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Abstract #0507

MR imaging of crocodilians can help for brain volume estimation of some extinct vertebrates

Daniel Jirak 1 , Jiri Janacek 2 , and Martin Kundrat 2,3

1 IKEM, Prague, Czech Republic, 2 Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic, 3 Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Here we provide a new approach for assessment of encephalic volume of some extinct vertebrates. We used crocodilians as a proxy to investigate the postnatal development of endoneurocranial and encephalic shape in living archosaurs and found noticeable dependence on the body size. Our results support a hypothesis that increased body size likely imposed a new spatial configuration for development of the central nervous system during the evolution of gigantism in tyrannosaurs.

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