SGER: Scanning Electron Microscope Imaging of Bat and Rodent Long Bone Sections: A Potential Source of Climatic and Physiological Information from the Fossil Record

这项探索性研究调查了蝙蝠和啮齿动物骨骼中的环结构可能提供气候信息的可能性。现代动物中冬眠和不冬眠的长骨片段将被嵌入、切片并在扫描电子显微镜下进行检查。从理论上讲，这些行为差异所代表的骨骼形态应该是不同的。如果成功，这种方法可以用来探索古代哺乳动物的生理策略，或许可以在许多哺乳动物群体中识别出最早的麻木化石证据。环结构也可以用来推断更新世期间的气候变化，这可能与间冰期和冰川周期一致。

Martin.9904282This exploratory research investigates the possibility that ring structures in bat and rodent bones may provide climatic information. Long bone segments in modern animals that hibernate and those that do not will be embedded, sectioned, and examined under a scanning electron microscope. Theoretically, there should be differences in skeletal morphology represented by these behavioral differences. If successful, this approach can be used to explore the physiological strategies of ancient mammals, perhaps identifying the earliest fossil evidence for torpor in many mammalian groups. Ring structures could also be used to infer climatic changes during the Pleistocene, perhaps consistent with interglacial and glacial cycles.