Intra-specific variation and allometry of the skull of Late Cretaceous side-necked turtle Bauruemys elegans (Pleurodira, Podocnemididae) and how to deal with morphometric data in fossil vertebrates.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Previous quantitative studies on Bauruemys elegans (Suárez, 1969) shell variation, as well as the taphonomic interpretation of its type locality, have suggested that all specimens collected in this locality may have belonged to the same population. We rely on this hypothesis in a morphometric study of the skull. Also, we tentatively assessed the eating preference habits differentiation that might be explained as due to ontogenetic changes.

Methods

We carried out an ANOVA testing 29 linear measurements from 21 skulls of B. elegans taken by using a caliper and through images, using the ImageJ software. First, a Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was performed with 27 measurements (excluding total length and width characters; =raw data) in order to vis

SUBMITTER: Mariani TF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5390767 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature