the length of the coracoid.

Chimpanzee Bipedalism: Cineradiographic Analysis and Implications for the Evolution of Gait

Bipedal chimpanzees reorient the pelvis to achieve an upright posture but retain the same pattern of femoral flexion and extension as in quadrupedal walking. Major differences from human gait are the abducted, relatively more flexed excursion of the femur and the timing of pelvic tilt, which raises during the swing phase. The femoral head morphology in the fossil hominid Australopithecus robustus is evidence of an approximately vertical excursion of the femur in contrast to the adducted pattern of modern man and the abducted pattern of chimpanzees.

The functional anatomy of the shoulder in the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

The excursions of wing elements and the activity of eleven shoulder muscles were studied by cineradiography and electromyography in European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) flying in a wind tunnel at speeds of 9–20 m s−1.

Modern Turtle Origins: The Oldest Known Cryptodire

The discovery of a turtle in the Early Jurassic(185 million years before present) Kayenta Formation of northeastern Arizona provides significant evidence about the origin of modern turtles. This new taxon possesses many of the primitive features expected in the hypothetical common ancestor of pleurodires and cryptodires, the two groups of modern turtles. It is identified as the oldest known cryptodire because of the presence of a distinctive cryptodiran jaw mechanism consisting of a trochlea over the otic chamber that redirects the line of action of the adductor muscle. Aquatic habits appear to have developed very early in turtle evolution. Kayentachelys extends the known record of cryptodires back at least 45 million years and documents a very early stage in the evolution of modern turtles.

Mechanisms of hind foot reversal in climbing mammals

Many climbing mammals are able to reverse normal hind foot posture to effect the grip necessary to descend headfirst or to hang upside down. Such hind foot reversal is known in sciurids, procyonids, felids, viverrids, tupaiids, prosimians, and marsupials. The joint movements involved, however, have never been documented unequivocally although various interpretations (some contradictory) have been made. We report here radiographic data from species of the genera Didelphis, Felis, Nasua, Nycticebus, Potos, Sciurus, and Tupaia. In the six eutherians studied, three joints are involved, and there is a common pattern in the mechanism: crurotalar plantarflexion, subtalar inversion, and transverse tarsal supination. Hind foot reversal represents the development of an unusual degree of excursion at these joints, rather than the appearance of any new type of movement. In Didelphis the mechanism is quite different: a bicondylar, spiral tibiotalar joint is the principal site of inversion/abduction movements. This specialization is characteristic of didelphids and phalangerids, and occurs in the extinct multituberculates as well; it is not found in macropodids (which are like eutherians in crurotalar joint structure) or other marsupial families. This diversity in pedal structure and function is evidently the result of parallel evolution from the type of tibiotalar joint of cynodonts and early mammals. In Morganucodon the bulbous, hemispheroidal proximal surface of the talus bears two tibial facets. These facets are represented in didelphids and multituberculates as sulci, whereas in macropodids and eutherians they developed as the proximal and medial surfaces of the talar trochlea. Among living mammals, the primitive hemispheroidal joint is retained among monotremes as a ball and socket joint.

Mesozoic Mammals from Arizona: New Evidence on Mammalian Evolution

Knowledge of early mammalian evolution has been based on Old World Late Triassic-Early Jurassic faunas. The discovery of mammalian fossils of approximately equivalent age in the Kayenta Formation of northeastern Arizona gives evidence of greater diversity than known previously. A new taxon documents the development of an angular region of the jaw as a neomorphic process, and represents an intermediate stage in the origin of mammalian jaw musculature.

Scientific rotoscoping: a morphology-based method of 3-D motion analysis and visualization.

Three-dimensional skeletal movement is often impossible to accurately quantify from external markers. X-ray imaging more directly visualizes moving bones, but extracting 3-D kinematic data is notoriously difficult from a single perspective. Stereophotogrammetry is extremely powerful if bi-planar fluoroscopy is available, yet implantation of three radio-opaque markers in each segment of interest may be impractical. Herein we introduce scientific rotoscoping (SR), a new method of motion analysis that uses articulated bone models to simultaneously animate and quantify moving skeletons without markers. The three-step process is described using examples from our work on pigeon flight and alligator walking. First, the experimental scene is reconstructed in 3-D using commercial animation software so that frames of undistorted fluoroscopic and standard video can be viewed in their correct spatial context through calibrated virtual cameras. Second, polygonal models of relevant bones are created from CT or laser scans and rearticulated into a hierarchical marionette controlled by virtual joints. Third, the marionette is registered to video images by adjusting each of its degrees of freedom over a sequence of frames. SR outputs high-resolution 3-D kinematic data for multiple, unmarked bones and anatomically accurate animations that can be rendered from any perspective. Rather than generating moving stick figures abstracted from the coordinates of independent surface points, SR is a morphology-based method of motion analysis deeply rooted in osteological and arthrological data.