Feeding Habits of Plio-Pleistocene Large Carnivores as Revealed by the Mandibular Geometry

摘要: ABSTRACT Extant large members of the order Carnivora show high variability in feeding adaptation. Morphology their teeth and skull is a primer to predict diet both extant extinct species. Here I present complete geometric morphometric survey mandible (>7 kg) make paleoecological predictions for selected Plio-Pleistocene taxa. Mandibular size shape data support strong differentiation between families but also convergence due functional adaptations hunting prey. Linear discriminant function analyses are performed obtain dietary on fossil taxa with statistical accuracy. There level discrimination among categories, especially when subsets predator non-predator carnivores analyzed separately. New insights emerge whose paleoecology was previously inferred. accurate predictors carnivores, being more relevan...