March of the titans: The locomotor capabilities of sauropod dinosaurs

Autores
Sellers, William Irvin; Coria, Rodolfo Anibal; Margetts, Lee; Manning, Phillip Lars
Año de publicación
2013
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Sauropod dinosaurs are the largest terrestrial vertebrate to have lived on Earth. This size must have posed special challenges for the musculoskeletal system. Scaling theory shows that body mass and hence the loads that must be overcome increases with body size more rapidly than either the ability of the muscles to generate force, or the ability of the skeleton to support these loads. Here we demonstrate how one of the very largest sauropods, Argentinosaurus huinculensis (40 metres long, weighing 83 tonnes), may have moved. A musculoskeletal model was generated using data captured by laser scanning a mounted skeleton and assigning muscle properties based on comparative data from living animals. Locomotion is generated using forward dynamic simulation to calculate the accelerations produced by the muscle forces, coupled with machine learning techniques to find a control pattern that minimises metabolic cost. The simulation demonstrates that at such vast body size, joint range of motion needs to be restricted to allow sufficient force generation for an achievable muscle mass. However when this is done, a perfectly plausible gait can be generated relatively easily. Whilst this model represents the best current simulation of the gait of these giant animals, it is likely that there are as yet unknown mechanical mechanisms, possibly based on passive elastic structures that should be incorporated to increase the efficiency of the animal9s locomotion. It is certainly the case that these would need to be incorporated into the model to properly assess the full locomotor capabilities of the animal.
Fil: Sellers, William Irvin. University of Manchester; Reino Unido
Fil: Coria, Rodolfo Anibal. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Margetts, Lee. University of Manchester; Reino Unido
Fil: Manning, Phillip Lars. University of Manchester; Reino Unido
Materia
Titanosaurs
Locomotion
Argentinosaurus
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/477

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spelling March of the titans: The locomotor capabilities of sauropod dinosaursSellers, William IrvinCoria, Rodolfo AnibalMargetts, LeeManning, Phillip LarsTitanosaursLocomotionArgentinosaurushttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1Sauropod dinosaurs are the largest terrestrial vertebrate to have lived on Earth. This size must have posed special challenges for the musculoskeletal system. Scaling theory shows that body mass and hence the loads that must be overcome increases with body size more rapidly than either the ability of the muscles to generate force, or the ability of the skeleton to support these loads. Here we demonstrate how one of the very largest sauropods, Argentinosaurus huinculensis (40 metres long, weighing 83 tonnes), may have moved. A musculoskeletal model was generated using data captured by laser scanning a mounted skeleton and assigning muscle properties based on comparative data from living animals. Locomotion is generated using forward dynamic simulation to calculate the accelerations produced by the muscle forces, coupled with machine learning techniques to find a control pattern that minimises metabolic cost. The simulation demonstrates that at such vast body size, joint range of motion needs to be restricted to allow sufficient force generation for an achievable muscle mass. However when this is done, a perfectly plausible gait can be generated relatively easily. Whilst this model represents the best current simulation of the gait of these giant animals, it is likely that there are as yet unknown mechanical mechanisms, possibly based on passive elastic structures that should be incorporated to increase the efficiency of the animal9s locomotion. It is certainly the case that these would need to be incorporated into the model to properly assess the full locomotor capabilities of the animal.Fil: Sellers, William Irvin. University of Manchester; Reino UnidoFil: Coria, Rodolfo Anibal. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Margetts, Lee. University of Manchester; Reino UnidoFil: Manning, Phillip Lars. University of Manchester; Reino UnidoPublic Library of Science2013-10-30info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/477Sellers, William Irvin; Coria, Rodolfo Anibal; Margetts, Lee; Manning, Phillip Lars; March of the titans: The locomotor capabilities of sauropod dinosaurs; Public Library of Science; Plos One; 8; 10; 30-10-2013; 1-21; e787331932-6203CONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0078733info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0078733info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-09-03T09:50:50Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/477instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-09-03 09:50:51.26CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv March of the titans: The locomotor capabilities of sauropod dinosaurs
title March of the titans: The locomotor capabilities of sauropod dinosaurs
spellingShingle March of the titans: The locomotor capabilities of sauropod dinosaurs
Sellers, William Irvin
Titanosaurs
Locomotion
Argentinosaurus
title_short March of the titans: The locomotor capabilities of sauropod dinosaurs
title_full March of the titans: The locomotor capabilities of sauropod dinosaurs
