  A detailed analysis of the crystal structure in RETiO3 with RE = La, Nd, Sm,
Gd, and Y reveals an intrinsic coupling between orbital degrees of freedom and
the lattice which cannot be fully attributed to the structural deformation
arising from bond-length mismatch. The TiO6 octahedra in this series are all
irregular with the shape of the distortion depending on the RE ionic radius.
These octahedron distortions vary more strongly with temperature than the tilt
and rotation angles. Around the Ti magnetic ordering all compounds exhibit
strong anomalies in the thermal-expansion coefficients, these anomalies exhibit
opposite signs for the antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic compounds.
Furthermore the strongest effects are observed in the materials close to the
magnetic cross-over from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic order.
