01.09.2014 Views

Boyer diss 2009 1046..

Boyer diss 2009 1046..

Boyer diss 2009 1046..

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

cranial measurements are generally accurate to at least a tenth of a millimeter. These<br />

measurements were used to compare shape and size differences between Plesiadapis<br />

cookei (UM 87990) and other plesiadapids.<br />

In order to assess possible dietary differences, digital surface models were created<br />

from HRxCT scans of teeth and analyzed. The data were processed according to<br />

methods in <strong>Boyer</strong> (2008) and Evans et al. (2007). Two analyses were undertaken using<br />

these images: (1) Two and three dimensional tooth crown surface area measurements<br />

from M 2 ’s were used to calculate relief indices (<strong>Boyer</strong>, 2008); and (2) The software<br />

SurferManipulator (Evans et al., 2007) was used to calculate the complexity of the<br />

occlusal surface via a metric called an orientation patch count (OPC) (Evans et al. 2007)<br />

(Table 3.4). Relief indices and OPC’s have higher values in taxa that include greater<br />

proportions of structural carbohydrate in their diets (Evans et al. 2007; <strong>Boyer</strong>, 2008).<br />

Thus these metrics provide a means for estimating dietary differences among<br />

plesiadapids.<br />

184

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!