Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-8mjnm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-19T02:50:47.275Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

16 - Morphological change in woodrat (Rodentia: Cricetidae) molars

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2009

Robert A. Martin
Affiliation:
Berry College, Georgia
Anthony D. Barnosky
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
Get access

Summary

Woodrat (Rodentia: Cricetidae) molars have a number of features that have exhibited morphological change over geological time. These changes have included modification of the occlusal pattern, with a corresponding change in direction of mastication, increasing depth of the reentrant folds, development of dentine tracts, and increasing numbers of anatomical roots. These features and their variations over time can be useful in differentiating between taxa and may have some biostratigraphic and phylogenetic significance as well.

Woodrats have been reported from deposits of Hemphillian age in Texas (Dalquest, 1983) and Kansas (Hibbard, 1967); however, those samples were so small (N = 2 in each case) that there was little basis for comparison with younger specimens. Therefore, this study is based on characters and changes observed among Blancan and younger woodrats. Likewise, this study should be considered preliminary, as many more fossil and extant samples need to be examined in detail. However, I hope the information provided herein will be of benefit by delimiting characters and patterns that can be considered by others in subsequent studies.

Appendix A contains a list of fossil woodrats. Included in this list is the name of the fauna from which the fossil was obtained, the location and age of the fauna, the basis for the age assignment, and a primary reference. I have attempted to list all records of extinct species. Representative occurrences of extant species are taken from Harris (1985) and Kurtén and Anderson (1980).

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×