Revised Body Mass Estimates for Extinct Lemurs.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Body mass estimates for extinct animals are critical for informing hypotheses and analyses related to behavioral ecology, extinction risk, and locomotor modes. These estimates underpin reconstructions of behavioral ecology, especially for Madagascar's extinct subfossil lemurs. Previous estimates, based on femoral and humeral midshaft cortical areas, did not account for phylogenetic relatedness, potentially impacting their accuracy. This study updates body mass estimates for extinct lemurs using phylogenetically informed methods.

Materials and methods

We analyzed 64 femora from 10 extinct lemur species. Each specimen was scanned using a Bruker SkyScan 1178 micro-CT scanner to obtain high-resolution images of femoral cortical areas. These data were combined to form

SUBMITTER: Thompson KET 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12625801 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature