Reconstrucción del Hombro de Dromaeosaurus

An integrative phylogenetic and extrapolatory approach to the
reconstruction of dromaeosaur (Theropoda: Eumaniraptora) shoulder
musculature

SANDRA C. JASINOSKI, ANTHONY P. RUSSELL and PHILIP J. CURRIE

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
Volume 146 Issue 3 Page 301–344 - March 2006


Dromaeosauridae is the sister taxon of the Avialae; thus, an investigation of dromaeosaur shoulder girdle musculature and forelimb function provides substantial information regarding changes in the size and performance of the theropod shoulder girdle musculature leading to avian powered flight. Twenty-two shoulder girdle muscles were reconstructed for the dromaeosaurid shoulder apparatus, based on phylogenetic inference, which involves the comparison of lepidosaurian, crocodilian and avian musculature, and extrapolatory inference, which involves a secondary comparison with functional analogues of theropods. In addition to these comparative methodologies, osteological correlates of shoulder musculature preserved in eumaniraptorans are identified, and comparisons with those of extant archosaurs allow these muscles to be definitively inferred in dromaeosaurids. This muscle reconstruction provides a foundation for subsequent investigation of differences in muscular attachment and function, based on scapulocoracoid morphology, across the theropod lineage leading to birds.