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The computation of ungulate age (mortality) profiles from dental crown heights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

Richard G. Klein  and
Kathryn Cruz-Uribe
Richard G. Klein
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637
Kathryn Cruz-Uribe
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637
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Abstract

The age (mortality) profiles of ungulate species in a fossil fauna are useful for reconstructing modes of death and of bone accumulation. Crown height measurements probably provide the most practical means of obtaining age profiles in most fossil samples. Reliable, interpretable profiles will result when individual age is estimated from crown height using a mathematical model first suggested by C. A. Spinage and when the individual ages are grouped into relatively broad age classes. One potential objection to the model is that it requires tedious calculation and there is a strong possibility of calculation error when many crown heights are involved. This problem may be circumvented by the use of an interactive BASIC program appended to this paper. The user supplies the raw crown heights in a fossil sample, together with estimates of initial unworn crown height, ages of dental shedding and eruption, and maximum possible individual age. The program then tabulates the number of individuals in successive 10%-of-potential-lifespan intervals.

Type
Articles
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , Winter 1983 , pp. 70 - 78
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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References

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