title_fullStr March of the titans: The locomotor capabilities of sauropod dinosaurs
title_full_unstemmed March of the titans: The locomotor capabilities of sauropod dinosaurs
title_sort March of the titans: The locomotor capabilities of sauropod dinosaurs
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Sellers, William Irvin
Coria, Rodolfo Anibal
Margetts, Lee
Manning, Phillip Lars
author Sellers, William Irvin
author_facet Sellers, William Irvin
Coria, Rodolfo Anibal
Margetts, Lee
Manning, Phillip Lars
author_role author
author2 Coria, Rodolfo Anibal
Margetts, Lee
Manning, Phillip Lars
author2_role author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Titanosaurs
Locomotion
Argentinosaurus
topic Titanosaurs
Locomotion
Argentinosaurus
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Sauropod dinosaurs are the largest terrestrial vertebrate to have lived on Earth. This size must have posed special challenges for the musculoskeletal system. Scaling theory shows that body mass and hence the loads that must be overcome increases with body size more rapidly than either the ability of the muscles to generate force, or the ability of the skeleton to support these loads. Here we demonstrate how one of the very largest sauropods, Argentinosaurus huinculensis (40 metres long, weighing 83 tonnes), may have moved. A musculoskeletal model was generated using data captured by laser scanning a mounted skeleton and assigning muscle properties based on comparative data from living animals. Locomotion is generated using forward dynamic simulation to calculate the accelerations produced by the muscle forces, coupled with machine learning techniques to find a control pattern that minimises metabolic cost. The simulation demonstrates that at such vast body size, joint range of motion needs to be restricted to allow sufficient force generation for an achievable muscle mass. However when this is done, a perfectly plausible gait can be generated relatively easily. Whilst this model represents the best current simulation of the gait of these giant animals, it is likely that there are as yet unknown mechanical mechanisms, possibly based on passive elastic structures that should be incorporated to increase the efficiency of the animal9s locomotion. It is certainly the case that these would need to be incorporated into the model to properly assess the full locomotor capabilities of the animal.
Fil: Sellers, William Irvin. University of Manchester; Reino Unido
Fil: Coria, Rodolfo Anibal. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Margetts, Lee. University of Manchester; Reino Unido
Fil: Manning, Phillip Lars. University of Manchester; Reino Unido
description Sauropod dinosaurs are the largest terrestrial vertebrate to have lived on Earth. This size must have posed special challenges for the musculoskeletal system. Scaling theory shows that body mass and hence the loads that must be overcome increases with body size more rapidly than either the ability of the muscles to generate force, or the ability of the skeleton to support these loads. Here we demonstrate how one of the very largest sauropods, Argentinosaurus huinculensis (40 metres long, weighing 83 tonnes), may have moved. A musculoskeletal model was generated using data captured by laser scanning a mounted skeleton and assigning muscle properties based on comparative data from living animals. Locomotion is generated using forward dynamic simulation to calculate the accelerations produced by the muscle forces, coupled with machine learning techniques to find a control pattern that minimises metabolic cost. The simulation demonstrates that at such vast body size, joint range of motion needs to be restricted to allow sufficient force generation for an achievable muscle mass. However when this is done, a perfectly plausible gait can be generated relatively easily. Whilst this model represents the best current simulation of the gait of these giant animals, it is likely that there are as yet unknown mechanical mechanisms, possibly based on passive elastic structures that should be incorporated to increase the efficiency of the animal9s locomotion. It is certainly the case that these would need to be incorporated into the model to properly assess the full locomotor capabilities of the animal.
publishDate 2013
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2013-10-30
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/477
Sellers, William Irvin; Coria, Rodolfo Anibal; Margetts, Lee; Manning, Phillip Lars; March of the titans: The locomotor capabilities of sauropod dinosaurs; Public Library of Science; Plos One; 8; 10; 30-10-2013; 1-21; e78733
1932-6203
CONICET Digital
CONICET
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/477
identifier_str_mv Sellers, William Irvin; Coria, Rodolfo Anibal; Margetts, Lee; Manning, Phillip Lars; March of the titans: The locomotor capabilities of sauropod dinosaurs; Public Library of Science; Plos One; 8; 10; 30-10-2013; 1-21; e78733
1932-6203
CONICET Digital
CONICET
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0078733
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0078733
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Public Library of Science
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Public Library of Science
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
collection CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.name.fl_str_mv CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.mail.fl_str_mv dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
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