Estimating the body mass of extinct ungulates: a study on the use of multiple regression
M. Mendoza,
C. M. Janis,
P. Palmqvist,
M. Mendoza
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga, Spain
Search for more papers by this authorC. M. Janis
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
Search for more papers by this authorP. Palmqvist
Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga, Spain
Search for more papers by this author
M. Mendoza,
C. M. Janis,
P. Palmqvist,
M. Mendoza
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga, Spain
Search for more papers by this authorC. M. Janis
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
Search for more papers by this authorP. Palmqvist
Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga, Spain
Search for more papers by this author
Correspondence
Manuel Mendoza, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Box G-B207, Brown University, Providence, RI 0291, USA.
Email: [email protected]
Manuel Mendoza, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Box G-B207, Brown University, Providence, RI 0291, USA.
Email: [email protected]
Abstract
The correlation between body mass and both skeletal and dental measures in living mammals has enabled paleontologists to obtain reliable estimates of body size for extinct species, usually using log-transformed bivariate least-squares regression equations. Multiple regression, however, has rarely been used for estimating the mass of extinct species, although this technique can clearly improve the predictive equations compared with those adjusted by simple regression. However, the use of multiple regression is problematical, because even those functions explaining a high percentage of the variance of the dependent variable (i.e. body mass) can show a rather limited predictive power. After analyzing which factors determine the predictive ability of multiple regression equations, we propose a new set of algorithms that allow the estimation of the body mass of extinct ungulates. These algorithms are finally applied to three Miocene ungulate species, Dinohippus leidyanus, Stenomylus hitchcocki and Aletomeryx scotti.
Supporting Information
Appendix S1 Ungulate species, family, body mass (BM, in kg) and 25 craniodental measurements (in cm) used in this study (see description in Table 1 and Fig. 1). Asterisks indicate extinct species.
| Filename | Description |
|---|---|
| JZO94AppendixS1.doc790.5 KB | Supporting info item |
Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.
References
- Alexander, R.McN., Jayes, S.A., Maloiy, G.M.O. & Wathuta, M.E. (1979). Allometry of the limb bones of mammals from shrews (Sorex) to elephant (Loxodonta). J. Zool. (Lond.) 189, 305–314.
- Anderson, J.F., Hall-Martin, A. & Russell, D.A. (1985). Long-bone circumference and weight in mammals, birds and dinosaurs. J. Zool. (Lond.) 207, 53–61.
- Andersson, K. (2004). Predicting carnivoran body mass from a weight-bearing joint. J. Zool. (Lond.) 262, 161–172.
- Anyonge, W. (1993). Body mass in large extant and extinct carnivores. J. Zool. (Lond.) 231, 339–350.
- Beard, K.C., Tong, Y., Dawson, M.R., Wang, J. & Huang, X. (1996). Earliest complete dentition of an anthropoid primate from the Late Middle Eocene of Shanxi Province, China. Science 272, 82–85.
- Biewener, A. (1982). Bone strength in small mammals and bipedal birds: do safety factors change with body size? J. Exp. Biol. 98, 289–301.
- Biknevicius, A.R. (1999). Body mass estimation in armoured mammals: cautions and encouragements for the use of parameters from the appendicular skeleton. J. Zool. (Lond.) 248, 179–187.
- Calder, W.A. (1984). Size, function and life history. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Cartelle, C. & Hartwig, W.C. (1996). A new extinct primate among the Pleistocene megafauna of Bahia, Brazil. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93, 6405–6409.
- Cheverud, J.M., Dow, M.M. & Leutenegger, W. (1985). The quantitative assessment of phylogenetic constraints in comparative analyses: sexual dimorphism in body weight among primates. Evolution 39, 1335–1351.
- Christiansen, P. (1999). What size were Arctodus simum and Ursus spelaeus (Carnivora: Ursidae)? Ann. Zool. Fenn. 36, 93–102.
- Christiansen, P. (2004). Body size in proboscideans, with notes on elephant metabolism. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 140, 523–549.
- Christiansen, P. & Fariña, R.A. (2003). Mass estimation of two fossil ground sloths (Mammalia, Xenarthra: Mylodontidae). Senckenbergiana Biol. 83, 95–101.
- Damuth, J. (1990). Problems in estimating body masses of archaic ungulates using dental measurements. In Body size in mammalian paleobiology: 229–253. J. Damuth & B.J. MacFadden (Eds). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Damuth, J. & MacFadden, B.J. (1990). Body size in mammalian paleobiology: estimation and biological implications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Darlington, R.B. (1990). Regression and linear models. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Delson, E., Terranova, C.J., Jungers, W.L., Sargis, E.J., Jablonski, N.G. & Dechow, P.C. (2000). Body mass in Cercopithecidae (Primates, Mammalia): estimation and scaling in extinct and extant taxa. Anthropological papers, Number 83. New York: American Museum of Natural History.
