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New Applications for Constrained Ordination: Reconstructing Feeding Behaviors in Fossil Remingtonocetinae (Cetacea: Mammalia)

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Book cover Experimental Approaches to Understanding Fossil Organisms

Part of the book series: Topics in Geobiology ((TGBI,volume 41))

Abstract

During the Eocene epoch, archaic cetaceans made the land-to-sea transition, giving rise to modern whales, dolphins, and porpoises. During this transition, the feeding apparatus of fossil remingtonocetines displayed morphologies that are distinct from other cetaceans, confounding straightforward interpretations of their feeding behaviors. This study utilized a novel combined ordination of morphology and feeding strategy, while accounting for phylogeny, in a sample of 2 remingtonocetines and 18 extant cetartiodactylans, to assess the morphological signal of feeding behaviors. Results showed that differences between prey acquisition in extant taxa were driven by a suite of mandibular characters and width of the palatal arch, providing a behaviorally constrained morphospace. Remingtonocetinae clustered closest to the snap-feeding river dolphins, suggesting that they too were snap feeders. The methods presented here represent a novel application for constrained ordination that links morphology with performance, and may be widely applied in the fossil record.

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Acknowledgments

Lisa Noelle Cooper and Tobin L. Hieronymus contributed equally to this study. We thank the following for assistance with data collection efforts: Kim M. Kainec, Lucas Tomko, and Dr. Sandra Madar. This study benefited from discussions with Drs. Alex Werth, Jonathon Marcot, Jesse Young, Paul Gignac, Brooke Armfield, and Ms. Terry Lancaster. Jacqueline Dillard is thanked for tooth illustrations. We would like to thank the staff of the following institutions for specimen access: Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and the US National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institute). R code in this analysis borrows from examples provided by Liam Revell and Patrick Burns; any errors or omissions are ours. Financial support to Sunil Bajpai was provided by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, 4209 State Route 44, 44272-0095, Rootstown, OH, USA

    Lisa Noelle Cooper, Tobin L. Hieronymus, Christopher J. Vinyard & J.G.M. Thewissen

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology at Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India

    Sunil Bajpai

Authors
  1. Lisa Noelle Cooper
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  2. Tobin L. Hieronymus
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  3. Christopher J. Vinyard
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  4. Sunil Bajpai
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  5. J.G.M. Thewissen
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Correspondence to Tobin L. Hieronymus .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, USA

    Daniel I. Hembree

  2. Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi, USA

    Brian F. Platt

  3. Stratigraphic Research Section, Kansas Geological Survey, Lawrence, Kansas, USA

    Jon J. Smith

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Noelle Cooper, L., Hieronymus, T., Vinyard, C., Bajpai, S., Thewissen, J. (2014). New Applications for Constrained Ordination: Reconstructing Feeding Behaviors in Fossil Remingtonocetinae (Cetacea: Mammalia). In: Hembree, D., Platt, B., Smith, J. (eds) Experimental Approaches to Understanding Fossil Organisms. Topics in Geobiology, vol 41. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8721-5_5

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