The ecomorphology of Caribou (Rangifer tarandus): a geometric morphometric study.

Abstract

Paleolithic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) was a key species 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 behaviour 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. Through metapodial bones and phalanges cross-sections, our project ‘Reconstructing habitat type and mobility patterns of Rangifer tarandus during the Late Pleistocene in Southwestern France: an ecomorphological study’ (Emorph) quantifies the link between habitat type, mobility, bone density and morphology using computer tomography (CT) and geometric morphometry (GMM). Based initially on the study of extant caribou populations with distinct migratory behaviours, the results obtained could be applied to several Magdalenian assemblages from southwestern France in the future, with the aim 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

“…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better understanding of huntergatherer groups depending on them, from prehistory to present day in the Arctic [Murray [Unpublished], 23].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.…”