Comparison of Miocene to early Pleistocene-aged Castor californicus (Rodentia: Castoridae) to extant beavers and implications for the evolution of Castor in North America

IF 2 4区地球科学 Q1 Earth and Planetary Sciences

Palaeontologia Electronica Pub Date : 2023-01-01 DOI:10.26879/1284

Kelly Lubbers, Joshua Samuels

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Abstract

The beaver, genus Castor, is represented in North America today by Castor canadensis and in Eurasia by C. fiber. Historically, the fossil Miocene to early Pleistocene-aged North American beaver C. californicus has been considered a distinct species from C. canadensis due to its larger size. In this study, we test the hypothesis that the morphology of Miocene to early Pleistocene-aged fossils of C. californicus differs from that of the extant C. canadensis. Specimens of fossil and extant Castor were compared using 2D geometric morphometrics of skull and dentary material and linear measurements of postcranial material to analyze morphological differences between species and determine whether C. californicus fits within the range of intraspecific variation seen in C. canadensis. Results show that C. canadensis is highly variable in both skull and postcranial morphology, and C. californicus falls largely within the range of variation seen within the extant species. The morphological similarities between the two species suggest that they can be treated as ecological analogs and may represent change in a single species through time, although a rigorous evaluation of whether they are conspecific will require more data. Kelly E. Lubbers. The Mammoth Site, Hot Springs, South Dakota 57747, USA and Department of Geosciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee 37614, USA. kellyl@mammothsite.org Joshua X. Samuels. Department of Geosciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee 37614, USA and Don Sundquist Center of Excellence in Paleontology, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee, 37614, USA. samuelsjx@etsu.edu

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中新世至更新世早期加利福尼亚蓖麻与现存海狸的比较及其对北美洲蓖麻进化的启示

海狸，蓖麻属，今天在北美以加拿大蓖麻为代表，在欧亚大陆以蓖麻为代表。从历史上看，中新世到更新世早期的北美海狸化石加利福尼亚狸被认为是与加拿大狸不同的物种，因为它的体型更大。在本研究中，我们验证了中新世至更新世早期加利福尼亚加利福尼亚蝉化石的形态与现存的加拿大蝉不同的假设。化石标本和现存Castor比较使用2 d几何形态学的头骨和牙齿的材料和线性测量postcranial材料来分析不同物种形态差异,确定c californicus适合种内变异的范围在黄花。结果表明,c .黄花是高度可变的头骨和postcranial形态、和c californicus瀑布中的主要变化的范围内看到现存的物种。两个物种之间的形态相似性表明它们可以被视为生态类似物，并且可能代表单个物种随时间的变化，尽管对它们是否同种的严格评估将需要更多的数据。Kelly E. Lubbers。猛犸遗址，美国南达科他州温泉，57747;美国田纳西州约翰逊市，东田纳西州立大学地球科学系，37614。kellyl@mammothsite.org约书亚·塞缪尔斯。东田纳西州立大学地球科学系，美国田纳西州约翰逊市37614;东田纳西州立大学唐·桑德奎斯特古生物学卓越中心，美国田纳西州约翰逊市37614。samuelsjx@etsu.edu

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来源期刊

Palaeontologia Electronica 地学-古生物学

CiteScore

3.60

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

>12 weeks

期刊介绍： Founded in 1997, Palaeontologia Electronica (PE) is the longest running open-access, peer-reviewed electronic journal and covers all aspects of palaeontology. PE uses an external double-blind peer review system for all manuscripts. Copyright of scientific papers is held by one of the three sponsoring professional societies at the author''s choice. Reviews, commentaries, and other material is placed in the public domain. PE papers comply with regulations for taxonomic nomenclature established in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants.