Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Quaternary mammals and evolutionary theory: introductory remarks and historical perspective
- 2 A method for recognizing morphological stasis
- 3 Mosaic evolution at the population level in Microtus pennsylvanicus
- 4 Variogram analysis of paleontological data
- 5 Morphological change in Quaternary mammals: a role for species interactions?
- 6 Rates of evolution in Plio-Pleistocene mammals: six case studies
- 7 Patterns of dental variation and evolution in prairie dogs, genus Cynomys
- 8 Quantitative and qualitative evolution in the giant armadillo Holmesina (Edentata: Pampatheriidae) in Florida
- 9 Evolution of mammoths and moose: the Holarctic perspective
- 10 Evolution of hypsodonty and enamel structure in Plio-Pleistocene rodents
- 11 Patterns of variation and speciation in Quaternary rodents
- 12 Decrease in body size of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) during the late Holocene in South Carolina and Georgia
- 13 Short–term fluctuations in small mammals of the late Pleistocene from eastern Washington
- 14 Size change in North American Quaternary jaguars
- 15 Ontogenetic change of Ondatra zibethicus (Arvicolidae, Rodentia) cheek teeth analyzed by digital image processing
- 16 Morphological change in woodrat (Rodentia: Cricetidae) molars
- Index
15 - Ontogenetic change of Ondatra zibethicus (Arvicolidae, Rodentia) cheek teeth analyzed by digital image processing
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Quaternary mammals and evolutionary theory: introductory remarks and historical perspective
- 2 A method for recognizing morphological stasis
- 3 Mosaic evolution at the population level in Microtus pennsylvanicus
- 4 Variogram analysis of paleontological data
- 5 Morphological change in Quaternary mammals: a role for species interactions?
- 6 Rates of evolution in Plio-Pleistocene mammals: six case studies
- 7 Patterns of dental variation and evolution in prairie dogs, genus Cynomys
- 8 Quantitative and qualitative evolution in the giant armadillo Holmesina (Edentata: Pampatheriidae) in Florida
- 9 Evolution of mammoths and moose: the Holarctic perspective
- 10 Evolution of hypsodonty and enamel structure in Plio-Pleistocene rodents
- 11 Patterns of variation and speciation in Quaternary rodents
- 12 Decrease in body size of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) during the late Holocene in South Carolina and Georgia
- 13 Short–term fluctuations in small mammals of the late Pleistocene from eastern Washington
- 14 Size change in North American Quaternary jaguars
- 15 Ontogenetic change of Ondatra zibethicus (Arvicolidae, Rodentia) cheek teeth analyzed by digital image processing
- 16 Morphological change in woodrat (Rodentia: Cricetidae) molars
- Index
Summary
The muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus Linnaeus, 1766), a rodent of North American origin, was introduced into Europe in 1905; it spread quickly and is now abundant along coasts, lakes, rivers, and tributaries throughout western Europe.
The stratigraphic implications of Ondatra were first published by Semken (1966), who prepared a bivariate graph of M1 length versus width. The resulting chronocline, which indicated a gradual size increase from Ondatra idahoensis through Ondatra zibethicus, was correlated with relatively rapid increases in dentine track height (including hypsodonty) and increasing amounts of cement in the reentrant angles. The next year, Hibbard and Zakrzewski (1967) suggested that Pliopotamys was probably an ancestor of Ondatra. Zakrzewski (1969) graphically added Pliopotamys minor and Pliopotamys meadensis to the M1 length/ width bivariate and convincingly demonstrated that Pliopotamys was ancestral to Ondatra. This evolutionary lineage was reinforced by Schultz, Tanner, and Martin (1972) and Martin (1979, 1984) with additional specimens from critical local faunas of the central Great Plains. Nelson and Semken (1970) added a paleoecological indicator, via modern topocline, to the analysis of North American muskrats. The lineage Pliopotamys minor–meadensis–Ondatra idahoensis–annectens–nebrascensis– zibethicus evolved featuring increases in size, hypsodonty, dentine track height (perhaps a function of hypsodonty), and Mx crown complexity, as well as addition of cement in the reentrant angles. This evolution was parallel to that of the Mimomys occitanus–Arvicola terrestris lineage in Eurasia (Chaline, 1987).
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- Information
- Morphological Change in Quaternary Mammals of North America , pp. 373 - 391Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1993
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