School of Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Commun Biol. 2022 Aug 11;5(1):754. doi: 10.1038/s42003-022-03706-0.
The orbit is one of several skull openings in the archosauromorph skull. Intuitively, it could be assumed that orbit shape would closely approximate the shape and size of the eyeball resulting in a predominantly circular morphology. However, a quantification of orbit shape across Archosauromorpha using a geometric morphometric approach demonstrates a large morphological diversity despite the fact that the majority of species retained a circular orbit. This morphological diversity is nearly exclusively driven by large (skull length > 1000 mm) and carnivorous species in all studied archosauromorph groups, but particularly prominently in theropod dinosaurs. While circular orbit shapes are retained in most herbivores and smaller species, as well as in juveniles and early ontogenetic stages, large carnivores adopted elliptical and keyhole-shaped orbits. Biomechanical modelling using finite element analysis reveals that these morphologies are beneficial in mitigating and dissipating feeding-induced stresses without additional reinforcement of the bony structure of the skull.
眼眶是槽齿类恐龙头骨的几个头骨开口之一。直观地说，可以假设眼眶的形状会近似于眼球的形状和大小，从而导致主要是圆形的形态。然而，通过几何形态测量学方法对槽齿类动物眼眶形状进行量化，尽管大多数物种保留了圆形眼眶，但仍显示出很大的形态多样性。这种形态多样性几乎完全是由所有研究的槽齿类动物群中的大型（头骨长度 > 1000 毫米）和肉食性物种驱动的，但在兽脚亚目恐龙中尤为明显。虽然大多数草食动物和较小的物种以及幼年和早期发育阶段保留了圆形眼眶，但大型肉食动物则采用了椭圆形和钥匙孔形的眼眶。使用有限元分析的生物力学建模表明，这些形态有助于减轻和消散进食引起的压力，而无需对头骨的骨结构进行额外加固。
