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An alternative method for predicting body mass: the case of the Pleistocene marsupial lion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

Stephen Wroe ,
Troy Myers ,
Frank Seebacher ,
Ben Kear ,
Anna Gillespie ,
Mathew Crowther  and
Steve Salisbury
Stephen Wroe
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences AO8, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Sydney 2006, Australia. E-mail: swroe@bio.usyd.edu.au
Troy Myers
Affiliation:
Marine Fossil Museum, Richmond, Queensland 4822, Australia
Frank Seebacher
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences AO8, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Sydney 2006, Australia. E-mail: swroe@bio.usyd.edu.au
Ben Kear
Affiliation:
South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia
Anna Gillespie
Affiliation:
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia
Mathew Crowther
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences AO8, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Sydney 2006, Australia. E-mail: swroe@bio.usyd.edu.au
Steve Salisbury
Affiliation:
Palaeontology Section, Queensland Museum, Brisbane 4101, Queensland, Australia
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Abstract

Accurate estimates of body mass in fossil taxa are fundamental to paleobiological reconstruction. Predictive equations derived from correlation with craniodental and body mass data in extant taxa are the most commonly used, but they can be unreliable for species whose morphology departs widely from that of living relatives. Estimates based on proximal limb-bone circumference data are more accurate but are inapplicable where postcranial remains are unknown. In this study we assess the efficacy of predicting body mass in Australian fossil marsupials by using an alternative correlate, endocranial volume. Body mass estimates for a species with highly unusual craniodental anatomy, the Pleistocene marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex), fall within the range determined on the basis of proximal limb-bone circumference data, whereas estimates based on dental data are highly dubious. For all marsupial taxa considered, allometric relationships have small confidence intervals, and percent prediction errors are comparable to those of the best predictors using craniodental data. Although application is limited in some respects, this method may provide a useful means of estimating body mass for species with atypical craniodental or postcranial morphologies and taxa unrepresented by postcranial remains. A trend toward increased encephalization may constrain the method's predictive power with respect to many, but not all, placental clades.

Type
Articles
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , Summer 2003 , pp. 403 - 411
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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