Landmark Analysis of Musteloid Carnassials Applied to Taxonomic
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East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 8-2012 Landmark Analysis of Musteloid Carnassials Applied to Taxonomic Identification and Examination of Sexual Dimorphism and Regional Morphotypes Joel Alvin Christine East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd Part of the Paleontology Commons Recommended Citation Christine, Joel Alvin, "Landmark Analysis of Musteloid Carnassials Applied to Taxonomic Identification and Examination of Sexual Dimorphism and Regional Morphotypes" (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1452. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1452 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Landmark Analysis of Musteloid Carnassials Applied to Taxonomic Identification and Examination of Sexual Dimorphism and Regional Morphotypes –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– A thesis presented to the faculty of the Department of Geosciences East Tennessee State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Science in Geosciences –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– by Joel Alvin Christine August 2012 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Dr. Steven C. Wallace, Chair Dr. Blaine W. Schubert Dr. Jim I. Mead Keywords: Carnassial, Guy Wilson Cave, Landmark Analysis, Musteloids, Pleistocene ABSTRACT Landmark Analysis of Musteloid Carnassials Applied to Taxonomic Identification and Examination of Sexual Dimorphism and Regional Morphotypes by Joel Alvin Christine Guy Wilson Cave (GWC) in Sullivan County, Tennessee holds many late Pleistocene mammal fossils. Based on visual morphology, several partial mandibles with lower carnassial from GWC appeared to be musteloids. Geometric morphometrics has been successfully used to identify fragmentary fossils, so a landmark based, 2 dimensional technique was applied to identify the GWC musteloids using the lower carnassial. Digital images of several GWC fossils and of extant reference musteloids were combined using morphometric programs tpsDIG1, tpsUtil, and tpsSuper. Statistical data analysis was performed in PASW Statistics. Results successfully separated Mephitis mephitis (striped skunk) from M. macroura (hooded skunk) and Martes americana (American marten) from M. pennanti (fisher). Sex-based and geographical patterns were also found in the data. Sex separated all three species via the lower carnassial. Geographic divisions were found for Mephitis mephitis, Martes americana and M. pennanti populations that hint at interestingly unique biogeographical histories for each taxon. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author would like to thank the vertebrate paleontology faculty at East Tennessee State University – Drs. Steven Wallace, Blaine Schubert, and Jim Mead – for their advice and encouragement throughout the course of this thesis project. Sincere thanks are also owed to Ms. April Nye and Mr. Brett Woodward, collections managers at the East Tennessee State University and General Shale Brick Natural History Museum and Visitor Center, for their courtesy and professionalism in allowing access to the Guy Wilson Cave fossils. A special mention goes to Ms. Sandra Swift for her advice and assistance in getting high-quality photographic images of the various specimens involved. Last but by no means least, a debt of thanks is owed to Ms. Suzanne C. Peurach, the Collections Manager for North American mammals at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, for allowing access to an extensive number of musteloid specimens being kept at the Smithsonian’s Museum Support Center (MSC) in Suitland, Maryland. 3 CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................ 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................................... 3 LIST OF TABLES.................................................................................................................. 6 LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................................ 7 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................................. 10 Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................. 11 2. BACKGROUND.................................................................................................... 14 3. MATERIALS AND METHODS............................................................................ 18 4. RESULTS............................................................................................................... 26 5. DISCUSSION......................................................................................................... 45 Identifying the Guy Wilson Cave Fossils.......................................................... 45 Searching for Patterns in the Data: Sexual Dimorphism................................... 47 Searching for Patterns in the Data: Regional Morphotypes.............................. 49 Searching for Patterns in the Data: Stepwise DA Plot Omission; Summary.... 52 6. CONCLUSION....................................................................................................... 54 REFERENCES....................................................................................................................... 57 APPENDICES........................................................................................................................ 63 Appendix A. Statistical Summary for all Martes Specimens, Reference and Fossil. 63 Appendix B. Statistical Summaries for all Mephitid Specimens............................... 64 4 Appendix C. Statistical Summaries for all Mephitid Specimens and all Mephitis spp. Specimens, Guy Wilson Cave Included..................................................... 65 Appendix D. Statistical Summary for all Martes americana, by Sex and Geographical Region.......................................................................................... 66 Appendix E. Statistical Summary for all Martes pennanti, by Sex and Geographical Region.......................................................................................... 67 Appendix F. Statistical Summary for all Mephitis mephitis, by Sex and Geographical Region.......................................................................................... 68 Appendix G. Specimens from the Smithsonian Institute’s NMNH in this Study...... 69 VITA....................................................................................................................................... 75 5 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Marten (Martes americana) and Fisher (Martes pennanti) Landmark Types (based on Bookstein 1991), with Descriptions............................................................................. 23 2. Mephitid Landmark Types (based on Bookstein 1991), with Descriptions........................ 23 6 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. US and Tennessee Maps................................................................................................... 12 2. Left Lower Carnassial for Fisher (Martes pennanti) Specimen ETMNH 497 in Occlusal View........................................................................................................... 16 3. Guy Wilson Cave Fossil Teeth Studied for this Thesis.................................................... 19 4. tpsDIG1 Screenshot of the Lower Left Carnassial for Fisher (Martes pennanti) Reference Specimen ETMNH 598, Showing all 23 Landmarks............................... 21 5. tpsDIG1 Screenshot of the Lower Left Carnassial for Mephitid Reference Specimen NMNH 120100 (Mephitis macroura), Showing all 23 Landmarks.......................... 22 6. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) Plot of Reference Marten (Martes americana) and Fisher (M. pennanti) Specimens......................................................................... 26 7. Discriminant Analysis (DA) Histogram Plot of Reference Martes americana and M. pennanti Specimens.............................................................................................. 27 8. Stepwise Discriminant Analysis Histogram for Reference Martes americana and M. pennanti Specimens................................................................................................... 27 9. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) Plot of all Martes americana and M. pennanti Specimens, Guy Wilson Cave Included.................................................................... 28 10. Discriminant Analysis Histogram Plot of all Martes americana and M. pennanti Specimens, Guy Wilson Cave Included.................................................................... 29 11. Stepwise Discriminant Analysis Histogram Plot for all Martes americana and M. pennanti Specimens, Guy Wilson Cave Included..................................................... 29 7 12. Principal Component Analysis Plot of Mephitid Reference Specimens......................... 30 13. Discriminant Analysis Plot for Mephitid Reference Specimens..................................... 31 14. Stepwise DA Plot