Bone Histology of Fossil Tetrapods: Advancing Methods, Analysis, and Interpretation

298 Pages·2013·13.866 MB·English

by  Kevin Padian (editor), Ellen-Thérèse Lamm (editor)

Bone Histology
of Fossil Tetrapods
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Bone Histology
of Fossil Tetrapods
Advancing Methods, Analysis,
and Interpretation
Edited by
Kevin Padian
Ellen-Thérèse Lamm
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley Los Angeles London
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visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2013 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bone histology of fossil tetrapods : advancing methods, analysis, and
interpretation / edited by Kevin Padian, Ellen-Therese Lamm.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-520-27352-8 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Vertebrates, Fossil—Microstructure. I. Padian, Kevin. II. Lamm,
Ellen-Thérèse, 1966-
QE841.B674 2013
566-dc23 2012018397
Manufactured in China
22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R 2002) (Permanence of Paper).
Cover illustration: Tyrannosaurus rex fibula—Museum of the Rockies
specimen (MOR 1152). Photographed on a Leica DMEP Microscope under
polarized light with a Lambda compensator. Photo by Ellen-Thérèse Lamm.
Dedicated to three pioneers of
vertebrate paleohistology
Donald H. Enlow
Armand J. de Ricqlès
John R. Horner
with respect and affection from their
colleagues, students, and friends
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contents
Preface ix
Authors and Contributors xi
1. Why Study the Bone Microstructure of Fossil Tetrapods? 1
Kevin Padian
2. The Biology of Bone 13
Adam K. Huttenlocker, Holly Woodward, and Brian K. Hall
3. Selection of Specimens 35
Kevin Padian, Ellen-Thérèse Lamm, and Sarah Werning
4. Preparation and Sectioning of Specimens 55
Ellen-Thérèse Lamm
5. Image Standardization in Paleohistology 161
Timothy Bromage and Sarah Werning
6. Database Standardization 177
Laura Wilson and Maria de Boef Miara
7. Skeletochronology 195
Holly N. Woodward, Kevin Padian, and Andrew H. Lee
8. Analysis of Growth Rates 217
Andrew H. Lee, Adam K. Huttenlocker, Kevin Padian, and Holly N. Woodward
viii contents
9. Evolution of Growth Rates and Their Implications 253
Kevin Padian and Koen Stein
10. Research Applications and Integration 265
Kevin Padian, Maria de Boef Miara, Hans C.E. Larsson, Laura Wilson, and
Timothy Bromage
preface
This book was conceived thanks to Dr. Susan Williams, Drew Lee’s former col-
league at Ohio University in Athens. We were discussing with Susan the explosion
of histological studies of fossil bone that had occurred in the past two decades, and
we thought that it might be helpful to provide guidance to people new to the field
about how to select, process, and image specimens, and about the questions and
issues in the field that had been addressed and that needed further work. Susan
suggested that we look into convening a National Evolutionary Synthesis Center
(NESCent) workshop on the subject, because she had found them very rewarding
in her own field. We contacted Dr. Kathleen Smith, then the Director of NESCent,
and she found us funds to bring a small group of people together for a short work-
shop in December 2009. It was so successful that we decided to use our discus-
sions as the basis for an introductory book.
Our working group included experienced hands as well as graduate students and
new faculty members who are making some of the strongest contributions and inno-
vations in the field. We would have liked to include a great many other colleagues in
our group, but unfortunately the pressures of time, previous commitments, and our
own limited funding prevailed as they usually do, so we were not able to assemble
every one of the “stars” of our field. Nevertheless they and their work were with us
in spirit, and some have served as useful advisors and reviewers of these chapters.
We do not intend this book to be an exhaustive, encyclopedic treatment of all
subjects related to fossil bone histology or to the biology of bone. We wanted to
provide an introduction to the problems and methods of the field. Why study the
bone histology of fossil tetrapods? What questions can it illuminate? How do we
explain variations in the expression of bone tissue in fossil tetrapods? How do you
ix