- Draper, N.R. & Smith, H. (1998). Applied regression analysis. 3rd edn. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
10.1002/9781118625590 Google Scholar
- Fariña, R.A., Vizcaino, S.F. & Bargo, M.S. (1998). Body mass estimations in Lujanian (Late Pleistocene–Early Holocene of South America) mammal megafauna. Mastozool. Neot. 5, 87–108.
- Felsenstein, J. (1985). Phylogenies and the comparative method. Am. Nat. 125, 1–15.
- Flynn, J.J., Wyss, A.R., Charrier, R. & Swisher, C.C. (1995). An early Miocene anthropoid skull from the Chilean Andes. Nature 373, 603–607.
- Gagnon, M. (1997). Ecological diversity and community ecology in the Fayum sequence (Egypt). J. Hum. Evol. 32, 133–160.
- Garland, T. Jr & Ives, A.R. (2000). Using the past to predict the present: confidence intervals for regression equations in phylogenetic comparative methods. Am. Nat. 155, 346–364.
- Gebo, D.L., MacLatchy, L., Kityo, R., Deino, A., Kingston, J. & Pilbeam, D. (1997). A hominoid genus from the early Miocene of Uganda. Science 276, 401–404.
- Gingerich, P.D. (1990). Prediction of body mass in mammalian species from long bone lengths and diameters. Contrib. Mus. Pal. Univ. Michigan 28, 79–92.
- Gingerich, P.D., Smith, B.H. & Rossenberg, K. (1982). Allometric scaling in the dentition of primates and prediction of body weight from tooth size in fossils. Am. J. Phys. Anthrop. 58, 81–100.
- Hammer, M.L.A. & Foley, R.A. (1996). Longevity and life history in hominid evolution. J. Hum. Evol. 11, 61–66.
10.1007/BF02456989 Google Scholar
- Harvey, P.H. & Pagel, M.D. (1991). The comparative method in evolutionary biology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
10.1093/oso/9780198546412.001.0001 Google Scholar
- Honey, J.G., Harrison, J.A., Prothero, D.R. & Stevens, M.S. (1998). Camelidae. In Evolution of tertiary mammals of North America: 439–462. C.M. Janis, K.M. Scott & L.L. Jacobs (Eds). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
10.1017/CBO9780511529924.032 Google Scholar
- Janis, C.M. (1990a). The correlation between diet and dental wear in herbivorous mammals, and its relationship to the determination of diets of extinct species. In Paleobiological evidence for rates of coevolution and behavioral evolution: 241–259. A.J. Boucot (Ed.). New York: Elsevier.
- Janis, C.M. (1990b). Correlation of cranial and dental variables with body size in ungulates and macropodoids. In Body size in mammalian paleobiology: 255–300. J. Damuth & B.J. MacFadden (Eds). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Janis, C.M. (1995). Correlations between craniodental morphology and feeding behaviour in ungulates: reciprocal illumination between living and fossil taxa. In Functional morphology in vertebrate paleontology: 76–98. J.J. Thomason (Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Janis, C.M. & Manning, E. (1998). Dromomerycidae. In Evolution of tertiary mammals of North America: 477–490. C.M. Janis, K.M. Scott & L.L. Jacobs (Eds). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
10.1017/CBO9780511529924.034 Google Scholar
- Jungers, W.L. (1985). Body size and scaling of limb proportions in primates. New York: Plenum Press.
- Jungers, W.L. (1990). Problems and methods in reconstructing body size in fossil primates. In Body size in mammalian paleobiology: 103–118. J. Damuth & B.J. MacFadden (Eds). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Kappelman, J., Plummer, T., Bishop, L., Duncan, A. & Appleton, S. (1997). Bovids as indicators of Plio–Pleistocene paleoenvironments in East Africa. J. Hum. Evol. 32, 229–256.
- Kay, R.F., Johnson, D. & Meldrum, D.J. (1998). A new pitheciin primate from the Middle Miocene of Argentina. Am. J. Primatol. 45, 317–336.
- Kingdon, J. (1979). East African mammals: an atlas of evolution in Africa. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
- Kordos, L. & Begun, D.R. (2001). Primates from Rudabánya: allocation of specimens to individuals, sex and age categories. J. Hum. Evol. 40, 17–39.
- MacFadden, B.J. (1986). Fossil horses from Eohippus (Hyracotherium) to Equus: scaling, Cope's law, and the evolution of body size. Paleobiology 12, 355–369.
