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Comparing ungulate dietary proxies using discriminant function analysis.

Danielle Fraser¹, Jessica M Theodor

¹Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6. danielle.lee.fraser@gmail.com

Journal of Morphology

|September 15, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Dietary proxies for ungulates are evaluated for reconstructing extinct animal diets. Combining tooth-wear (mesowear, microwear) and morphological proxies (hypsodonty) offers the most accurate classification of ancient ungulate diets.

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Protocol for Assessing the Relative Effects of Environment and Genetics on Antler and Body Growth for a Long-lived Cervid

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Area of Science:

Paleontology
Paleoecology
Functional Morphology

Background:

Ungulate diets are reconstructed using tooth-wear and morphological proxies.
Previous studies often used these proxies in isolation or varied combinations.
A consistent statistical analysis across all available dietary proxy datasets was lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

To assess the effectiveness of commonly used dietary proxies in classifying ungulates as browsers, grazers, or mixed feeders.
To compare the performance of individual proxies versus combinations of proxies.
To provide guidance for selecting appropriate dietary proxies in paleoecological research.

Main Methods:

Discriminant function analysis was applied to individual and combined dietary proxies.
Proxies analyzed include hypsodonty, mesowear, microwear, and cranial proxies.
Phylogenetic relatedness was controlled for in analyses.

Main Results:

Tooth-wear proxies (mesowear, microwear) generally outperformed morphological proxies.
No single proxy provided strong isolated dietary classification.
Combining hypsodonty, mesowear, and microwear yielded high classification success.
A combination of all tested proxies achieved 100% dietary classification accuracy.

Conclusions:

The combination of multiple dietary proxies, particularly tooth-wear and hypsodonty, significantly improves the accuracy of reconstructing ungulate diets.
Mixed feeders showed similarities to browsers, potentially indicating an evolutionary 'fitness valley'.
These findings are crucial for guiding future paleoecological studies and proxy selection.