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Marivaux L, López LWV, Boivin M, Da Cunha L, Fabre PH, Joannes-Boyau R, Maincent G, Münch P, Stutz NS, Vélez-Juarbe J, Antoine PO. Incisor enamel microstructure of West Indian caviomorph hystricognathous rodents (Octodontoidea and Chinchilloidea). J MAMM EVOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-022-09631-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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2
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Kropacheva YE, Smirnov NG. Transition of Small Mammals from Live Elements of the Biocenoses to a Subfossil State. BIOL BULL+ 2021. [DOI: 10.1134/s1062359021070177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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3
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Ungar PS, Saylor L, Sokolov AA, Sokolova NA, Gilg O, Montuire S, Royer A. Incisor microwear of Arctic rodents as a proxy for microhabitat preference. Mamm Biol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-021-00138-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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4
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Assessing molar wear in narrow-headed voles as a proxy for diet and habitat in a changing Arctic. Mamm Biol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-020-00079-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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5
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Tracing the Paleobiology of Paedotherium and Tremacyllus (Pachyrukhinae, Notoungulata), the Latest Sciuromorph South American Native Ungulates – Part I: Snout and Masticatory Apparatus. J MAMM EVOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-020-09516-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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6
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis D. Verde Arregoitia
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas Universidad Austral de Chile Campus Isla Teja Valdivia CP 5090000 Chile
| | - Guillermo D’Elía
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas Universidad Austral de Chile Campus Isla Teja Valdivia CP 5090000 Chile
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7
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Álvarez A, Ercoli MD, Olivares AI, De Santi NA, Verzi DH. Evolutionary Patterns of Mandible Shape Diversification of Caviomorph Rodents. J MAMM EVOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-020-09511-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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8
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Robinet C, Merceron G, Candela AM, Marivaux L. Dental microwear texture analysis and diet in caviomorphs (Rodentia) from the Serra do Mar Atlantic forest (Brazil). J Mammal 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyz194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
The Serra do Mar Atlantic forest (Brazil) shelters about 15 different species of caviomorph rodents and thus represents a unique opportunity to explore resource partitioning. We studied 12 species with distinct diets using dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA). Our results revealed differences (complexity, textural fill volume, and heterogeneity of complexity) among species with different dietary preferences, and among taxa sharing the same primary dietary components but not those with similar secondary dietary preferences (heterogeneity of complexity). We found three main dietary tendencies characterized by distinct physical properties: consumers of young leaves had low complexity; bamboo specialists, fruit and seed eaters, and omnivorous species, had intermediate values for complexity; grass, leaf, and aquatic vegetation consumers, had highly complex dental microwear texture. Dietary preferences and body mass explained a major part of the resource partitioning that presumably enables coexistence among these rodent species. DMTA was useful in assessing what foods contributed to resource partitioning in caviomorphs. Our database for extant caviomorph rodents is a prerequisite for interpretation of dental microwear texture of extinct caviomorph taxa, and thus for reconstructing their diets and better understanding the resource partitioning in paleocommunities and its role in the successful evolutionary history of this rodent group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Céline Robinet
- División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina
| | - Gildas Merceron
- Laboratoire PALEVOPRIM (UMR 7262 CNRS-INEE & Université de Poitiers) Université de Poitiers, Poitiers Cedex, France
| | - Adriana M Candela
- División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina
| | - Laurent Marivaux
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier (ISE-M, UMR 5554 CNRS/UM/IRD/EPHE), c.c. 064, Université de Montpellier, Place E. Bataillon, France
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9
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Álvarez A, Ercoli MD, Verzi DH. Integration and diversity of the caviomorph mandible (Rodentia: Hystricomorpha): assessing the evolutionary history through fossils and ancestral shape reconstructions. Zool J Linn Soc 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
