I am wondering about rates of non-metric traits in ringed seal bones. In a collection of archaeological fauna from Port Clarence on the Seward Peninsula I have found approximately 30% of the seals identified as ringed seals lack the entepicondylar foramen on the medio-distal humerus. Does anyone have data on the normal occurrence of this non-metric trait in seals or mammals in general? And is there a demonstrated genetic link? Could the high rates of occurrence be linked to population impacts or are they normal for seal populations?
See: A new dwarf seal from the late Neogene of South America and the evolution of pinnipeds in the southern hemisphere, DOI: 10.1002/spp2.1033. The paper addresses this exact question in Australophoca changorum :-)
Thanks Andrew! That's interesting that the presence of an entepicondylar foramen is used as an indicator that it is a Phocid rather than Monachin seal. But not a very good indicator if it is not present in Phocids 1/3 of the time ! I will have to check in with modern skeletal collections to see if these rates are typical or if my seals went through some sort of genetic bottleneck that made the loss of the trait more common. Thanks again!
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Linguistics
- Composition Studies
- Publication