Osteometric Study of Metapodial Bones and Phalanges as Indicators of the Behavioural Ecology of Modern Reindeer (<i>Rangifer tarandus</i>) and Implications for Reconstruction of Paleo Mobility

Abstract

Paleolithic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) played an important role for human populations in western and central Europe during much of the Paleolithic period. In southwestern France and in particular during the Magdalenian, reindeer frequently figures among the privileged prey of hunter-gatherer groups. However, and despite numerous attempts to reconstruct the migratory behavior of Paleolithic reindeer, there is no agreement on the degree of mobility of this prey. Modern ethological data indicate that reindeer herds adopt different mobility strategies depending on the type of habitat and the topography of the environment. Thus, our project (Emorph) aims to explore morphometric criteria (through metapodial bones and phalanges) in combination with cutting-edge methodologies like Machine Learning to identify the extent of reindeer migrations. Based initially on the study of modern caribou populations with distinct migratory behaviors, the results obtained could be applied to several Magdalenian assemblages from southwestern France in the future, with the goal of reconstructing the mobility of these tardiglacial reindeer.

Reconstructing past migratory behaviour of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus): Insights from geometric morphometric analysis of proximal phalanx morphology from extant caribou populations

“…altitudinal migration was difficult to explore using linear measurements, cf. [ 41 ]). For validation of the methods presented here, we recommend similar studies on caribou populations in other regions so that we can assess the preliminary variations we observed.…”

“…a more varied terrain, with greater amounts of wetland; a more diverse array of vegetation, including shrubs, grasses, and forbs; and a greater variety of food source). In both cases, it is worth clarifying that when we refer to sedentary populations we do so to talk about those that travel distances less than 200 km annually [see 41 ], so in this case substrate and snow coverage potentially have an important impact on the morphological configuration of the joint of the proximal forelimb phalanx. Our sample of boreal forest caribou comes mainly from Québec (Canada), where the forests are covered in snow more than half of the year [ 88 ].…”

“…Several authors have suggested that describing the migration patterns of reindeer is crucial for a better understanding of huntergatherer groups depending on them, from prehistory to present day in the Arctic [Murray [Unpublished], 23]. Thus, many studies have tried to reconstruct Palaeolithic reindeer migration patterns [14,20,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. Research hypotheses varied from following-herd models, sedentary behaviour to migrations carried out on a smaller scale.…”

“…In this study, we seek to develop a new palaeoecological tool for the reconstruction of reindeer mobility, taking their bone remains into account in regards to the archaeological record. Since locomotor adaptations are closely related to habitat preferences and mobility patterns [39][40][41][54][55][56][57][58], behaviour can be inferred from the study of animal morphology. Ecomorphological research has proposed a relationship between the degree of mobility (or habitat preferences) and the functional morphology of limb bones for a wide range of taxa [54,56,[58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67], and thus made it possible to successfully reconstruct their habitat [e.g.…”

Multi-isotope reconstruction of Late Pleistocene large-herbivore biogeography and mobility patterns in Central Europe

“…Debates over whether or not reindeer were migratory during the European Late Pleistocene are long-standing (see refs. 16,17). Multiple hypotheses have been put forward, including arguments for long-distance north-south "thermo-stress" migrations (e.g., refs.…”