AbstractCaviomorph rodents constitute a highly diverse clade of Neotropical mammals. They are recorded since at least the late Middle Eocene and have a long and complex evolutionary history. Using geometric morphometric data, we analysed the variation in mandibular shape of this clade through integration analyses, allometry and shape optimizations onto a phylogenetic tree of 104 extant and extinct species. The analyses of shape variation revealed a strong influence of phylogenetic structure and life habits. A remarkable allometric effect was observed for specific mandibular traits. Morphological changes occurring in the alveolar and muscular functional units were moderately associated. Interestingly, the coordinated evolution of these two functional units was decoupled in the clade of extant abrocomids. A sequential and nearly synchronic acquisition of convergent traits has occurred in chinchillids and derived cavioids since at least the early Middle Oligocene, probably derived from grass-feeding habits or similar adaptations to other abrasive items. Convergences between fossorial taxa evolved in two main events through the Oligocene and middle Late Miocene. Morphological analysis of the fossil representatives allowed a better understanding of the timing of trait acquisitions during the evolutionary history of caviomorphs and its relationship with global and regional palaeoenvironmental changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alicia Álvarez
- Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas (INECOA), Universidad Nacional de Jujuy, CONICET, IdGyM, San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina
| | - Marcos D Ercoli
- Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas (INECOA), Universidad Nacional de Jujuy, CONICET, IdGyM, San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina
| | - Diego H Verzi
- Sección Mastozoología, Museo de La Plata, CONICET, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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10
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Morris PJR, Cox PG, Cobb SN. Mechanical significance of morphological variation in diprotodont incisors. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2019; 6:181317. [PMID: 31031997 PMCID: PMC6458350 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.181317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2018] [Accepted: 02/20/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
All rodents possess a single pair of enlarged incisors that grow throughout life. This condition (diprotodonty) is characteristic of Rodentia, but is also found in other mammals such as lagomorphs, hyraxes, the aye-aye and common wombat. This study surveyed lower incisor morphology across extant diprotodonts to examine shape variation within and between rodents and other diprotodonts, and to determine if tooth shape varies in a manner predictable from mechanics. Six linear and area variables were recorded from microCT scans of the mandibles of 33 diprotodont mammals. The curvature of the rodent lower incisors, as measured by the proportion of a circle it occupies, was shown to vary between 20 and 45%, with non-Glires taxa falling outside this range. Relative lengths of the portions of the incisor within and external to the mandible were not significantly correlated when the overall size was taken into account. Cross-sectional geometry of the incisor was significantly correlated with the external length of the incisor. Overall, incisor morphology was shown to vary in a way predictable from ecology and mechanics, in order to resist bending. Among non-rodents, lagomorph incisors closely resemble those of rodents, and, relative to rodents, hyrax and wombat incisors are somewhat smaller but aye-aye incisors are much more extreme in morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Philip G. Cox
- Department of Archaeology and Hull York Medical School, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Samuel N. Cobb
- Department of Archaeology and Hull York Medical School, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
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11
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Fraser D, Haupt RJ, Barr WA. Phylogenetic signal in tooth wear dietary niche proxies. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:5355-5368. [PMID: 29938058 PMCID: PMC6010706 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2018] [Revised: 02/23/2018] [Accepted: 02/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
In the absence of independent observational data, ecologists and paleoecologists use proxies for the Eltonian niches of species (i.e., the resource or dietary axes of the niche). Some dietary proxies exploit the fact that mammalian teeth experience wear during mastication, due to both tooth-on-tooth and food-on-tooth interactions. The distribution and types of wear detectible at micro- and macroscales are highly correlated with the resource preferences of individuals and, in turn, species. Because methods that quantify the distribution of tooth wear (i.e., analytical tooth wear methods) do so by direct observation of facets and marks on the teeth of individual animals, dietary inferences derived from them are thought to be independent of the clade to which individuals belong. However, an assumption of clade or phylogenetic independence when making species-level dietary inferences may be misleading if phylogenetic niche conservatism is widespread among mammals. Herein, we test for phylogenetic signal in data from numerous analytical tooth wear studies, incorporating macrowear (i.e., mesowear) and microwear (i.e., low-magnification microwear and dental microwear texture analysis). Using two measures of phylogenetic signal, heritability (H2) and Pagel's λ, we find that analytical tooth wear data are not independent of phylogeny and failing to account for such nonindependence leads to overestimation of discriminability among species with different dietary preferences. We suggest that morphological traits inherited from ancestral clades (e.g., tooth shape) influence the ways in which the teeth wear during mastication and constrain the foods individuals of a species can effectively exploit. We do not suggest that tooth wear is simply phylogeny in disguise; the tooth wear of individuals and species likely varies within some range that is set by morphological constraints. We therefore recommend the use of phylogenetic comparative methods in studies of mammalian tooth wear, whenever possible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle Fraser