- MacFadden, B.J. (1998). Equidae. In Evolution of tertiary mammals of North America: 537–559. C.M. Janis, K.M. Scott & L.L. Jacobs (Eds). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
10.1017/CBO9780511529924.039 Google Scholar
- MacFadden, B.J., Solounias, N. & Cerling, T.E. (1999). Ancient diets, ecology, and extinction of 5-million-year-old horses from Florida. Science 283, 824–827.
- Maxwell, S.E. (2000). Sample size and multiple regression analysis. Psychol. Methods 5, 434–458.
- McCrossin, M.L. (1994). The phylogenetic relationships, adaptations and ecology of Kenyapithecus. PhD dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.
- Mendoza, M. (2004). How communities evolve. Proceedings of the fifth international conference on complex systems, Boston, May 2004.
- Mendoza, M. (2005). Paleoautecología de Ungulados: Hacia una caracterización ecomorfológica compleja. Ameghiniana. 42, 233–248.
- Mendoza, M., Goodwin, B. & Criado, C. (2004). Emergence of community structure in land mammal-dominated ecosystems. J. Theor. Biol. 230, 203–214.
- Mendoza, M., Janis, C.M. & Palmqvist, P. (2002). Characterizing complex craniodental patterns related to feeding behavior in ungulates: a multivariate approach. J. Zool. (Lond.) 258, 223–246.
- Mendoza, M., Janis, C.M. & Palmqvist, P. (2005). Ecological patterns in the trophic-size structure of mammal communities: a taxon-free characterization. Evol. Ecol. Res. 7, 505–530.
- Norusis, M.J. (1988). SPSSx advanced statistical guide. Chicago: SPSS Inc.
- Nowak, R.M. (1999). Walker's mammals of the world. 6th edn. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press.
- Palmqvist, P., Arribas, A. & Martínez-Navarro, B. (1999). Ecomorphological study of large canids from southeastern Spain. Lethaia 32, 75–88.
- Palmqvist, P., Mendoza, M., Arribas, A. & Grocke, D. (2002). Estimating the body mass of Pleistocene canids: discussion of some methodological problems and a new ‘taxon free’ approach. Lethaia 35, 358–360.
- Payseur, B.A., Covert, H.H., Vinyard, C.J. & Dagosto, M. (1999). New body mass estimates for Omomys carteri, a Middle Eocene primate from North America. Am. J. Phys. Anthrop. 109, 41–52.
10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(199905)109:1<41::AID-AJPA5>3.0.CO;2-X CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
- Peters, R.H. (1983). The ecological implications of body size. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Ruff, C.B. (1987). Structural allometry in femur and tibia in Hominoidea and Macaca, with comparisons to diaphyseal scaling. J. Hum. Evol. 17, 687–714.
- Ruff, C.B. (1988). Hindlimb articular surface allometry in Hominoidea and Macaca. Folia Primatol. 48, 9–29.
- Ruff, C.B. (1989). New approaches to structural evolution of limb bones in primates. Folia Primatol. 53, 142–159.
- Scott, K.M. (1990). Postcranial dimensions of ungulates as predictors of body mass. In Body size in mammalian paleobiology: 301–335. J. Damuth & B.J. MacFadden (Eds). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Semprebon, G., Janis, C.M. & Solounias, N. (2004). The diets of the Dromomerycidae (Mammalia: Artiodactyla) and their response to Miocene vegetational change. J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 24, 427–444.
- Smith, R.J. (1984). Allometric scaling in comparative biology: problems of concept and method. Am. J. Physiol. 246, 152–160.
- Smith, R.J. (2002). Estimation of body mass in paleontology. J. Hum. Evol. 42, 271–287.
- Solounias, N. & Semprebon, G. (2002). Advances in the reconstruction of ungulate ecomorphology with application to early fossil equids. Am. Mus. Novit. 3366, 1–49.
- Van Valen, L. (1960). A functional index of hypsodonty. Evolution 14, 531–532.
10.2307/2406003 Google Scholar
- Van Valkenburgh, B. (1990). Skeletal and dental predictors of body mass in carnivores. In Body size in mammalian paleobiology: 181–205. J. Damuth & B.J. MacFadden (Eds). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Viranta, S. (1994). Limb bone proportions and body mass of the cave bear (Ursus spelaeus). Hist. Biol. 7, 239–250.
10.1080/10292389409380456 Google Scholar
- Walker, A., Teaford, M.F., Martin, L. & Andrews, P. (1993). A new species of Proconsul from the early Miocene of Rusinga/Mfangano Islands, Kenya. J. Hum. Evol. 25, 43–56.
