Understanding the response of a species or lineage to long-term environmental change is a critical aspect of evolutionary paleoecology. In order to do this, paleobiologists must have an excellent fossil record of a lineage and an independent source of environmental data in the same region. This situation occurs in the San Pedro area of southern California, where relatively new paleotemperature and paleoproductivity records enhance the well-known fossil gastropod record. We quantified shell morphology of late Pleistocene and Recent turritellid gastropods from this area and compared the timing of changes with temperature and productivity reconstructions for the region. Our results indicate that warm temperatures and moderate to high productivity are associated with larger shells and wider whorls. Cold temperatures and lower productivity are associated with smaller, narrower shells. We propose that warm temperatures and moderate productivity result in higher growth rates in turritellid gastropods. Our work also suggests that below a certain threshold temperature, productivity appears to have no influence on shell morphology. In other words, growth rate is unaffected by high productivity unless average temperatures are above a certain level. These results are consistent with models of shell deposition and with experimental results from living gastropods and bivalves reported in the literature.

Existing methods for point and interval estimation of the endpoints of the stratigraphic range of a fossil taxon under continuous sampling assume that the mean density of finds is constant over the stratigraphic range. These methods can perform badly when this mean density is not constant. Most seriously, if mean density declines toward the endpoint of interest, then the true coverage of the confidence interval for the true endpoint can be far below its nominal level, giving a false impression of estimation precision. Simple point and interval estimates that are designed to avoid this problem are presented. These methods are illustrated with the fossil record of two species of the Caribbean bryozoan Metrarabdotos.

With a sample of 94 Pleistocene cranial capacities between the time period of 1.8 Ma and 50 Ka now known, we consider the evolution of cranial capacity in Homo, with the null hypothesis that the changes over time are a result of one process. We employ a new method that uses a resampling approach to address the limitations imposed on the methods of previous studies. To test the null hypothesis, we examine the distribution of changes in adjacent temporal samples and ask whether there are differences between earlier and later samples. Our analyses do not reject the hypothesis of a single process of brain size change, but they are incompatible with an interpretation of punctuated equilibrium during this period. The results of this paper are difficult to reconcile with the case for cladogenesis in the Homo lineage during the Pleistocene.

One of the greatest challenges in using faunal assemblages to make ecological or paleoecological interpretations is determining the spatial scale over which such analyses are applicable. As a result, it has been difficult to use these assemblages to test hypotheses about spatial and temporal variability in populations. Here we show that it is possible to use strontium (Sr) isotopes from bones and vegetation to statistically constrain the area sampled in two Holocene predator accumulations in northeastern Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Previous studies have used these sites to elucidate local population responses to climatic change, by assuming that the specimens originated within ~5 km of the site. We used Sr analyses to construct a likelihood curve that describes the probability that our samples were collected within a given radius of each site. Our results indicate that the specimens in both sites were derived from non-overlapping populations and that the collection radius has not changed detectably over the past 3000 years. This work underscores the promise of this technique for ascribing source areas to paleontological, biological, and ecological specimens.

Ecomorphological and biogeochemical (trace element, and carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotope ratios) analyses have been used for determining the dietary niches and habitat preferences of large mammals from lower Pleistocene deposits at Venta Micena (Guadix-Baza Basin, Spain). The combination of these two approaches takes advantage of the strengths and overcome the weakness of both approaches. The range of δ13Ccollagen values for ungulate species indicates that C3 plants were dominant in the diet of these mammals. δ13Ccollagen values vary among ungulates: perissodactyls have the lowest values and bovids the highest ones, with cervids showing intermediate values. The hypsodonty index measured in lower molar teeth and the relative length of the lower premolar tooth row indicate that the horse, Equus altidens, was a grazing species, whereas the rhino, Stephanorhinus etruscus, was a mixed feeder in open habitats. The similar δ13Ccollagen values shown in both perissodactyls does not reflect differences in feeding behavior with other ungulates, but rather a lower isotope enrichment factor in these monogastric herbivores than in ruminants, owing to their lower metabolic efficiency. The cervids Eucladoceros giulii and Dama sp. show low hypsodonty values, indicating that they were mixed feeders or browsers from forested habitats, an ecomorphologically based conclusion corroborated in the former by its low δ15Ncollagen content (canopy effect). Bovid species (Bovini aff. Leptobos, Soergelia minor, and Hemitragus albus) presumably inhabited open environments, according to their comparatively high hypsodonty and δ15Ncollagen values. Carnivore species (Homotherium latidens, Megantereon whitei, Pachycrocuta brevirostris, Canis falconeri, and Canis etruscus) exhibit higher δ15Ncollagen values than ungulates. These results record the isotopic enrichment expected with an increase in trophic level and are also supported by low bone Sr.Zn ratios. The elevated δ15Ncollagen value for a sample of Mammuthus meridionalis, which came from an individual with unfused epiphyses, confirms that it was a suckling animal. The δ15Ncollagen value of the scimitar-cat H. latidens is well above that obtained for the young individual of Mammuthus, which indicates that juvenile elephants were an important part of its diet. The hippo, Hippopotamus antiquus, yielded unexpectedly high δ15Ncollagen values, which suggest feeding on aquatic, non-N2-fixing plants. The high δ18Ohydroxyl values of bovids Hemitragus and Soergelia and of cervid Dama indicate that these ungulates obtained most of their water requirements from the vegetation. The megaherbivores and Eucladoceros exhibit the lowest δ18Ohydroxyl values, which suggest increased water dependence for them. Paleosynecological analysis was based on the relative abundance of species of large mammals from different ecological categories, determined by feeding behavior and locomotion types. The comparison of the frequencies of such categories in Venta Micena with those found in modern African communities indicates that the composition of the paleocommunity closely resembles those of savannas with tall grass and shrubs. The net above-ground primary productivity estimated for the on-crop biomass of the mammalian species preserved in the fossil assemblage also yields a figure congruent with that expected for an open environment.

Morphological adaptations may indicate increased specialization (narrowing of ecological niche) or expansion of the suite of lifestyles available to an organism (increasing niche breadth). Hypsodonty in mammals generally has been interpreted as a specialization into a grazing niche from a browsing niche. Here I examine the feeding strategy of the extinct hypsodont camel Hemiauchenia through an analysis of stable carbon isotope values from its tooth enamel, which was used to clarify its feeding strategy and to resolve conflicting interpretations of dental versus muzzle attributes. The paleodiet of Hemiauchenia is then used to test whether hypsodonty correlates to grazing within fossil Lamini. This study focuses on fossils from Florida, which is geographically ideal because unlike other regions of the country almost all extant plants on which animals browse use the C3 photosynthetic pathway. In contrast, most of the grasses and sedges utilized by grazers use the C4 photosynthetic pathway. If Hemiauchenia was an obligate grazer, the stable carbon isotope values of tooth enamel should reflect primarily a diet of C4 grass and sedge (>−1.3%). If Hemiauchenia was mainly a browser, the isotopic value should be considerably more negative reflecting ingestion primarily of C3 browse (<−7.9%). The mean δ13C values for Hemiauchenia during each time interval average more negative than −8.0%, indicating a dominantly C3 browse diet, and there is no evidence for abandonment of the browsing niche from the Hemphillian through the Rancholabrean North American Land Mammal Ages. However, an increase in the range of isotopic values indicates a diet with a higher proportion of C4 grasses and sedges through time. This study therefore suggests that Hemiauchenia was a hypsodont intermediate feeder with preference for browse during the past 5 million years. Hypsodonty is not strictly associated with obligate grazing; instead it may, in this case, represent an adaptation to widen niche breadth that allowed grazing as well as browsing.

The vertebrae of sauropod dinosaurs are characterized by complex architecture involving laminae, fossae, and internal chambers of various shapes and sizes. These structures are interpreted as osteological correlates of a system of air sacs and pneumatic diverticula similar to that of birds. In extant birds, diverticula of the cervical air sacs pneumatize the cervical and anterior thoracic vertebrae. Diverticula of the abdominal air sacs pneumatize the posterior thoracic vertebrae and synsacrum later in ontogeny. This ontogenetic sequence in birds parallels the evolution of vertebral pneumaticity in sauropods. In basal sauropods, only the presacral vertebrae were pneumatized, presumably by diverticula of cervical air sacs similar to those of birds. The sacrum was also pneumatized in most neosauropods, and pneumatization of the proximal caudal vertebrae was achieved independently in Diplodocidae and Titanosauria. Pneumatization of the sacral and caudal vertebrae in neosauropods may indicate the presence of abdominal air sacs. Air sacs and skeletal pneumaticity probably facilitated the evolution of extremely long necks in some sauropod lineages by overcoming respiratory dead space and reducing mass. In addition, pulmonary air sacs may have conveyed to sauropods some of the respiratory and thermoregulatory advantages enjoyed by birds, a possibility that is consistent with the observed rapid growth rates of sauropods.

Accurate reconstruction of the biomass, structure, and productivity of ancient forests from their fossilized remnants remains an interesting challenge in paleoecology. In well-preserved Tertiary fossil Metasequoia forests of Canada's Arctic, in situ stumps and fragments of stems, treetops, and branches contain substantial information about tree dimensions that can be used to determine tree height, stand biomass, and other characteristics such as canopy depth and structure, and the history of stand development. To validate a method for reconstructing the biomass of the Eocene floodplain Metasequoia forests of Axel Heiberg Island, we measured stump diameters and spacing, and stem, branch, and treetop characteristics in living Metasequoia glyptostroboides and Chamaecyparis thyoides stands in ways that simulate the limited measurements that can be made in well-preserved fossil forests in Canada and probably elsewhere. We used those limited measurements to estimate tree height and volume, branch and foliar dry weights, and tree biomass. The estimates derived from the limited data set are usually within 15% of the estimates derived from the methods currently used in forest ecology for determining those metrics in modern forests. Under appropriate conditions, the biomass of ancient forests can be estimated with reasonable confidence.

Abundant fossil plant remains are preserved in the high-latitude middle Eocene deposits of the Buchanan Lake Formation on Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut Territory, Canada. Intact leaf litter, logs, and stumps preserved in situ as mummified remains offer an opportunity to determine the structure, biomass, and productivity of two Taxodiaceae-dominated forests that grew north of the Arctic Circle (paleolatitude 75–80°N). We excavated fossil tree trunks and treetops to develop equations that describe the height, structure, and mass of the aboveground components of Eocene-age Metasequoia trees. We combined those data with surveys of in situ stumps to determine the structure, biomass, and productivity of two fossil forests, “N” and “HR.” We calculated a canopy height of 40 ± 3 m for the N forest and 25 m ± 2 m for the HR forest. Buried knots in dissected logs and abundant branch-free bole wood indicate that these were tall, closed-canopy forests. Stem tapers indicate that the overstory was of uniform height. Stem volume equaled 2095 m3 ha−1 and stem biomass was 628 Mg ha−1 in the N forest. Volume and biomass in the HR forest were much smaller, 211 m3 ha−1 and 63.3 Mg ha−1, respectively. We estimated understory tree biomass to be 40 Mg ha−1 in the N forest and 3.5 Mg ha−1 in the HR forest. Recovery of seven fossil treetops with exposed branch stubs enabled us to make estimates of branchwood and foliar biomass using allometric equations derived from modern, plantation-grown Metasequoia glyptostroboides. Estimated stand-level branch biomass was 13 and 6.7 Mg ha−1 in the N and HR forests, respectively. Standing foliar biomass was estimated to be 3.2 and 2.1 Mg ha−1 in the N and HR forests, respectively. Using annual ring widths, the reconstructed parabolic stems, and wood density of modern Metasequoia, we calculated annual wood production to be 2.3 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for the N forest and 0.55 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for the HR forest Assuming that the ancient Metasequoia were deciduous like their living relatives, annual aboveground net primary productivity was 5.5 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for the N forest and 2.8 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for the HR forest. Our estimated biomass and productivity values for N are similar to those of modern old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest of the United States and old-growth coastal Cordillera forests of southern Chile.