TY - JOUR
T1 - Ontogenetic changes in the long bone microstructure in the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus)
AU - Heck, Christian Thomas
AU - Varricchio, David J.
AU - Gaudin, Timothy J.
AU - Woodward, Holly N.
AU - Horner, John R.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding was provided by the Undergraduate Scholars Program at Montana State University (http://www.montana.edu/usp/). The program does not use grant numbers for funding. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. We would like to thank Ellen-Thérèse Lamm for assistance in specimen processing and Alida Bailleul for tissue identification discussions. Thank you to Gwyneth L.B. Volkmann and Leigha Lynch for preliminary manuscript edits. We would also like to thank University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and Sam Noble Museum of Natural History for allowing access to specimens.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Heck et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2019/4
Y1 - 2019/4
N2 - Analysis of ontogenetic changes in long bone microstructure aid in vertebrate life history reconstructions. Specifically, osteohistological examination of common fauna can be used to infer growth strategies of biologically uncommon, threatened, or extinct vertebrates. Although nine-banded armadillo biology has been studied extensively, work on growth history is limited. Here we describe long bone microstructure in tibiae and femora of a limited ontogenetic series of nine- banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) to elucidate patterns of bone growth. The cortex of the smallest individual is composed of compacted coarse cancellous bone (CCCB) and woven tissue. Extensive cortical drift is driven by periosteal erosion and further compaction of trabeculae resulting in an increase in the amount of CCCB. The cortex of the largest specimens is primarily CCCB with thickened endosteal bone and thin outer cortices of lamellar and parallel-fibered tissue. The outer cortices of the largest individuals are interpreted as an external fundamental system (EFS) indicating a cessation of appositional bone growth corresponding to skeletal maturity (i.e. asymptotic or adult size). The EFS forms in femora prior to tibiae, indicating femoral growth rates begin decreasing earlier than tibial in D. novemcinctus. Growth trends in common fauna like the nine-banded armadillo can be used as a foundation for understanding life histories of related, but uncommon or extinct, species of cingulates.
AB - Analysis of ontogenetic changes in long bone microstructure aid in vertebrate life history reconstructions. Specifically, osteohistological examination of common fauna can be used to infer growth strategies of biologically uncommon, threatened, or extinct vertebrates. Although nine-banded armadillo biology has been studied extensively, work on growth history is limited. Here we describe long bone microstructure in tibiae and femora of a limited ontogenetic series of nine- banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) to elucidate patterns of bone growth. The cortex of the smallest individual is composed of compacted coarse cancellous bone (CCCB) and woven tissue. Extensive cortical drift is driven by periosteal erosion and further compaction of trabeculae resulting in an increase in the amount of CCCB. The cortex of the largest specimens is primarily CCCB with thickened endosteal bone and thin outer cortices of lamellar and parallel-fibered tissue. The outer cortices of the largest individuals are interpreted as an external fundamental system (EFS) indicating a cessation of appositional bone growth corresponding to skeletal maturity (i.e. asymptotic or adult size). The EFS forms in femora prior to tibiae, indicating femoral growth rates begin decreasing earlier than tibial in D. novemcinctus. Growth trends in common fauna like the nine-banded armadillo can be used as a foundation for understanding life histories of related, but uncommon or extinct, species of cingulates.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064866408&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0215655
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0215655
M3 - Article
C2 - 31022247
AN - SCOPUS:85064866408
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 14
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 4
M1 - e0215655
ER -