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. 2026 Jul;309(7):1702-1712.
doi: 10.1002/ar.70040. Epub 2025 Aug 28.

Inside a duck-billed dinosaur: Vertebral bone microstructure of Huallasaurus (Hadrosauridae), Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia

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Inside a duck-billed dinosaur: Vertebral bone microstructure of Huallasaurus (Hadrosauridae), Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia

Tito Aureliano et al. Anat Rec (Hoboken). 2026 Jul.

Abstract

Dinosaurs evolved a unique respiratory system with air sacs that contributed to their evolutionary success. Postcranial skeletal pneumaticity (PSP) has been used to infer the presence of air sac systems in some fossil archosaurs. While unambiguous evidence of PSP is well documented in pterosaurs and post-Carnian saurischians, it remains absent within Ornithischia, challenging phylogenetic predictions. We used computed tomography to examine the internal vertebral microanatomy of three Huallasaurus australis specimens, a saurolophine hadrosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. The internal structure reveals a relatively dense trabecular architecture lacking evidence of invasive pneumaticity across the centra, neural arches, and neural spines, contrasting with the condition in post-Carnian saurischians. The internal vertebral pattern of Huallasaurus resembles that of silesaurs more than other apneumatic archosauriforms. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that invasive air sac diverticula did not evolve in Ornithischia and align with the previously proposed "pelvic bellows" ventilation model for the group. The internal vertebral architecture in this hadrosaur shows superficial similarities to the trabecular structure seen in some large mammals, although functional equivalence remains speculative. The absence of invasive air sacs in Huallasaurus, combined with dense trabecular matrix and thin cortical walls, may have supported large body sizes or accommodated intraosseous fat reserves, though this requires further testing. This stock of fatty tissues could have provided energy for these hadrosaurs during regional migration, as observed in modern migratory mammals.

