Feeding habits of Plio-Pleistocene large carnivores as revealed by the mandibular geometry

2011/03/17 by Carlo Meloro · 5 citations
Mathematics · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · #Morphological variations and asymmetry #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

paper · doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.550357

openalex publication_date 2011/03/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

Extant large members of the order Carnivora show high variability in feeding adaptation. Morphology of their teeth and skull is a primer to predict diet in both extant and extinct species. Here I present a complete geometric morphometric survey of mandible of large (>7 kg) Carnivora in order to make paleoecological predictions for selected Plio-Pleistocene taxa. Mandibular size and shape data support a strong differentiation between families but also convergence due to functional adaptations to hunting prey. Linear discriminant function analyses are performed in order to obtain dietary predictions on fossil taxa with statistical accuracy. There is a high level of discrimination among dietary categories, especially when subsets of predator and non-predator carnivores are analyzed separately. New insights emerge for Plio-Pleistocene fossil taxa whose paleoecology was previously inferred. Mandibular size and shape data are accurate dietary predictors in large carnivores, with size being more relevant to clarify adaptations in killing prey of different size classes.

Citations

• Co-existence of scimitar-toothed cats, lions and hominins in the European Pleistocene. Implications of the post-cranial anatomy of (Owen) for comparative palaeoecology
• Diet and Co-ecology of Pleistocene Short-Faced Bears and Brown Bears in Eastern Beringia
• Taxonomy and evolutionary patterns in the fossil Hyaenidae of Europe
• Geometric morphometrics: recent applications to the study of evolution and development
• Sexual dimorphism in the canines and skulls of carnivores: effects of size, phylogency, and behavioural ecology
• Probable human hair found in a fossil hyaena coprolite from Gladysvale cave, South Africa
• Ecomorphology of the giant short-faced bearsAgriotheriumandArctodus
• Cranial morphology and dietary habits of rodents
• Ecomorphological indicators of feeding behaviour in the bears (Carnivora: Ursidae)
• Deja vu: the evolution of feeding morphologies in the Carnivora
• Molecular Phylogeny of the Carnivora (Mammalia): Assessing the Impact of Increased Sampling on Resolving Enigmatic Relationships
• Inferring palaeoecology in extinct tremarctine bears (Carnivora, Ursidae) using geometric morphometrics
• BITE FORCES AND EVOLUTIONARY ADAPTATIONS TO FEEDING ECOLOGY IN CARNIVORES
• Evolution of Skull and Mandible Shape in Cats (Carnivora: Felidae)
• Mandibular force profiles of extant carnivorans and implications for the feeding behaviour of extinct predators
• Dogs

Cited by

• Elbow Joint Geometry in Bears (Ursidae, Carnivora): a Tool to Infer Paleobiology and Functional Adaptations of Quaternary Fossils
• On the association of giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus) and brown bear (Ursus arctos) in late Pleistocene North America
• Was the Giant Short-Faced Bear a Hyper-Scavenger? A New Approach to the Dietary Study of Ursids Using Dental Microwear Textures
• The effect of body size evolution and ecology on encephalization in cave bears and extant relatives
• Arctodus [wikipedia]