Abstract
Examination of the bone microstructure of several skeletal elements shows that the cortex comprises fibrolamellar bone tissue suggesting rapid osteogenesis and overall fast growth for Wadiasaurus, a kannemeyeriid dicynodont from India. Three distinct stages have been identified in the ontogeny of Wadiasaurus. In the juvenile stage, when up to 30% of adult size is attained, growth was fast and sustained, whereas in the sub-adult stage when up to 60% of adult size is attained, growth was fast but periodically interrupted as evident from the presence of growth marks. During the adult stage the bone microstructure is characterized by the presence of peripheral parallel-fibred bone that suggested considerable slowing down of growth, possibly with the onset of sexual maturity. A flexible and indeterminate growth strategy is proposed for Wadiasaurus. The cortical thickness (RBT) and the correspondingly low optimal k values of the various limb bones of Wadiasaurus were comparable with that of the land vertebrates such as Ceratotherium, suggesting that the limbs were selected for impact loading.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Ms. D. Mukherjee, Department of Geology & Geophysics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur for technical assistance. The authors thank Prof. A Chinsamy, University of Cape Town, South Africa and Prof. A. Sahni, Panjab University, India for review and constructive criticism. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, India, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, and Department of Science and Technology, India provided fund and infrastructural support.
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Ray, S., Bandyopadhyay, S., Appana, R. (2010). Bone Histology of a Kannemeyeriid Dicynodont Wadiasaurus: Palaeobiological Implications. In: New Aspects of Mesozoic Biodiversity. Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences, vol 132. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-10311-7_5
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