A Contribution to the Evolutionary History of Ethiopian Hipparionine Horses (Mammalia, Equidae): Morphometric Evidence From de Postcranial Skeleton
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-1-2005
Description
A morphometric analysis of third metapodials and first phalanges of Middle Awash and Hadar hipparions dating from the 6.0-3.0 Ma interval was conducted using two methods. Morphological comparisons using standard metrics were made using: 1) log10 ratio diagrams; 2) size independent variables developed with reference to scaling trends for hipparions in general. Results of these analyses suggest that hipparion diversity during this temporal interval was relatively low. A single dominant gracile lineage of Eurygnathohippus Van Hoepen, 1930, most plausibly derived from the Lothagam (Kenya) species Eurygnathohippus feibeli (Bernor & Harris, 2003), would appear to have persisted throughout this interval and is marked by increases in size with measured change in metapodial and phalangeal morphology. A rarer, more robust form is found in the Ethiopian sample at 4.0 Ma and is morphometrically similar to Eurygnathohippus turkanense Hooijer & Maglio, 1973 from late Miocene horizons of Lothagam. Another smaller form, of uncertain systematic status, appears likely late in the Kada Hadar sequence, c. 3.0 Ma.
Citation Information
Bernor, Raymond L.; Scott, Robert S.; and Haile-Selassie, Yohannes. 2005. A Contribution to the Evolutionary History of Ethiopian Hipparionine Horses (Mammalia, Equidae): Morphometric Evidence From de Postcranial Skeleton. Geodiversitas. Vol.27(1). 133-158. https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/sites/default/files/articles/pdf/g2005n1a4.pdf ISSN: 1280-9659