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Evaluating potential growth strategies using bone histology in Pleistocene-Holocene Odocoileus virginianus (Mammalia) from Florida.

Gerwitz, Andrew
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1470322817

Abstract Details

2016, MS, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Earth Sciences.
Among extant North American cervids only Odocoileus virginianus has an abundant Pleistocene-Holocene fossil record through which hypotheses regarding adaptation during periods of climatic and environmental changes can be addressed. Growth history as revealed through bone microstructure can reveal physiological changes through the Pleistocene-Holocene. Limb bones from O. virginianus are abundant throughout the Pleistocene of Florida and provide a unique opportunity to test these hypotheses. Bone microstructure reveals that early Pleistocene Florida deer contained relatively larger and more interconnected fibrolamellar bone early in ontogeny in relation to late Pleistocene and Holocene deer populations. In support of this finding, early ontogenetic growth rates were higher among Pleistocene populations compared to Holocene populations. Osteocyte densities and limb bone measurements when compared with other cervid studies reveal a potential larger skeletal size among Pleistocene O. virginianus as compared to modern populations. This increase in skeletal size may have resulted from higher growth rates during early ontogeny. These observed changes were likely due to both extrinsic and intrinsic factors such as quantity and quality of available resources within the environment along with the seasonality of available resources during phenology. The chronologic trend in both early ontogenetic growth and skeletal size may reflect changes in climatic and environmental conditions but more data needs to be collected from modern populations to rule out ontogenetic, sexual and geographic variation in growth history. This study finds that growth history can vary within an individual species through time, geography and environment, thus future studies on bone microstructure should further address such variation among other organisms. Fossil cervids are an excellent choice for evolutionary growth studies, and when compared directly with modern populations can provide detailed support for analyzing the physiology of fossil organisms.
Jeremy Green , Dr. (Advisor)
Rodney Feldmann, Dr. (Committee Member)
Joseph Ortiz, Dr. (Committee Member)
207 p.
Biology; Geology; Histology; Paleoecology; Paleontology
Fossil, Histology, Artiodactyl, Cervid, Deer, Odocoileus, Pleistocene, Growth, Florida, Paleoecology

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Gerwitz, A. (2016). Evaluating potential growth strategies using bone histology in Pleistocene-Holocene Odocoileus virginianus (Mammalia) from Florida. [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1470322817

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Gerwitz, Andrew. Evaluating potential growth strategies using bone histology in Pleistocene-Holocene Odocoileus virginianus (Mammalia) from Florida. 2016. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1470322817.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Gerwitz, Andrew. "Evaluating potential growth strategies using bone histology in Pleistocene-Holocene Odocoileus virginianus (Mammalia) from Florida." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1470322817

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1470322817
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This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.