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Population Dynamics of the Three-Toed Horse Neohipparion from the Late Miocene of Florida

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Richard C. Hulbert Jr.
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Abstract

A late Miocene population of Neohipparion cf. leptode from the Love Bone Bed of Florida was found to have 13 discrete annual age classes based on eruption sequences and tooth wear. The large sample size of individuals (minimum number = 229) allowed the estimation of standard population parameters, including age-specific mortality rates. The average age of death for a newborn was 3.5 years, but those individuals that survived the 64% juvenile mortality occurring during the first two years lived an average of 8.0 years. The potential longevity of this species of Neohipparion had not increased beyond that of known samples of Merychippus, despite increased crown height. The paleoenvironment of the collecting site was a wooded grassland savanna with annual wet and dry seasons. The Neohipparion population migrated into the area during the dry season but left in the wet season to give birth away from the collecting site.

Type
Articles
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , Spring 1982 , pp. 159 - 167
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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