Differing trabecular bone architecture in dinosaurs and mammals contribute to stiffness and limits on bone strain

Trevor G. Aguirre, Aniket Ingrole, Luca Fuller, Tim W. Seek, Anthony R. Fiorillo, Joseph J.W. Sertich, Seth W. Donahue

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

The largest dinosaurs were enormous animals whose body mass placed massive gravitational loads on their skeleton. Previous studies investigated dinosaurian bone strength and biomechanics, but the relationships between dinosaurian trabecular bone architecture and mechanical behavior has not been studied. In this study, trabecular bone samples from the distal femur and proximal tibia of dinosaurs ranging in body mass from 23–8,000 kg were investigated. The trabecular architecture was quantified from micro-computed tomography scans and allometric scaling relationships were used to determine how the trabecular bone architectural indices changed with body mass. Trabecular bone mechanical behavior was investigated by finite element modeling. It was found that dinosaurian trabecular bone volume fraction is positively correlated with body mass similar to what is observed for extant mammalian species, while trabecular spacing, number, and connectivity density in dinosaurs is negatively correlated with body mass, exhibiting opposite behavior from extant mammals. Furthermore, it was found that trabecular bone apparent modulus is positively correlated with body mass in dinosaurian species, while no correlation was observed for mammalian species. Additionally, trabecular bone tensile and compressive principal strains were not correlated with body mass in mammalian or dinosaurian species. Trabecular bone apparent modulus was positively correlated with trabecular spacing in mammals and positively correlated with connectivity density in dinosaurs, but these differential architectural effects on trabecular bone apparent modulus limit average trabecular bone tissue strains to below 3,000 microstrain for estimated high levels of physiological loading in both mammals and dinosaurs.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0237042
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume15
Issue number8 August
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2020
Externally publishedYes

Funding

Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs (OPP 0424594), as well as the National Geographic Society (W221-12) for the collection of Alaska Edmontosaurus materials used here. And, the Arctic Management Unit of the Bureau of Land Management provided administrative support. The specimens discussed here were collected under BLM permit number AA-86367. Travel funding for Mammuthus columbi sample collection was provided by the George C. Frison Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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