Skeletal indicators of locomotor behavior in living and extinct carnivores

Valkenburgh, Blaire Van

doi:10.1080/02724634.1987.10011651

Cited by 297 publications

(309 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

289

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Here we show the results including body size (i.e., those results obtained from Procrustes coordinates), but the results omitting body size (i.e., residuals) are shown in the supplementary material. The results omitting body size should be interpreted with caution, because body size is a variable that influences the degree of substrate use in living taxa and it is a strong limiting factor for arboreal species (e.g., Taylor 1974;Van Valkenburgh 1987). If size-related shape changes (allometric effects) are removed, it is possible that the "substrate-signal" in elbow-shape would be also erased.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…S4). Removing the effects of allometry may also erase important ecomorphological information, as body size is a strong limiting factor for arboreal behavior (e.g., Taylor 1974;Van Valkenburgh 1987). In fact, although Thylacoleo is not outside the body size boundaries of arboreal mammals because it was smaller than large extant apes and many extant bears, it is nevertheless a rather large animal in this respect.…”

Section: Borja Figueirido Et Al!22! !mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Ecomorphological determinations in the absence of living analogues: the predatory behavior of the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex) as revealed by elbow joint morphology

Figueirido¹,

Martín‐Serra²,

Janis

2016

Paleobiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

General rightsThis document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/pure/about/ebr-terms arboreal mammals from terrestrial ones shows that Thylacoleo was primarily terrestrial but with some climbing abilities. We infer from our results that Thylacoleo used its forelimbs for grasping or manipulating prey to much higher degree than its supposed extant placental counterpart, the African lion (Panthera leo). The use of the large and retractable claw on the semi-opposable thumb of Thylacoleo for potentially slashing and disemboweling prey is discussed in the light of this new information.BORJA FIGUEIRIDO ET AL!3! !

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Borja Figueirido Et Al!22! !mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecomorphological determinations in the absence of living analogues: the predatory behavior of the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex) as revealed by elbow joint morphology

Figueirido¹,

Martín‐Serra²,

Janis

2016

Paleobiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…2). These measurements are known to be good indicators of diet (Van Valkenburgh and Koepfli 1993;Friscia et al 2007) and locomotor habits respectively (Van Valkenburgh 1987;Lewis 1997;Samuels and Van Valkenburgh 2008). Measurements were taken from specimens at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (LACM); George C. Page La Brea Tar Pits Museum (LACMHC); Donald R. Dickey collection at UCLA (UCLA); US National Museum of Natural History (USNM); Idaho Museum of Natural History (IMNH); Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument (HAFO), and from the primary literature (Bjork 1970;Wayne 1986;Van Valkenburgh and Koepfli 1993;Friscia et al 2007).…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Novel Multiscale Assessment of Community Assembly across Time, Space, and Functional Niche

Meachen

Roberts²

2014

The American Naturalist

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A basic ecological tenet is that organisms in a community occupy different niches and have different traits, but how consistently competition, selection, and phylogenetic effects structure communities remains uncertain. Are all communities created equal? We examine how mammalian carnivoran communities are assembled with regard to mass, diet, and locomotion. Here, we use a multivariate nearest-neighbor framework to examine multiple North American localities spanning 3 million years to determine whether community assembly is consistent through time and four modern localities around the world to assess the effects of habitat. Additionally, we examined how trait patterns differ among families and how familylevel evolutionary effects affect them. We found some broadly consistent patterns, although differences are more pronounced than similarities. Diet is more affected by evolutionary constraints than by time or place. Locomotion is most affected by habitat, and the ability to partition niches is related to habitat heterogeneity. Mass is influenced by family, but also by habitat and the mass-selective extinction events at the end-Pleistocene. These findings indicate that assembly patterns are not largely determined by within-community interactions but instead show that each community is a product of its independent variables.

show abstract

“…Among the carnivorans, Acinonyx and hyaenids are fast-running taxa that are presently distributed in open environments (Nowak, 1991;Macdonald, 2001). Ailurids, Lynx, Gulo, and Ursus are scansorial (VanValkenburgh, 1987); thus, they require a forested environment. Overall, insectivores and carnivorans contain elements of both forested/humid and dry, open environments.…”

Section: Paleoenvironment and Arboreal Adaptation Of Parapresbytismentioning

confidence: 99%

Distal humerus and ulna of Parapresbytis (Colobinae) from the Pliocene of Russia and Mongolia: phylogenetic and ecological implications based on elbow morphology

Egi

Nakatsukasa

Калмыков

et al. 2007

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Parapresbytis eohanuman is a colobine known from two middle Pliocene localities southeast of Lake Baikal, northern East Asia. This study examined the morphology of postcranial specimens, a distal humerus and an ulna, of Parapresbytis. A total of 18 and 13 linear measurements were taken from the humerus and the ulna, respectively, and compared with those of extant and European fossil colobines using principal components analysis. The distal humeral specimen of Parapresbytis is slightly larger than those of male Semnopithecus and Nasalis, while the ulnar specimen is much larger than those of extant colobines and is nearly as large as that of a male Papio ursinus. Morphologically, the distal humeri and ulnae of terrestrial colobines such as Semnopithecus, Dolichopithecus, and Mesopithecus can be distinguished from those of arboreal colobines. The morphology of the Parapresbytis elbow is within the range of the arboreal colobines, contradicting previous suggestions that this genus is terrestrially adapted and is phylogenetically close to Dolichopithecus. Because the arboreally adapted elbow is shared by most extant colobines, the morphology of the elbow does not provide evidence for phylogenetic proximity between Parapresbytis and a particular taxon of arboreal colobine such as Rhinopithecus. The elbow morphology suggests that Parapresbytis was adapted to arboreal locomotion as much as the extant arboreal colobines are. This is congruent with the paleoenvironmental evidence, which indicates the presence of forests in the Lake Baikal area during the middle Pliocene.

show abstract

Skeletal indicators of locomotor behavior in living and extinct carnivores

Cited by 297 publications

References 42 publications

Ecomorphological determinations in the absence of living analogues: the predatory behavior of the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex) as revealed by elbow joint morphology

Ecomorphological determinations in the absence of living analogues: the predatory behavior of the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex) as revealed by elbow joint morphology

A Novel Multiscale Assessment of Community Assembly across Time, Space, and Functional Niche

Distal humerus and ulna of Parapresbytis (Colobinae) from the Pliocene of Russia and Mongolia: phylogenetic and ecological implications based on elbow morphology

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About