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A Look in to the Neurocranium of Living and Extinct Lepidosauria

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Paleoneurology of Amniotes

Abstract

Braincase descriptions of lepidosaurian clades (Rhynchocephalia and Squamata) are scarce, and paleoneurological studies are even scarcer when compared to other reptiles. Regarding paleoneurology sensu stricto, so far mosasauroids and snakes (the latter by means of a single published study) remain the better known lepidosaur groups. Further comparisons among extinct and living lepidosaurs – along with their evolutive history starting in the early Triassic– are not possible due to the lack of neuroanatomical information in most families. Here we provide a revision of the published literature on endocranial anatomy and paleoneurology in Lepidosauria, including an overview of the comparative braincase and neuroanatomy of living representatives of the clade. We hope that this information will have an impact on future studies in the field of comparative neuroanatomy in both living and extinct species. Micro-CT and diceCT data are currently facilitating neuroanatomical comparisons among living species, preparing the background for a potential rise of paleoneurological studies of non-marine extinct lepidosaurs.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Evans for advice on identification of braincase structures; J. Gray for the DICECT scans, and M. Everhart from the Fort Hays Sternberg Museum for permissions to use a figure from the Oceans of Kansas Paleontology website. Funding: PICT-2020-SERIEA-01428 (to APC), Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellowship (to PJH).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente, CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Comahue, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina

    Ariana Paulina-Carabajal

  2. Division of Paleontology, Institute of Geosciences, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Paulina Jiménez-Huidobro

  3. CONICET- Departamento de Herpetología, Museo de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina

    Laura Natalia Triviño

  4. Department of Natural History, Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Edward L. Stanley

  5. Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Hussam Zaher

  6. Department of Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA

    Juan D. Daza

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  1. Ariana Paulina-Carabajal
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Correspondence to Ariana Paulina-Carabajal .

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  1. Instituto Patagónico de Geología y Paleontología, CCT CONICET-CENPAT, Puerto Madryn, Argentina

    María Teresa Dozo

  2. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente, CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Comahue, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina

    Ariana Paulina-Carabajal

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Thomas E. Macrini

  4. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Midlothian, UK

    Stig Walsh

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Paulina-Carabajal, A., Jiménez-Huidobro, P., Triviño, L.N., Stanley, E.L., Zaher, H., Daza, J.D. (2023). A Look in to the Neurocranium of Living and Extinct Lepidosauria. In: Dozo, M.T., Paulina-Carabajal, A., Macrini, T.E., Walsh, S. (eds) Paleoneurology of Amniotes . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13983-3_5

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