Biomechanical simulations of hindlimb function in <i>Alligator</i> provide insights into postural shifts and body size evolution

doi:10.1126/sciadv.adx3811

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	*Biomechanical simulations of hindlimb function in Alligator* provide insights into postural shifts and body size evolution**
	Iijima, Masaya 1,2,3; Blob, Richard W.4; Hutchinson, John R.2
	2025-10-22
发表期刊	SCIENCE ADVANCES
卷号	11 期号:43 页码:12
通讯作者	Iijima, Masaya(miijima8@gmail.com)
摘要	The shift from sprawling to erect limb postures in archosaurs during the Triassic represents a major evolutionary transformation in vertebrates. One unresolved question regarding the limb posture transition is its association with body size evolution. If adopting more erect limb postures reduces mass-specific muscle forces and bone stresses, it would enable the evolution of larger body sizes. We tested this prediction using computational modeling and simulation of hindlimb muscle activations and femoral stresses across limb postures and body sizes in juvenile to adult American alligators and a scaled model of the extinct giant alligatoroid Deinosuchus riograndensis. We showed that larger alligators and D. riograndensis encounter challenges in generating sufficient muscle forces to support their bodies and maintain bone stresses, whereas adopting more erect hindlimb postures helps mitigate bone stresses among individuals of similar sizes. These results show how the shift from sprawling to erect limb posture relaxed biomechanical constraints, potentially facilitating the evolution of larger body sizes in terrestrial tetrapods.
DOI	10.1126/sciadv.adx3811
关键词[WOS]	IN-VIVO STRAINS ; TERRESTRIAL LOCOMOTION ; IGUANA-IGUANA ; LIMB POSTURE ; BONE STRAIN ; MECHANICS ; MISSISSIPPIENSIS ; MUSCLE ; DINOSAURS ; STRESSES
收录类别	SCI
语种	英语
资助项目	National Natural Science Foundation of China[W2532029] ; JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research[25K18518]
项目资助者	National Natural Science Foundation of China ; JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research
WOS研究方向	Science & Technology - Other Topics
WOS类目	Multidisciplinary Sciences
WOS记录号	WOS:001598753100002
出版者	AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
引用统计
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.205/handle/311034/24853
专题	中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所
通讯作者	Iijima, Masaya
作者单位	1.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Vertebrate Paleontol & Paleoanthropol, Key Lab Vertebrate Evolut & Human Origins, Beijing 100044, Peoples R China 2.Royal Vet Coll, Dept Comparat Biomed Sci, Struct & Mot Lab, Hawkshead Lane, N Mymms AL9 7TA, England 3.Univ Tokyo, Grad Sch Frontier Sci, Dept Nat Environm Studies, Kashiwa 2770882, Japan 4.Clemson Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Clemson, SC 29634 USA
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Iijima, Masaya,Blob, Richard W.,Hutchinson, John R.. Biomechanical simulations of hindlimb function in Alligator provide insights into postural shifts and body size evolution[J]. SCIENCE ADVANCES,2025,11(43):12.
APA	Iijima, Masaya,Blob, Richard W.,&Hutchinson, John R..(2025).Biomechanical simulations of hindlimb function in Alligator provide insights into postural shifts and body size evolution.SCIENCE ADVANCES,11(43),12.
MLA	Iijima, Masaya,et al."Biomechanical simulations of hindlimb function in Alligator provide insights into postural shifts and body size evolution".SCIENCE ADVANCES 11.43(2025):12.