Woodcutting behavior in beavers (Castoridae, Rodentia): estimating ecological performance in a modern and a fossil taxon
An early Pliocene fossil locality in the Canadian High Arctic preserves the remains of the extinct beaver Dipoides sp. (Castoridae, Rodentia) in association with an assemblage of fossil beaver-cut wood. The wood assemblage presents a first opportunity to investigate woodcutting behavior and ecologic...
Published in: | Paleobiology |
---|---|
Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2008
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1666/06085.1 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0094837300019618 |
id |
crcambridgeupr:10.1666/06085.1 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcambridgeupr:10.1666/06085.1 2024-10-13T14:05:26+00:00 Woodcutting behavior in beavers (Castoridae, Rodentia): estimating ecological performance in a modern and a fossil taxon Rybczynski, Natalia 2008 http://dx.doi.org/10.1666/06085.1 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0094837300019618 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Paleobiology volume 34, issue 3, page 389-402 ISSN 0094-8373 1938-5331 journal-article 2008 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1666/06085.1 2024-09-18T04:02:44Z An early Pliocene fossil locality in the Canadian High Arctic preserves the remains of the extinct beaver Dipoides sp. (Castoridae, Rodentia) in association with an assemblage of fossil beaver-cut wood. The wood assemblage presents a first opportunity to investigate woodcutting behavior and ecological performance in an extinct castorid genus. This study compares woodcutting in Dipoides sp. with that of the modern beaver, Castor canadensis , using evidence from small-diameter cut sticks (i.e., sticks transected by parallel series of cut marks) in combination with behavioral observations of Castor woodcutting. During woodcutting both Castor and Dipoides used their incisors unilaterally; the upper incisor was pressed against the stick while the corresponding lower incisor cut. Cut marks were relatively larger for Castor than Dipoides (scaled to incisor size). Compared with Dipoides, Castor more frequently used a cutting strategy that minimized the number of cuts needed to transect a stick (e.g., clipping as opposed to chip removal). Taken together, the behavioral evidence suggests that ecological cutting performance was lower for Dipoides than Castor. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Cambridge University Press Arctic Paleobiology 34 3 389 402 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
An early Pliocene fossil locality in the Canadian High Arctic preserves the remains of the extinct beaver Dipoides sp. (Castoridae, Rodentia) in association with an assemblage of fossil beaver-cut wood. The wood assemblage presents a first opportunity to investigate woodcutting behavior and ecological performance in an extinct castorid genus. This study compares woodcutting in Dipoides sp. with that of the modern beaver, Castor canadensis , using evidence from small-diameter cut sticks (i.e., sticks transected by parallel series of cut marks) in combination with behavioral observations of Castor woodcutting. During woodcutting both Castor and Dipoides used their incisors unilaterally; the upper incisor was pressed against the stick while the corresponding lower incisor cut. Cut marks were relatively larger for Castor than Dipoides (scaled to incisor size). Compared with Dipoides, Castor more frequently used a cutting strategy that minimized the number of cuts needed to transect a stick (e.g., clipping as opposed to chip removal). Taken together, the behavioral evidence suggests that ecological cutting performance was lower for Dipoides than Castor. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rybczynski, Natalia |
spellingShingle |
Rybczynski, Natalia Woodcutting behavior in beavers (Castoridae, Rodentia): estimating ecological performance in a modern and a fossil taxon |
author_facet |
Rybczynski, Natalia |
author_sort |
Rybczynski, Natalia |
title |
Woodcutting behavior in beavers (Castoridae, Rodentia): estimating ecological performance in a modern and a fossil taxon |
title_short |
Woodcutting behavior in beavers (Castoridae, Rodentia): estimating ecological performance in a modern and a fossil taxon |
title_full |
Woodcutting behavior in beavers (Castoridae, Rodentia): estimating ecological performance in a modern and a fossil taxon |
title_fullStr |
Woodcutting behavior in beavers (Castoridae, Rodentia): estimating ecological performance in a modern and a fossil taxon |
title_full_unstemmed |
Woodcutting behavior in beavers (Castoridae, Rodentia): estimating ecological performance in a modern and a fossil taxon |
title_sort |
woodcutting behavior in beavers (castoridae, rodentia): estimating ecological performance in a modern and a fossil taxon |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1666/06085.1 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0094837300019618 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Paleobiology volume 34, issue 3, page 389-402 ISSN 0094-8373 1938-5331 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1666/06085.1 |
container_title |
Paleobiology |
container_volume |
34 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
389 |
op_container_end_page |
402 |
_version_ |
1812811518623875072 |