Dermal bone

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A dermal bone or investing bone or membrane bone is a bony structure derived from intramembranous ossification forming components of the vertebrate skeleton, including much of the skull, jaws, gill covers, shoulder girdle, fin rays (lepidotrichia), and the shells of turtles and armadillos. In contrast to endochondral bone, dermal bone does not form from cartilage that then calcifies, and it is often ornamented. [1] Dermal bone is formed within the dermis and grows by accretion only – the outer portion of the bone is deposited by osteoblasts.

The function of some dermal bone is conserved throughout vertebrates, although there is variation in shape and in the number of bones in the skull roof and postcranial structures. In bony fish, dermal bone is found in the fin rays and scales. A special example of dermal bone is the clavicle. Some of the dermal bone functions regard biomechanical aspects such as protection against predators. [2] [3] [4] The dermal bones are also argued to be involved in ecophysiological implications such as the heat transfers between the body and the surrounding environment when basking (seen in crocodilians) [5] as well as in bone respiratory acidosis buffering during prolonged apnea (seen in both crocodilians and turtles). [6] [7] These ecophysiological functions rely on the set-up of a blood vessel network within and straight above the dermal bones. [8]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crocodilia</span> Order of mostly large, predatory, semiaquatic reptiles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scute</span> Type of scale

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cingulata</span> Order of armored mammals from the Americas

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<i>Eutretauranosuchus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

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<i>Armadillosuchus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

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Cerrejonisuchus is an extinct genus of dyrosaurid crocodylomorph. It is known from a complete skull and mandible from the Cerrejón Formation in northeastern Colombia, which is Paleocene in age. Specimens belonging to Cerrejonisuchus and to several other dyrosaurids have been found from the Cerrejón open-pit coal mine in La Guajira. The length of the rostrum is only 54-59% of the total length of the skull, making the snout of Cerrejonisuchus the shortest of all dyrosaurids.

<i>Tsoabichi</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Tsoabichi is an extinct genus of caimanine crocodylian. Fossils are known from the Green River Formation in Wyoming, and date back to the Ypresian stage of the Eocene. The genus was named and described in 2010 by paleontologist Christopher A. Brochu, with the type species being Tsoabichi greenriverensis. According to the current understanding of caiman evolutionary relationships, Tsoabichi is a basal member of Caimaninae and may have evolved after caimans dispersed into North America from northern and central South America, their main center of diversity in the Cenozoic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Planocraniidae</span> Extinct family of reptiles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plate (anatomy)</span> Index of articles associated with the same name

A plate in animal anatomy may refer to several things:

Osteoderms are dermal bone structures that support the upper layer of skin and serve as protection against the elements in a large variety of extinct and extant organisms, especially reptiles. This structure is commonly called "dermal armor" and serves to protect the organism, while also helping with temperature regulation. Osteoderms represent hard tissue components of the integument, making them easy to identify in fossil examination. This dermal armor is found prominently in many lizards. Some early amphibians have this armor, but it is lost in modern species with the exception a ventral plate, called the gastralia.

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Knoetschkesuchus is a genus of small atoposaurid crocodylomorph from the Late Jurassic of Germany and Portugal. Two species are known: the German species K. langenbergensis, described by Schwarz and colleagues in 2017 based on two partial skeletons and various isolated bones; and the Portuguese species K. guimarotae, named from over 400 specimens including several partial skeletons. Knoetschkesuchus was a small and short-snouted crocodilian, measuring about 55 centimetres (22 in) in length, that primarily fed on small prey, including invertebrates, amphibians, and mammals. This specialization towards small prey ecologically separated Knoetschkesuchus from most of the other diverse crocodilians that it lived with in the island ecosystem of Jurassic Europe.

References

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