THE VARIATION OF THE CROSS-SECTIONAL SHAPE IN THE LONG BONES OF BIRDSAND MAMMALS

The transverse and sagittal diameters of the long bones were measured in a sample of 53 species of eutherian mammals and 36 species of birds . The scaling of the transverse and sagittal diameters of each bone to body mass was calculated. For each bone the ratio of sagittal/transve rse diameter was calculated, as an expression of the cross-sectional s hape of the bones. The distributions of the ratios were not significan tly different from normality in all the avian bones and in the mammali an femur and tibia. In most cases, the mean of the distribution was si gnificantly different from 1 (circular shape). The analysis shows that changes in the ratio can be caused by selective factors, considering the correlation predicted between the breaking moments and the radii, but at the same time the cross-sectional shape of mammalian and avian long bones may have a phylogenetic basis. Finally, the previous assump tion of relationship between bone curvature and stress predictability, is also discussed. (C) Elsevier, Paris.