The oldest record of aquatic amniote congenital scoliosis.

Szczygielski, Tomasz; Surmik, Dawid; Kapuścińska, Agnieszka; Rothschild, Bruce M · PLoS One · 2017

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

We report the first occurrence of congenital scoliosis in an early Permian aquatic parareptile, Stereosternum tumidum from Paraná state, Brazil. The spine malformation is caused by a congenital hemivertebra. These observations give insight into the biomechanical aspects of underwater locomotion in an axial skeleton-compromised aquatic amniote. This is the oldest record of a hemivertebra in an aquatic animal.

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