Thursday, October 15, 2026
Science

Modeling study shows early tetrapods had surprisingly little ability to move their necks

A new model using sturgeon as a material analog has made it possible to estimate how the backbones of some of the first animals on land could and could not move. These results disprove a long-standing hypothesis that changes in early tetrapod anatomy as they moved onto land gave them improved neck m...

Modeling study shows early tetrapods had surprisingly little ability to move their necks
Image: Phys.org
A new model using sturgeon as a material analog has made it possible to estimate how the backbones of some of the first animals on land could and could not move. These results disprove a long-standing hypothesis that changes in early tetrapod anatomy as they moved onto land gave them improved neck mobility. The study, led by a researcher at Uppsala University, formerly of Carleton University in Canada, has been published in the journal Nature.

Originally published at Phys.org

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