Estimación de la masa corporal en géneros del Orden Notoungulata

A. Elissamburu

doi:10.3989/egeol.40336.133

Authors

A. Elissamburu CONICET. Cátedra Anatomía Comparada, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo de La Plata, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3989/egeol.40336.133

Keywords:

Alometric equations, body mass estimation, Notoungulata

Abstract

The Notoungulata are a highly diverse group of fossil mammals with no living relatives. Virtually no body mass estimations are available for most of the genera in this order, and there is no objective method to select body mass estimators. The goal of this work is to estimate the body mass of Notoungulata taxa and detect the best predictive equations for this purpose, for each genera and family and for the order as a whole. A total of 535 fossil specimens from 50 genera are included. For each genus, body mass is estimated through 24 allometric equations calculated using 19 appendicular skeleton measurements and three dental measurements of extant mammals, taken with digital caliper. According to estimated values, the body mass interval for the order ranges from 0.57 kg in Archaeophylus (Interatheriidae) to 3797 Kg in Mixotoxodon (Toxodontidae), reflecting the great body size diversity characteristic of the group. The smallest sizes occur in the families Notostylopidae, Oldfieldthomasiidae, Archaeopithecidae, Interatheriidae, Archaeohyracidae and Hegetotheriidae; intermediate sizes among the Notohippidae, Isotemnidae and Mesotheriidae, and large sizes among the Homalodotheriidae. In the Leontiniidae and Toxodontidae, sizes range from intermediate to large; the latter display the greatest variation in body mass and the largest taxa. Compared to Holarctic ungulates, the smaller forms of notoungulates display a wider and more variable range of body mass and greater functional variation of the limbs.

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