Keywords: CT scan; Ornithischia; microanatomy; morphology; respiratory system.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Reconstruction of the saurolophine hadrosaur Huallasaurus australis showing the cervical (a–c,f–i,k), dorsal (d,e,j,l–p,s,u), and caudal (q,r) vertebrae analyzed in this study. Three‐dimensional reconstructions from CT scans in (a–d,l,n,p,q). MACN‐Pv RN02.a in (a,f,k); MACN‐Pv RN02.b in (b,g); MACN‐Pv RN826.a in (c,h,i); MACN‐Pv RN826.b in (d,e,j); MACN‐Pv RN02.c in (l,m,u); MACN‐Pv RN146.a in (l,m,u); MACN‐Pv RN826.c in (p,s); MACN‐Pv RN02.d in (q,r). Photographs showing blind fossae in (e–k,m,o,r,s) (arrows). Detail of a worn portion of the neural arch exposing an internal apneumatic trabecular architecture (u). Left lateral view in (a–d,l,n,p,q). Right lateral view in (j,m,o). Caudal view in (e–i,r,s). Cranial view in K. Scale bar = 20 mm. Reconstruction is not to scale.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Computed tomography densitometry analysis of the hadrosaur Huallasaurus cervical vertebrae in transverse (a–c), parasagittal (d–f) and frontal (g–i) views. MACN‐Pv RN02.a in (a,d,g). MACN‐Pv RN02.b in (b,e,h). MACN‐Pv RN826.a in (c,f,i). Note the absence of deep fossae connecting to large internal chambers, demonstrating the lack of PSP in the elements. Lighter blue and green indicate lower densities (e.g., small apneumatic chambers). Darker blue illustrates denser structures (e.g., compact bone tissue, dense trabecular matrix etc). Note that variations may occur due to diagenetic artifacts. ap, apneumatic bone; c, centrum; cdf, centrodiapophyseal fossa; d, diapophysis; dia, diagenetic artifacts; nc, neural canal; s, neural spine; sdf, spinodiapophyseal fossa. Scale bar = 20 mm.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Computed tomography densitometry analysis of the hadrosaur Huallasaurus anterior to middle dorsal vertebrae in transverse (a,b), parasagittal (c,d) and frontal (e,f) views. MACN‐Pv RN826.b in (a,c,e). MACN‐Pv RN02.c in (b,d,f). Note the absence of deep fossae connecting to large internal chambers, demonstrating the lack of PSP in the vertebrae. Lighter blue and green indicate lower densities (e.g., small apneumatic trabeculae). Darker blue illustrates denser structures (e.g., compact bone tissue, dense trabecular matrix etc). Note that variations may occur due to diagenetic artifacts. ap, apneumatic bone; c, centrum; cdf, centrodiapophyseal fossa; d, diapophysis; dia, diagenetic artifacts; nc, neural canal; s, neural spine; sdf, spinodiapophyseal fossa. Scale bar = 20 mm.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Computed tomography densitometry analysis of the hadrosaur Huallasaurus posterior dorsal (a,b,d,e,g,h) and caudal (c,f,i) vertebrae in transverse (a–c), parasagittal (d–f), and frontal (g–i) views. MACN‐Pv RN146.a in (a,d,g). MACN‐Pv RN826.c in (b,e,h). MACN‐Pv RN02.d in (c,f,i). Note the absence of deep fossae connecting to large internal chambers, demonstrating the lack of PSP in the vertebrae. Lighter blue and green indicate lower densities (e.g., small apneumatic trabeculae). Darker blue illustrates denser structures (e.g., compact bone tissue, dense trabecular matrix etc). Variations may occur due to diagenetic artifacts. ap, apneumatic bone; c, centrum; cdf, centrodiapophyseal fossa; d, diapophysis; dia, diagenetic artifacts; nc, neural canal; s, neural spine; sdf, spinodiapophyseal fossa. Scale bar = 20 mm.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
CT scan slices comparison between the vertebrae of ornithischians and Silesaurus. The hadrosaur Huallasaurus MACN‐Pv RN826.a (a,d); MACN‐Pv RN826.b (b); MACN‐Pv RN 02.c (c). Silesaurus ZPAL Ab III 1299 (e); ZPAL Ab III 423/6 (f) (Butler et al., 2012). (g) The thyreophoran Scelidosaurus NHMUK R1111 (Butler et al., 2012). Cervical vertebrae in (a–c). Dorsal vertebrae in (b,c,f,g). All in transverse view. ap, apneumatic bone; cc, circumferential chambers; cdf, centrodiapophyseal fossa; dia, diagenetic artifacts; nc, neural canal. Scale bar in a–d,g = 20 mm; in e,f = 10 mm.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Chronological and phylogenetic evolution of postcranial skeletal pneumaticity in ornithodirans. 1, Ornithodira; 2, Pterosauria; 3, Dinosauromorpha; 4, Dinosauria; 5, Ornithischia; 6, Saurischia; 7, Sauropodomorpha; 8, Theropoda; 9, Plateosauria; 10, Sauropoda. Allosaurus (Smith et al., 2021), Apatosaurus (Wedel & Taylor, 2013), Anhanguera (Buchmann et al., 2021), Antenonitrus (Yates et al., 2012), Buriolestes (Aureliano et al., 2022), Dilophosaurus (Marsh & Rowe, 2020), Giraffatitan (Wedel & Taylor, 2013), Gnathovorax (Aureliano et al., 2022), Heterodontosaurus (Radermacher et al., 2021), Ibirania (Aureliano et al., 2021), Macrocollum (Aureliano et al., 2023), Majungasaurus (Aureliano et al., ; O'Connor, 2006), Nothronychus (Smith et al., 2021), Raeticodactylus (Butler et al., 2009), Rahonavis (Aureliano et al., ; Forster et al., 2020), Scelidosaurus (Butler et al., 2012), Silesaurus (Butler et al., 2012), and Spinosaurus (Myhrvold et al., 2024).(Aureliano et al., ; Forster et al., 2020). Silhouettes are from Phylopic.org by Alessio Ciaffi, Cy Marchant, Iain Reid, Jaime Headden, JF Designs, Julio Garza, Mathew Wedel, Matthew Dempsey, Tasman Dixon, Walter Vladimir, and Will Toosey. Adapted from Aureliano et al. (2023).
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Comparison between the dense trabecular tissue in the vertebrae of the hadrosaur Huallasaurus australis (a–d) and the internal structures in modern mammals (e–g). (e) Bone cross section of Odocoeileus virginianus, a North American deer (unnumbered; courtesy of Mathew Wedel). (f) CT scan of Orcinus orca, the orca whale (lumbar; CEM 038977; courtesy of Gabriel L. Gomes). (g) Bone cross section of Bos taurus, the domestic bull (unnumbered; courtesy of Mathew Wedel). Transverse view in (a, c, e, f). Parasagittal view in (b,d,g). Scale bar in (a–d) = 20 mm; in (f) = 10 mm. (e,g) Not to scale.

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