- PalaeobiologyCanadian Museum of NatureOttawaONCanada
- Department of PaleobiologySmithsonian InstitutionNational Museum of Natural HistoryWashingtonDistrict of Columbia
| | - Ryan J. Haupt
- Department of PaleobiologySmithsonian InstitutionNational Museum of Natural HistoryWashingtonDistrict of Columbia
- Department of Geology and GeophysicsUniversity of WyomingLaramieWyoming
| | - W. Andrew Barr
- Department of PaleobiologySmithsonian InstitutionNational Museum of Natural HistoryWashingtonDistrict of Columbia
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human PaleobiologyDepartment of AnthropologyGeorge Washington UniversityWashingtonDistrict of Columbia
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12
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Zykov SV, Kropacheva YE, Smirnov NG, Dimitrova YV. Molar Microwear of Narrow-Headed Vole (Microtus gregalis Pall., 1779) Depending on the Feed Abrasiveness. DOKLADY BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES : PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE USSR, BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES SECTIONS 2018. [PMID: 29536400 DOI: 10.1134/s0012496618010052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
In the narrow-headed vole, enamel microwear of the first mandibular molar (of the protoconid and entoconid anterior enamel wall) was studied under the laboratory conditions and at the fixed feed composition. The classic parameters and the area of the enamel prism lesion were taken into account. The enamel lesion patterns caused by the tooth-tooth and tooth-food interactions have been determined. Differences were found between the voles kept on feed with different abrasive properties, as well as between the lingual and buccal conids of the first mandibular molar. In the Microtus species, the ratio of micro-lesions (pits and scratches) did not depend on the abrasive properties of the feed consumed. The extent of preservation of the enamel contour anterior edge depended on the feed composition and could be used as an indicator for indirect evaluation of the Microtus species diet.
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Affiliation(s)
- S V Zykov
- Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg, Russia.
| | - Yu E Kropacheva
- Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg, Russia
| | - N G Smirnov
- Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg, Russia
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13
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Using Dental Mesowear and Microwear for Dietary Inference: A Review of Current Techniques and Applications. VERTEBRATE PALEOBIOLOGY AND PALEOANTHROPOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-94265-0_5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
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14
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Burgman JHE, Leichliter J, Avenant NL, Ungar PS. Dental microwear of sympatric rodent species sampled across habitats in southern Africa: Implications for environmental influence. Integr Zool 2016; 11:111-27. [PMID: 26748948 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Dental microwear textures have proven to be a valuable tool for reconstructing the diets of a wide assortment of fossil vertebrates. Nevertheless, some studies have recently questioned the efficacy of this approach, suggesting that aspects of habitat unrelated to food preference, especially environmental grit load, might have a confounding effect on microwear patterning that obscures the diet signal. Here we evaluate this hypothesis by examining microwear textures of 3 extant sympatric rodent species that vary in diet breadth and are found in a variety of habitat types: Mastomys coucha, Micaelamys namaquensis and Rhabdomys pumilio. We sample each of these species from 3 distinct environmental settings in southern Africa that differ in rainfall and vegetative cover: Nama-Karoo shrublands (semi-desert) and Dry Highveld grasslands in the Free State Province of South Africa, and Afromontane (wet) grasslands in the highlands of Lesotho. While differences between habitat types are evident for some of the species, inconsistency in the pattern suggests that the microwear signal is driven by variation in foods eaten rather than grit-level per se. It is clear that, at least for species and habitats sampled in the current study, environmental grit load does not swamp diet-related microwear signatures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenny H E Burgman
- Environmental Dynamics Program, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA
| | - Jennifer Leichliter
- Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
| | - Nico L Avenant
- National Museum and University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa
| | - Peter S Ungar
- Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA
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15
