Disparity of turbinal bones in placental mammals
Turbinals are key bony elements of the mammalian nasal cavity, involved in heat and moisture conservation as well as olfaction. While turbinals are well known in some groups, their diversity is poorly understood at the scale of placental mammals, which span 21 orders. Here, we investigated the turbinal bones and associated lamellae for one representative of each extant order of placental mammals. We segmented and isolated each independent turbinal and lamella and found an important diversity of variation in the number of turbinals, as well as their size, and shape. We found that the turbinal count varies widely, from zero in the La Plata dolphin, (Pontoporia blainvillei) to about 110 in the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana). Multiple turbinal losses and additional gains took place along the phylogeny of placental mammals. Some changes are clearly attributed to ecological adaptation, while others are probably related to phylogenetic inertia. In addition, this work highlights the problem of turbinal nomenclature in some placental orders with numerous and highly complex turbinals, for which homologies are extremely difficult to resolve. Therefore, this work underscores the importance of developmental studies to better clarify turbinal homology and nomenclature and provides a standardized comparative framework for further research.
Authors
- Quentin Martinez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7127-4012)
- Eli Amson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1474-9613)
- M. S. Zubér (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2429-6171)
- Elias Hamann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0623-9069)
- Mark Wright (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9468-3863)
- Lionel Hautier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8701-5421)
- Gabriel S. Ferreira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1554-8346)
- Thomas van de Kamp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7390-1318)
- Kai Ito (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4487-1866)
- Pierre‐Henri Fabre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3414-5625)
- Benjamin Dubourguier
- Rémi Blanc
Institutions
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE)
- Tsurumi University (JP)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Natural History Museum (GB)
- American Museum of Natural History (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Institut Universitaire de France (FR)
- Université de Montpellier (FR)
- Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart (DE)
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (DE)
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (FR)
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Anatomical Record
- Published
- 2024-08-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25552
- Citations
- 7
- Primary Topic
- Marine animal studies overview
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.75
Funders
- Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
- Centre Méditerranéen de l’Environnement et de la Biodiversité
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung