Evolution of the biomechanical material properties of the femur.
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The biomechanical performance of long bones is dictated by four key factors: element size, element shape, loading conditions, and material properties. Our understanding of the latter of these has been mostly limited to eutherian mammals and birds, which show similarity. Whether their possession of comparable material properties reflects common ancestry or independent evolution is uncertain. In the present analysis, we tested the bending strength, modulus, and failure strains of the femur and its pterygiophore homolog in actinpterygian fish. Sixty‐nine specimens representing basal character states in seven major vertebrate crown clades were tested. These data were then coupled with avian and mammalian data from the literature and analyzed in an evolutionary context using phylogenetic character analysis. Mean values of 188 MPa for yield strength, 22.4 GPa for Young's modulus, and 8,437 μ∈ for yield strain were obtained for the long bones. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed comparable values between clades that span a 30,000‐fold range of body mass. We conclude that material properties of the first long bones 475 million years ago were conserved throughout evolution. Major locomotory challenges to femora during vertebrate evolution were almost solely accomplished by modifications of element size and shape. Anat Rec 268:115–124, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
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The biomechanical capacity was also certainly vital to the occupation of near-shore habitats by crocodilians over millennia.
“It was also certainly vital to the occupation of near-shore habitats by crocodilians over millennia – although prey types changed, the materials of which they were composed did not (e.g. [30]).”
From Insights into the Ecology and Evolutionary Success of Crocodilians Revealed through Bite-Force and Tooth-Pressure Experimentation (2012) · cites this paper as [30]
The Discussion (page unavailable) examines the evolutionary stability of femoral material properties and briefly reports measurements for crocodilians. It does not address whether biomechanical capacity enabled crocodilians to occupy near-shore habitats, or whether changing prey types retained the same material composition. Searches for near-shore habitats, crocodilian occupation, and prey materials found no passage supporting those points. (LLM, conf=0.72)
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<i>In vivo</i> engineering of organs: The bone bioreactor
Stevens, M. M., Marini, R. P., Schaefer, D., Aronson, J., Langer, R., & Shastri, V. P. (2005) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0504705102 · Cited by 339 · see citing works
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Erickson, G. M., Catanese, J., & Keaveny, T. M.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Corresponding author
- Erickson, Gregory M.
- Venue
- The Anatomical Record
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2002-08-14
- Volume
- 268
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 115-124
- ISSN
- 0003-276X (ISSN-L)
- 1097-0185
- OpenAlex
- W2080234249
- Cited by
- 169
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 4.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Anatomical Record (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Foundation
- University of California Museum of Paleontology
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Urology › Comparative Animal Anatomy Studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Keywords
- femur, bone biomechanics, bone material properties, flexural strength, Young's modulus, yield strain, pterygiophores, actinopterygian fishes, vertebrate evolution, long bones, locomotion, placental mammals, birds
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Biomechanical Phenomena, Birds, Body Constitution, Femur, Fishes, Humans, Mammals, Movement, Phylogeny, Reptiles
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