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Christensen HB. Similar associations of tooth microwear and morphology indicate similar diet across marsupial and placental mammals. PLoS One 2014; 9:e102789. [PMID: 25099537 PMCID: PMC4123885 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0102789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2013] [Accepted: 06/24/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Low-magnification microwear techniques have been used effectively to infer diets within many unrelated mammalian orders, but the extent to which patterns are comparable among such different groups, including long extinct mammal lineages, is unknown. Microwear patterns between ecologically equivalent placental and marsupial mammals are found to be statistically indistinguishable, indicating that microwear can be used to infer diet across the mammals. Microwear data were compared to body size and molar shearing crest length in order to develop a system to distinguish the diet of mammals. Insectivores and carnivores were difficult to distinguish from herbivores using microwear alone, but combining microwear data with body size estimates and tooth morphology provides robust dietary inferences. This approach is a powerful tool for dietary assessment of fossils from extinct lineages and from museum specimens of living species where field study would be difficult owing to the animal’s behavior, habitat, or conservation status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hilary B Christensen
- The University of Chicago, Department of Geophysical Sciences, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America; Bates College, Geology Department, Lewiston, Maine, United States of America
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16
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Laakkonen J, Kankaanpää T, Corfe IJ, Jernvall J, Soveri T, Keovichit K, Hugot JP. Gastrointestinal and Dental Morphology of Herbivorous Mammals: Where does the Laotian Rock Rat Fit? ANN ZOOL FENN 2014. [DOI: 10.5735/086.051.0216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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17
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Schulz E, Piotrowski V, Clauss M, Mau M, Merceron G, Kaiser TM. Dietary abrasiveness is associated with variability of microwear and dental surface texture in rabbits. PLoS One 2013; 8:e56167. [PMID: 23405263 PMCID: PMC3566079 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0056167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2012] [Accepted: 01/08/2013] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Dental microwear and 3D surface texture analyses are useful in reconstructing herbivore diets, with scratches usually interpreted as indicators of grass dominated diets and pits as indicators of browse. We conducted feeding experiments with four groups of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) each fed a different uniform, pelleted diet (lucerne, lucerne & oats, grass & oats, grass). The lowest silica content was measured in the lucerne and the highest in the grass diet. After 25 weeks of exposure to the diets, dental castings were made of the rabbit's lower molars. Occlusal surfaces were then investigated using dental microwear and 3D areal surface texture analysis. In terms of traditional microwear, we found our hypothesis supported, as the grass group showed a high proportion of (long) “scratches” and the lucerne group a high proportion of “pits”. Regardless of the uniform diets, variability of microwear and surface textures was higher when silica content was low. A high variability in microwear and texture analysis thus need not represent dietary diversity, but can also be related to a uniform, low-abrasion diet. The uniformity or variability of microwear/texture analysis results thus might represent varying degrees of abrasion and attrition rather than a variety of diet items per se.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen Schulz
- Biocenter Grindel and Zoological Museum, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
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18
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Hautier L, Lebrun R, Cox PG. Patterns of covariation in the masticatory apparatus of hystricognathous rodents: Implications for evolution and diversification. J Morphol 2012; 273:1319-37. [DOI: 10.1002/jmor.20061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2012] [Revised: 06/06/2012] [Accepted: 06/07/2012] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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Hystricognathy vs sciurognathy in the rodent jaw: a new morphometric assessment of hystricognathy applied to the living fossil Laonastes (Diatomyidae). PLoS One 2011; 6:e18698. [PMID: 21490933 PMCID: PMC3072414 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0018698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2010] [Accepted: 03/08/2011] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
While exceptional for an intense diversification of lineages, the evolutionary history of the order Rodentia comprises only a limited number of morphological morphotypes for the mandible. This situation could partly explain the intense debates about the taxonomic position of the latest described member of this clade, the Laotian rock rat Laonastes aenigmamus (Diatomyidae). This discovery has re-launched the debate on the definition of the Hystricognathi suborder identified using the angle of the jaw relative to the plane of the incisors. Our study aims to end this ambiguity. For clarity, it became necessary to revisit the entire morphological diversity of the mandible in extant and extinct rodents. However, current and past rodent diversity brings out the limitations of the qualitative descriptive approach and highlights the need for a quantitative approach. Here, we present the first descriptive comparison of the masticatory apparatus within the Ctenohystrica clade, in combining classic comparative anatomy with morphometrical methods. First, we quantified the shape of the mandible in rodents using 3D landmarks. Then, the analysis of osteological features was compared to myological features in order to understand the biomechanical origin of this morphological diversity. Among the morphological variation observed, the mandible of Laonastes aenigmamus displays an intermediate association of features that could be considered neither as sciurognathous nor as hystricognathous.
