Rodent incisor microwear as a proxy for ecological reconstruction
Rodent incisor microwear as a proxy for ecological reconstruction
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DOI：
10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.01.013
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发表时间：
2016-03-15
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Ungar, Peter S.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Caporale, Salvatore S.;Ungar, Peter S.
由于啮齿类动物的活动范围分散且在许多化石和考古组合中普遍存在和丰富，啮齿类动物作为古环境数据的来源受到越来越多的关注。此外，啮齿动物在调节生态系统结构和功能方面发挥着至关重要的作用，并且可能与当地栖息地密切相关。这项研究评估了啮齿动物门牙微磨损纹理作为环境指标的潜力，并评估了从信号中解析饮食、基质和栖息地影响的程度。使用共焦轮廓测定法分析下切牙的微磨损纹理，并使用尺度敏感的分形分析进行量化。分析的标本 (n = 430) 代表杂食性、草食性和果食性物种，一些是树栖的，一些是陆生的，采集自非洲沙漠、稀树草原、林地和雨林栖息地。结果表明，饮食、栖息地和基质都会影响啮齿动物门牙微磨损图案，并且这种方法有可能提供有关过去物种生态学的重要信息。 (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. 保留所有权利。
Increasing attention has been directed toward rodents as a source of paleoenvironmental data due to their discrete home ranges and their ubiquity and abundance in many fossil and archeological assemblages. Further, rodents playa vital role in regulating ecosystem structure and function, and may be closely tied to local habitat. This study assesses the potential of incisor microwear textures of rodents as an environmental proxy and evaluates the extent to which effects of diet, substrate, and habitat can be parsed from the signal. Microwear textures on lower incisors were analyzed using confocal profilometry and quantified using scale-sensitive fractal analysis. Specimens analyzed (n = 430) represent omnivorous, herbivorous, and frugivorous species, some arboreal and some terrestrial, collected from African desert, savanna, woodland, and rainforest habitats. Results suggest diet, habitat, and substrate all contribute to rodent incisor microwear patterning, and that this approach holds potential to provide important information about the ecology of past species. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.