DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.11.036
论文题名: Increasing locomotor efficiency among North American ungulates across the Oligocene-Miocene boundary
作者: Levering D. ; Hopkins S. ; Davis E.
刊名: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
ISSN: 0031-0182
出版年: 2017
卷: 466 起始页码: 279
结束页码: 286
语种: 英语
英文关键词: Artiodactyla
; Cursorial
; Locomotion
; Mechanics
; Perissodactyla
英文摘要: The proportions of the limb bones of tetrapods contribute to the energetic costs of locomotion. Consequently, they can be used to classify locomotor type and can inform hypotheses about changes in community structure. We examined mechanical advantage in the limbs of North American Oligocene and Miocene ungulates (Artiodactyla and Perissodactyla), with the expectation that the distribution of limb morphologies would change with the spread of grass-dominated plant communities; that is, we expect to find morphological optimization for efficient high-speed locomotion with more open habitats. We assess changes in the occupation of locomotor ecomorphospace (LEMS) through time using measurements of the lengths of stylopods and zeugopods of North American ungulate species. Analysis of LEMS reveals significant changes in dominant ungulate locomotor morphology between Oligocene and Miocene faunas. Oligocene ungulates show less variation in LEMS than Miocene ungulates. Artiodactyls show a significant selection towards cursorial morphologies (p < 0.01) in the Miocene. A majority of artiodactyls are non-cursorial in the Oligocene, but only one family occupies the non-cursorial morphospace in the Miocene. Perissodactyls maintain similar levels of disparity in limb proportions in the Miocene as in the Oligocene (p = 0.72), but more perissodactyls occupy the cursorial morphospace in the Miocene than the Oligocene. Our results suggest that the shift from closed to relatively open habitat structure from the Oligocene to the Miocene is associated with a significant change in the proximal limb locomotor anatomy and associated limb mechanics of North American ungulate species. © 2016 Citation statistics:
资源类型: 期刊论文
标识符: http://119.78.100.158/handle/2HF3EXSE/68033
Appears in Collections: 过去全球变化的重建
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作者单位: Department of Education, FHSU Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Hays, KS, United States; Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United States; Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United States; Museum of Natural and Cultural History, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United States
Recommended Citation:
Levering D.,Hopkins S.,Davis E.. Increasing locomotor efficiency among North American ungulates across the Oligocene-Miocene boundary[J]. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology,2017-01-01,466