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Whitlock JA. Inferences of diplodocoid (Sauropoda: Dinosauria) feeding behavior from snout shape and microwear analyses. PLoS One 2011; 6:e18304. [PMID: 21494685 PMCID: PMC3071828 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0018304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2010] [Accepted: 02/24/2011] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND As gigantic herbivores, sauropod dinosaurs were among the most important members of Mesozoic communities. Understanding their ecology is fundamental to developing a complete picture of Jurassic and Cretaceous food webs. One group of sauropods in particular, Diplodocoidea, has long been a source of debate with regard to what and how they ate. Because of their long lineage duration (Late Jurassic-Late Cretaceous) and cosmopolitan distribution, diplodocoids formed important parts of multiple ecosystems. Additionally, fortuitous preservation of a large proportion of cranial elements makes them an ideal clade in which to examine feeding behavior. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Hypotheses of various browsing behaviors (selective and nonselective browsing at ground-height, mid-height, or in the upper canopy) were examined using snout shape (square vs. round) and dental microwear. The square snouts, large proportion of pits, and fine subparallel scratches in Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Nigersaurus, and Rebbachisaurus suggest ground-height nonselective browsing; the narrow snouts of Dicraeosaurus, Suuwassea, and Tornieria and the coarse scratches and gouges on the teeth of Dicraeosaurus suggest mid-height selective browsing in those taxa. Comparison with outgroups (Camarasaurus and Brachiosaurus) reinforces the inferences of ground- and mid-height browsing and the existence of both non-selective and selective browsing behaviors in diplodocoids. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE These results reaffirm previous work suggesting the presence of diverse feeding strategies in sauropods and provide solid evidence for two different feeding behaviors in Diplodocoidea. These feeding behaviors can subsequently be tied to paleoecology, such that non-selective, ground-height behaviors are restricted to open, savanna-type environments. Selective browsing behaviors are known from multiple sauropod clades and were practiced in multiple environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- John A Whitlock
- Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America.
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FIRMAT CYRIL, RODRIGUES HELDERGOMES, RENAUD SABRINA, CLAUDE JULIEN, HUTTERER RAINER, GARCIA-TALAVERA FRANCISCO, MICHAUX JACQUES. Mandible morphology, dental microwear, and diet of the extinct giant rats Canariomys (Rodentia: Murinae) of the Canary Islands (Spain). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2010. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2010.01488.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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22
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Green JL. Intertooth Variation of Orthodentine Microwear in Armadillos (Cingulata) and Tree Sloths (Pilosa). J Mammal 2009. [DOI: 10.1644/08-mamm-a-257r1.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
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McWilliams DA. Determinants for the diet of captive agoutis (Dasyprocta spp.). Vet Clin North Am Exot Anim Pract 2009; 12:279-ix. [PMID: 19341954 DOI: 10.1016/j.cvex.2009.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
A critical factor affecting the dietary requirements of captive Dasyprocta species is their previous classification as a frugivore when there is evidence that supports classification as an omnivore. Other factors relevant to feeding captive Dasyprocta include the gastrointestinal tract anatomy, endogenous ascorbic acid, scatter-hoarding behavior, metabolic rate, apparent dietary requirements, life stage nutrition, diabetes, and dental caries and pathology. This article presents information currently available in the literature relevant to the dietary needs of captive Dasyprocta species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deborah A McWilliams
- American Association of Zoos and Aquariums Rodent, Insectivore and Lagomorph Taxon Advisory Group (AZA RIL-TAG), USA.
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24
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Rodrigues HG, Merceron G, Viriot L. Dental microwear patterns of extant and extinct Muridae (Rodentia, Mammalia): ecological implications. Naturwissenschaften 2009; 96:537-42. [PMID: 19127354 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-008-0501-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2008] [Revised: 12/08/2008] [Accepted: 12/11/2008] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Extant species of Muridae occupy a wide array of habitats and have diverse dietary habits. Consequently, their dental microwear patterns represent a potential clue to better understand the paleoecology of their extinct relatives, which are abundant in many Old World Neogene localities. In this study, dental microwear is investigated for specimens of 17 extant species of murine and deomyine rodents in order to test the reliability of this method and infer dietary preferences on the fossil species Saïdomys afarensis. This extinct form comes from a mid-Pliocene site (AL 327) located at the Hadar Formation (Ethiopia) known to have delivered many hominid specimens of Australopithecus afarensis. A significant correlation between microwear patterns and diet is detected. Thus, grass, fruit, and insect eaters display, respectively, high amounts of fine scratches, wide scratches, and large pits. Moreover, some aspects of the paleoecology of S. afarensis, including feeding habits, could be assessed in regard to its dental microwear pattern. Indeed, it probably had feeding habits similar to that of living grass eaters. These results concur with the presence of open to woodland areas covered by an herbaceous vegetal layer, including monocotyledons, in the vicinity of this mid-Pliocene locality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helder Gomes Rodrigues
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie-Paléobiologie-Phylogénie, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de l'Université Montpellier II, UMR CNRS 5554; Case courrier 064, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34 095, Montpellier cedex 5, France.
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