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Article Reference Estimating body size in early primates: The case of Archicebus and Teilhardina
Obtaining accurate estimations of the body mass of fossil primates has always been a subject of interest in paleoanthropology because mass is an important determinant for so many other aspects of biology, ecology, and life history. This paper focuses on the issues involved in attempting to reconstruct the mass of two early Eocene haplorhine primates, Teilhardina and Archicebus, which pose particular problems due to their small size and temporal and phylogenetic distance from extant primates. In addition to a ranking of variables from more to less useful, the effect of using models of varying taxonomic and size compositions is examined. Phylogenetic correction is also applied to the primate database. Our results indicate that the choice of variable is more critical than the choice of model. The more reliable variables are the mediolateral breadth across the femoral condyles and the area of the calcaneocuboid facet of the calcaneus. These variables suggest a body mass of 39 g (range 33e46 g) for Archicebus and 48 g (range 44 e56 g) for Teilhardina. The width of the distal femur is found to be the most consistent estimator across models of various composition and techniques. The effect of phylogenetic correction is small but the choice of branch length assumption affects point estimates for the fossils. The majority of variables and models predict the body mass of Archicebus and Teilhardina to be in the range of the smaller extant mouse lemurs, as expected.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Inproceedings Reference Estimating body size in early primates: the case of Archicebus and Teilhardina
Archicebus achilles and Teilhardina belgica are among the earliest Eocene primates so knowledge of their paleobiology is crucial to our understanding of early primate evolution. Since body mass is often a key to evaluating other important aspects of paleobiology determination of the likely body mass of these early primate taxa is a significant task for paleoprimatologists. These particular taxa pose several interesting problems for body mass estimation. First, they are at the far small end of body size distribution of living primates. Secondly, they are not nested within any family of living primates but lie at or near the base of the tarsiiform radiation. Thirdly, their nearest living relatives (tarsiers) are highly derived dentally, cranially, and postcranially. All of these raise the question of how to choose an appropriate reference group. In addition Archicebus, although represented by many skeletal elements, is a sample of one while Teilhardina is represented by more individuals but fewer different skeletal elements. Using samples of extant strepsirhines, tarsiers, and anthropoids to construct bivariate and multiple regression models we investigated the effects of choice of reference population (different size ranges and different phylogenetic groups) on estimates of body mass in these fossil taxa. We conclude that even the best statistical estimates have wide confidence intervals which need to be taken into account if body mass is used to predict other aspects of the fossil taxon’s behavior and ecology.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Misc Reference Estimating ground ant and termite species richness in subtropical forests of Argentina
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Estimation de la stature de la population mérovingienne de Torgny
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Misc Reference Estimation of tropical ant local diversity from partial inventories.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference État de l’invasion de Trichoferus campestris (Faldermann, 1835) au plan international et réflexion sur sa première interception en Belgique
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022 OA
Article Reference Étude anthropologique des sépultures préhistoriques de l’abri des Autours (Province de Namur, Belgique)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Étude archéométrique et recherche de l’origine de la matière première des poteries produites dans l’agglomération gallo-romaine de Tourinnes-Saint-Lambert (Walhain, Belgique).
Year of publication: 2020 Year of printing and availability: 2021
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference text/h323 Etude biostratigraphique et paléoécologique des Ostracodes du sommet du Givétien et de la base du Frasnien à Ave-et-Auffe (Bord sud du Bassin de Dinant, Belgique).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Étude des pierres à aiguiser provenant de cinq sites gallo-romains de la région des Vallées des Eaux-Vives (Sud-Ouest de la Province de Namur, Belgique)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications