Vertebral Column Mini-Assignment
In lab this week, you will examine the vertebral column. In preparation, please review page 341 in your text book
and consider the questions below. The lab will also ask you to determine the age of the excavation site, so please
also review Chapter 3 in your textbook about geologic time and the mini-assignment from Week 2.
Examine the five examples of dorsal vertebrae below and then answer the questions:
A.
Figure 8: MSNVE 3714, dorsal vertebrae of
Ouranosaurus nigeriensis
(Ornithopod)
Dorsal vertebra 1 in right lateral (A), caudal (B), and ventral view (C); dorsal vertebra 9 in left lateral (D), cranial
(E), and ventral view (F) views; dorsal vertebra 17 in left lateral (G), caudal (H) and ventral (I) views.
Abbreviations: bpl, ‘bump’ of the prespinal lamina; kl, keel; par, parapophysis. Scale bars equal 10 cm. (Full
publication:
https://peerj.com/articles/3403/
)
B.
Figure 5.
Dahalokely tokana
holotype (UA 9855), ?second dorsal (D?2) vertebra.
(Theropod)
Photographs in A, cranial; B, caudal; C, ventral; D, dorsal; E, left lateral; and F, right lateral views. Abbreviations:
cacdl, caudal centrodiapophyseal lamina; cpol, centropostzygapophyseal lamina; cprl, centroprezygapophyseal
lamina; crcdl, cranial centrodiapophyseal lamina; idfs, infradiapophyseal fossa; ipofs, infrapostzygapophyseal
fossa; iprfs, infraprezygapophyseal fossa; lpfr, laminopeduncular foramen; lpfs, laminopeduncular fossa; pfr,
pneumatic foramen; posf, postspinal fossa; prdl, prezygodiapophyseal lamina; prsf, prespinal fossa. (Full
publication:
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0062047
)
C.
Images and video of
Stegosaurus
skeleton
(Thyreophoran)
Fig 19.
Dorsal vertebra two., same
Stegosaurus
skeleton as above.
A
, anterior,
B
, posterior,
C
, left lateral,
D
,
right lateral,
E
, ventral and
F
, dorsal view.
Dia
, diapophysis;
foss
, fossa;
ipzs
, intraprezygapophyseal shelf;
mr
,
midline ridge;
nc
, neural canal;
not
, notch;
ns
, neural spine;
para
, parapophysis;
pcdl
, posterior
centrodiapophyseal lamina;
plat
, platform;
podl
, postzygodiapophyseal lamina;
pozyg
, postzygapophysis;
ppdl
,
paradiapophyseal lamina;
prdl
, prezygodiapophyseal lamina;
przyg
, prezygapophysis;
ri
, ridge;
vs
, vertical sheet.
Scale bar equal to 5 cm. (Full publication:
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0138352
)
D. Figure 7:
Amargasaurs cazul
. Dorsal vertebrae in
anterior and lateral views. CN: Neural canal, D:
diapophysis, PP: parapophysis, PRZ: prezygapophysis,
PTZ: postzygapophysis. (From Salgado, Leonardo, and
José F. Bonaparte. "Un nuevo saurópodo
Dicraeosauridae, Amargasurus cazaui gen. et sp. nov.,
de la Formación La Amarga, Neocomiano de la
provincia del Neuquén, Argentina." Ameghiniana 28
(1991): 333-346.)
(Sauropod)
