@journalofanatomy
Official journal of the Anatomical Society (@anat_soc). We improve understanding of anatomy through analysis of structure, function, development and evolution: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14697580
Cranial sutures are overlooked aspects of the mammal skull. Comparing postnatal trajectories in suture shape retrieves plateauing adult complexity for midline sutures. Despite distinct developmental strategies, marsupial and placental suture disparity were found to overlap. doi.org/10.1111/joa....
Now available! A new method paper by RzepliΕski et al., utilises radiopaque contrast injected into peripheral nerves for subsequent CT scanning. The method produced excellent models of nerves leaving the specimens ready for further analysis: doi.org/10.1111/joa....
Our new issue! π¦β¨features a cover image from Carter's latest study.
Tubercles on the bat pinna reduce drag before stall and increase lift after stall by generating streamwise vortices. These natural surface features likely improve aerodynamic efficiency.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14697580...
Get more info and full access to the study here: doi.org/10.1111/joa....
Also this month, Ε ulcovΓ‘ et al., studied how teeth attach to jaws across vertebrates. In veiled chameleons, firmly ankylosed teeth formed via a transient cell type at the toothβbone interface showing both osteoblast- and odontoblast-like features. The authors call these theorised cells ankyloblasts
Also this month, Manson and @nathanj.bsky.social used finite element modelling informed by neonatal MRI data, to test whether simple mechanical deformation from brain and masticatory muscle growth can predict early cranial shape change, focusing on the basicranium and face doi.org/10.1111/joa....
π’ Weβre now on LinkedIn! You can now find the Journal of Anatomy on LinkedIn, as well as here and all the usual places. Weβll continue showcasing the latest research in Development, Evolution and Function, so come find us here π
www.linkedin.com/company/jour...
We welcome 2026 with a focus on Dynamic Anatomy. This cover image from Crompton et al., features the pelvis of StW 572, an example of A. prometheus Their new analysis shows human-like pelvic traits and supports multiple modes of bipedalism in early hominins #Paleoanthropology #evolution
Seasons Greetings from all at Journal of Anatomy - watch this space in 2026 for plenty of exciting new findings from the world of anatomical research. We hope you have a peaceful and fulfilling festive period!
Predicting head injury in infants is complicated by large anatomical variability. This study analyzed skull thickness at 12,000+ locations in 266 infants (<12 mo) to identify age/sex-specific anatomical standards based on patterns of skull thickness distribution. doi.org/10.1111/joa....
@rjstrauch.bsky.social investigate the mandibular symphysis in whales. Toothed whales exhibited unfused, partially fused, or fully fused symphyses, while baleen whales evolved a decoupled, highly mobile symphysis that represents a novel condition unobserved in other mammalian clades.
This month's cover image comes from the work of @aaronhgriffing.bsky.social and colleagues, looking at the development of hemibacula. Theyβre chondroid-like, appear after sexual maturity, grow isometrically, and likely evolved via peramorphosis. Weird, wonderful genital bones!
π𦣠The vertebral column of elephants is a marvel of biological engineering. The remarkable functional morphology and intervertebral mobility of the elephant backbone is explored here, comparing it with that of other large herbivores and their extinct relatives π𦣠doi.org/10.1111/joa....
Rodent semicircular canal (SCC) shape and size reveal how they move! π Agile arboreal species have larger canals, while fossorial ones have smaller. SCC morphology helps predict locomotor behaviour and even reconstruct how fossil rodents moved 𦴠#Anatomy #Evolution #Rodents doi.org/10.1111/joa....
Striking diversity in the size, density, and distribution of taste papillae across 11 elasmobranch species reveals how sharks, skates, and rays taste their way to better feeding strategies. Atkinson & Collin, whose study graces our new cover, explain more: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14697580...
The hidden pattern of the primary teeth in an ancestral ray-finned fish provides a clue to how the strange lungfish dentition could have evolved simply by modifying the growth mode of bone. More information in this newly published piece from @uuvertpalaeo.bsky.social here: doi.org/10.1111/joa....
Continuing our celebration of #fossilfriday, MaΓllo and colleagues perform osteohistology of an ornithopod from Aliaga (Spain), finding it matured at ~7 years and died aged 9β12. This first use of the three-front model in an #ornithopod reveals strong bone-to-bone variability doi.org/10.1111/joa....
Also in this month's #specialissue and celebrating #fossilfriday 𦴠is this paper from Chinsamy and Valenciano identifying multiple exostoses and an osteochondroma in a Pliocene canid ππ¦ from Langebaanweg, South Africa doi.org/10.1111/joa....
@stevebrusatte.bsky.social
These findings are important because they contribute to a growing body of evidence that many of the mammals that took over ecosystems from the dinosaurs were similar in lifestyle to those living today. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
By cutting the bones to reveal #cellular signals of growth, they found that this species grew much like living placental mammals (as opposed to marsupials). It reached close to full size in one year, and then lived for 3β4 years afterwards.
Growth patterns of an #extinct #mammal that lived just after the extinction of the #dinosaurs were studied. This particular species, Conoryctes comma, is important because its relatives are one of the only groups of mammals known from fossils both before and after the #extinction.
Introducing our latest special issue, From Fossil to Microscope: Unraveling the Tapestry of Tissue Anatomy through Paleohistology, with this wonderful cover image from @funstonpaleo.bsky.social et al., of compacted coarse cancellous bone from the early Palaeocene taeniodont, Conoryctes comma.
π° Cranial scans in South Africans revealed higher facial asymmetry in female and Black individuals, especially in nasal and temporal regions. These shape shifts may not skew IDs but should be considered in anthropological analyses of ancestry, health, and human variation π°:
Also in this edition, Enriquez et al., found that epidermal scale shapes and relative scale sizes are mostly retained through growth in both dinosaurs and modern reptiles, suggesting that the enlarged 'feature scales' of some dinosaurs were not used in visual displays: doi.org/10.1111/joa....
π¨New issue alert π¨ with a cover image
from Cerda et al. showing dental plate histology of β Ischyodus dolloi, revealing dental plates packed with tritors; hypermineralised structures made of whitlockin, a form of dentine far stronger than the usual material found in teeth doi.org/10.1111/joa....
The Weberian apparatus boosts hearing in otophysan fish via modified bones and ligaments. Using advanced imaging and histology, a study from @jakeleyhr.bsky.social and
@remorphevolab.bsky.social reveals new insights into the elusive first intercostal ligament and its role in this acoustic system
