Rayfield E J, Norman D B, Horner C C, Horner J R, Smith P M, Thomason J J, Upchurch P
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, UK.
Nature. 2001 Feb 22;409(6823):1033-7. doi: 10.1038/35059070.
Finite element analysis (FEA) is used by industrial designers and biomechanicists to estimate the performance of engineered structures or human skeletal and soft tissues subjected to varying regimes of stress and strain. FEA is rarely applied to problems of biomechanical design in animals, despite its potential to inform structure-function analysis. Non-invasive techniques such as computed tomography scans can be used to generate accurate three-dimensional images of structures, such as skulls, which can form the basis of an accurate finite element model. Here we have applied this technique to the long skull of the large carnivorous theropod dinosaur Allosaurus fragilis. We have generated the most geometrically complete and complex FEA model of the skull of any extinct or extant organism and used this to test its mechanical properties and examine, in a quantitative way, long-held hypotheses concerning overall shape and function. The combination of a weak muscle-driven bite force, a very 'light' and 'open' skull architecture and unusually high cranial strength, suggests a very specific feeding behaviour for this animal. These results demonstrate simply the inherent potential of FEA for testing mechanical behaviour in fossils in ways that, until now, have been impossible.
工业设计师和生物力学家使用有限元分析（FEA）来估计工程结构或承受不同应力和应变状态的人体骨骼及软组织的性能。尽管有限元分析有潜力为结构功能分析提供信息，但它很少应用于动物生物力学设计问题。诸如计算机断层扫描等非侵入性技术可用于生成结构（如头骨）的精确三维图像，这些图像可构成精确有限元模型的基础。在此，我们将该技术应用于大型肉食性兽脚亚目恐龙脆弱异特龙的长头骨。我们生成了任何已灭绝或现存生物头骨的最几何完整且复杂的有限元模型，并利用此模型测试其力学性能，以定量方式检验关于整体形状和功能的长期假设。较弱的肌肉驱动咬合力、非常“轻”且“开放”的头骨结构以及异常高的颅骨强度相结合，表明这种动物具有非常特殊的进食行为。这些结果简单地证明了有限元分析在测试化石力学行为方面的内在潜力，而这种方式在此之前是不可能实现的。
