Nongeographic variation in the rufous elephant shrew, Elephantulus rufescens (Peters, 1878), from Kenya

Matson, John O.; Courtright, M.; Lester, Lori A.

doi:10.1515/mamm.1984.48.4.593

Cited by 3 publications

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“…In their analyses, Rautenbach and Schütter (1977) found the lengths of the anterior and posterior palatine foramina and length of nasals to be the most variable cranial measurements. Similar results for the palatine foramina were obtained by Matson et al (1984) for another species, E. rufescens from Kenya. Our analyses shows that these three characteristics are, in general, not more variable than the others.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 84%

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Morphological variability and species limits in elephant shrews (Elephantulus intufi and E. rupestris) from Namibia

Matson¹,

Blood²

1998

Mamm

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Morphological differences within and between Namibian populations of Elephantulus intufi (N = 116) and E. rupestris (N = 24) were assessed by use of univariate and multivariate analyses. Four external and 16 cranial measurements were recorded for each specimen and assessed for the contribution of age (four classes), sex, and locality. Variation within and between populations of both species is low. Age classes 1 (juveniles) and 2 (subadults) were significantly smaller than the other age classes (3 and 4). There was no evidence of sexual dimorphism in E. intufi. E. rupestris males were significantly larger in six of the 20 measurements and averaged larger in 12 others. Geographic variation was not detected among these specimens. Multivariate analyses provided means to assess the limits of morphological distinction between these two species. Resume. -Les differences morphologiques ä Tinterieur de populations namibiennes d'Elephantulus intufi (N =116) et E. rupestris (N = 24) et entre elles, ont ete etudiees par I'intermediaire d'analyses uni-et multivariees. Quatre mensurations externes et 16 mesures cräniennes ont eto prises en compte pour chaque specimen, et les contributions de Tage (4 classes), du sexe et de la localite a leur variation ont ete evaluees. La variation, qu'elle soit ä l'interieur ou et entre les populations de chaque espece, est faible. Les classes d'age 1 (juveniles) et 2 (subadultes) 6taient composees d'individus significativement plus petits que les autres classes d'age (3 et 4).Nous n'avons pas mis en evidence un dimorphisme sexuel chez E. intufi. Les males d'£. rupestris etaient en revanche significativement plus grands que les femelles pour 6 des 20 mesures, et en moyenne plus grands pour 12 autres. Aucune variation goographique n'a ete detectee parmi ces specimens. Les analyses multivariees ont permis d'evaluer les limites de la distinction morphologique entre ces deux especes.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 84%

“…-In previous studies of non-geographic variation in elephant shrews (Rautenbach and Schütter 1977;Matson et al 1984), sample sizes were too small to assess the effects of age variation. The analysis of age variation in this study was limited to E. intufi because of small sample size for E. rupestris.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological variability and species limits in elephant shrews (Elephantulus intufi and E. rupestris) from Namibia

Matson¹,

Blood²

1998

Mamm

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“…Even within the species E brachyrhymhus then is much individual and regional variation (Butler & Greenwood, 1976). Variation in the development of lingual cusps on p2 of E. rufacens was recorded by Matson, Courtright & Lester (1984). Broom (1937) proposed the generic name Elephantomys for 'E.…”

Section: Macroscelidinae (Figs 4 and 5)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Fossil Macroscelidea

Butler

1995

Mammal Review

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The fossil record of elephant‐shrews, confined to Africa, goes back to the Eocene, but only three pre‐Miocene genera have been described. The two existing subfamilies, Rhynchocyoninae and Macroscelidinae, were clearly distinct in the Miocene and must have diverged much earlier, but their relationships with the Eocene Herodotinae (Chambius, Herodotius) and the Oligocene Metoldobotes are unclear. The Herodotinae have primitive characters which seem to link them with hyopsodontid condylarths. The Rhynchocyoninae have undergone only minor change since the Early Miocene. On the other hand, the Macroscelidinae, which appear in the record only in the Middle Miocene, diversified to produce at least five species in South Africa in the Pliocene. The Early Miocene Myohyracinae appear to be the sister‐group of the Macroscelidinae, with the dentition specialized for a herbivorous or seed‐eating diet. The origin of Macroscelididae is uncertain: some shared cranial characters suggest a common origin with anagalids, lagomorphs and rodents, but the dentition and eye‐lens proteins suggest condylarth relationships.

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Occipital condyle width (OCW) is a highly accurate predictor of body mass in therian mammals

Engelman

2022

BMC Biol

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Background Body mass estimation is of paramount importance for paleobiological studies, as body size influences numerous other biological parameters. In mammals, body mass has been traditionally estimated using regression equations based on measurements of the dentition or limb bones, but for many species teeth are unreliable estimators of body mass and postcranial elements are unknown. This issue is exemplified in several groups of extinct mammals that have disproportionately large heads relative to their body size and for which postcranial remains are rare. In these taxa, previous authors have noted that the occiput is unusually small relative to the skull, suggesting that occiput dimensions may be a more accurate predictor of body mass. Results The relationship between occipital condyle width (OCW) and body mass was tested using a large dataset (2127 specimens and 404 species) of mammals with associated in vivo body mass. OCW was found to be a strong predictor of body mass across therian mammals, with regression models of Mammalia as a whole producing error values (~ 31.1% error) comparable to within-order regression equations of other skeletal variables in previous studies. Some clades (e.g., monotremes, lagomorphs) exhibited specialized occiput morphology but followed the same allometric relationship as the majority of mammals. Compared to two traditional metrics of body mass estimation, skull length, and head-body length, OCW outperformed both in terms of model accuracy. Conclusions OCW-based regression models provide an alternative method of estimating body mass to traditional craniodental and postcranial metrics and are highly accurate despite the broad taxonomic scope of the dataset. Because OCW accurately predicts body mass in most therian mammals, it can be used to estimate body mass in taxa with no close living analogues without concerns of insufficient phylogenetic bracketing or extrapolating beyond the bounds of the data. This, in turn, provides a robust method for estimating body mass in groups for which body mass estimation has previously been problematic (e.g., “creodonts” and other extinct Paleogene mammals).

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Nongeographic variation in the rufous elephant shrew, Elephantulus rufescens (Peters, 1878), from Kenya

Cited by 3 publications

References 1 publication

Morphological variability and species limits in elephant shrews (Elephantulus intufi and E. rupestris) from Namibia

Morphological variability and species limits in elephant shrews (Elephantulus intufi and E. rupestris) from Namibia

Fossil Macroscelidea

Occipital condyle width (OCW) is a highly accurate predictor of body mass in therian mammals

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