AUTHOR=Mann Arjan , Reisz Robert R. TITLE=Antiquity of “Sail-Backed” Neural Spine Hyper-Elongation in Mammal Forerunners JOURNAL=Frontiers in Earth Science VOLUME=8 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/earth-science/articles/10.3389/feart.2020.00083 DOI=10.3389/feart.2020.00083 ISSN=2296-6463 ABSTRACT=
Neural spine hyper-elongation in tetrapods is a unique morphological adaptation that creates a dorsal sail. While this extreme morphology has appeared several times in the evolutionary history of tetrapods, it was first experimented with by the non-mammalian synapsid paraphyletic group known as “Pelycosaurs,” famously represented by the Permian apex predator