Built for bulk: posture, microanatomy and soft tissue shaped gigantism in Sauropoda
6 affiliations
- 1Laboratório de Paleontologia e Evolução de Ilha Solteira, UNESP 1 , Ilha Solteira, São Paulo, Brazil
- 2Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de São Paulo 2 , Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
- 3Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment 3 , Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- 4Sección Paleontología de Vertebrados, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia 4 , Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- 5Centro de Pesquisas Paleontológicas L. I. Price, Complexo Cultural e Científico Peirópolis, Pró-Reitoria de Extensão Universitária , Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro 5 , Uberaba, Brazil
- 6Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro 6 , Uberaba, Brazil
Abstract
Sauropodomorph dinosaurs show how appendicular skeletal architecture accommodated extreme increases in body mass. Although sauropod gigantism has been linked to columnar limbs, wide-gauge posture, thick articular cartilage and tubular long-bone organization, the biomechanical interaction among these components is poorly understood. Here, we examine how femo ral shape, internal bone architecture and articular soft tissues influenced mechanical scaling across Sauropodomorpha. We generated three-dimensional femoral models spanning early sauropodomorphs, narrow-gauge diplodocoids, intermediate-gauge titanosauriforms, wide-gauge titanosaurs and an African elephant control. Finite element analyses compared theoretical solid models with taxon-specific native configurations, incorporating medullary cavities and articular cartilage caps. Mechanical performance was assessed using 95th-percentile von Mises stress, strain energy density and structural stiffness. Femoral performance did not scale uniformly with body mass. The two sampled narrow-gauge taxa, Diplodocus and Amargasaurus, defined steeper scaling trajectories for stress and strain energy density, whereas wide-gauge titanosaurs generally displayed flatter trajectories, comparatively lower stress and strain energy density, and elevated stiffness in several large-bodied forms. Targeted sensitivity analyses further showed that the mechanical effects of medullary architecture and cartilage depended on their interaction with taxon-specific femoral geometry. These findings suggest that sauropod gigantism was sustained by lineage-specific combinations of femoral geometry, internal architecture and articular soft tissues.
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BibTeX
@article{junior2026built,
title = {{Built for bulk: posture, microanatomy and soft tissue shaped gigantism in Sauropoda}},
author = {Julian C. G. Silva Junior and Gabriel Souza Ferreira and Agustin G. Martinelli and Thiago da S. Marinho and Felipe C. Montefeltro},
journal = {Royal Society Open Science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1098/rsos.261186},
url = {https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/10/261186/483516/Built-for-bulk-posture-microanatomy-and-soft},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Built for bulk: posture, microanatomy and soft tissue shaped gigantism in Sauropoda
AU - Julian C. G. Silva Junior
AU - Gabriel Souza Ferreira
AU - Agustin G. Martinelli
AU - Thiago da S. Marinho
AU - Felipe C. Montefeltro
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
JO - Royal Society Open Science
DO - 10.1098/rsos.261186
UR - https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/10/261186/483516/Built-for-bulk-posture-microanatomy-and-soft
AB - Sauropodomorph dinosaurs show how appendicular skeletal architecture accommodated extreme increases in body mass. Although sauropod gigantism has been linked to columnar limbs, wide-gauge posture, thick articular cartilage and tubular long-bone organization, the biomechanical interaction among these components is poorly understood. Here, we examine how femo ral shape, internal bone architecture and articular soft tissues influenced mechanical scaling across Sauropodomorpha. We generated three-dimensional femoral models spanning early sauropodomorphs, narrow-gauge diplodocoids, intermediate-gauge titanosauriforms, wide-gauge titanosaurs and an African elephant control. Finite element analyses compared theoretical solid models with taxon-specific native configurations, incorporating medullary cavities and articular cartilage caps. Mechanical performance was assessed using 95th-percentile von Mises stress, strain energy density and structural stiffness. Femoral performance did not scale uniformly with body mass. The two sampled narrow-gauge taxa, Diplodocus and Amargasaurus, defined steeper scaling trajectories for stress and strain energy density, whereas wide-gauge titanosaurs generally displayed flatter trajectories, comparatively lower stress and strain energy density, and elevated stiffness in several large-bodied forms. Targeted sensitivity analyses further showed that the mechanical effects of medullary architecture and cartilage depended on their interaction with taxon-specific femoral geometry. These findings suggest that sauropod gigantism was sustained by lineage-specific combinations of femoral geometry, internal architecture and articular soft tissues.
SN - 2054-5703
ER -