Characterizing adaptive morphological patterns related to diet in Bovidae (Mammalia, Artiodactyla))(In English)

摘要

Morphological patterns in the craniodental structure of extant bovids indicative of ecological adaptations for feeding behavior were identified by stepwise discriminant analysis (SCDA). The analyses were carried out using 28 craniodental measurements from 72 extant bovid species. The discriminant functions obtained allow the characterization of six different types of dietary adaptations: general grazers, fresh-grass grazers, mixed-feeders from open habitat, browsers, mixed-feeders from closed habitat, and frugivores. The predictive ability of the algorithms was tested with 1063 specimens, most of them lacking one or more measurements. The mean predictive ability of the discriminant functions over these specimens (94%) is only slightly lower than over the species used to obtain them (98%). Given that the algorithms involve small sets of craniodental measurements, they can also be applied to non-complete specimens from archaeological assemblages. These algorithms , combined with those obtained using postcranial measurements for estimating adaptations related to locomotor performance and habitat choice, are useful for deriving inferences on the autecology of ancient bovids and may be used in paleoenvironmental reconstruction [ Acta Zoologica Sinica 52( 6 ): 988–1008, 2006].