Terrestrial salamanders of the genus Salamandra represent one of the most prominent
groups of amphibians. They are mainly distributed across Europe but also reach Northern …

While most early limbed vertebrates possessed a fully-roofed dermatocranium in their
temporal skull region, temporal fenestrae and excavations evolved independently at least …

We examined the cranial morphology and cranial kinesis of the common toads Bufo bufo
and B. spinosus with micro-computed tomography and geometric morphometrics and …

The complex constructions of land vertebrate skulls have inspired a number of functional
analyses. In the present study, we provide a basic view on skull biomechanics and offer a …

Like other diapsids, Tyrannosaurus rex has two openings in the temporal skull region. In
addition, like in other dinosaurs, its snout and lower jaw show large cranial fenestrae. In T …

Most non-mammal tetrapods have a hinge-like jaw operation restricted to vertical opening
and closing movements. Many mammal jaw joints, by contrast, operate in more complex …

One of the major questions in evolutionary vertebrate morphology is the origin and meaning
of temporal skull openings in land vertebrates. Partly or fully surrounded by bones, one, two …

We carried out a comparative morphometric analysis of 56 species of salamandrid
salamanders, representing 19 out of 21 extant genera, with the aim of uncovering the major …

Paedomorphosis describes the retention of larval characters in adult stages and is
widespread amongst salamanders. Salamandrid newts exhibit facultative paedomorphosis …

The temporal region of the earliest Tetrapoda and their closest relatives was, in most cases,
completely covered by an armor of dermal bones. This armor has been successively …