The Sheep Project (1): determining skeletal growth, timing of epiphyseal fusion and morphometric variation in unimproved Shetland sheep of known age, sex, castration status and nutrition

Popkin, Peter; Baker, Polydora; Worley, Fay; Payne, Sebastian; Hammon, Andy

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.01.018

Cited by 77 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Sheep were derived from a first generation of animals, bred from ewes of the primitive Shetland type raised in the Voe area of Shetland, and rams of the pure Shetland breed bought at Lerwick Auction Market, also on Shetland. The lambs were born in late April/early May 1996 − 1999, and raised at SAC, pastured on two different nutritional levels ('Low diet': unimproved pasture; 'High diet': improved pasture, with supplementary hay and grass pellets during snow cover), in two adjacent fields at an altitude of 200 m. The 'high diet' pasture consisted of well‐drained rotational grassland while the 'low diet' field consisted of poorly drained native grassland . Females were bred 'Early' (first lamb at 2 years old) or 'Late' (first lamb at 3 years old) or not bred ('Unbred') (P. Baker, personal communication; Late bred animals were not examined in the present work).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of isotopic variability in proteinaceous tissues of a domesticated herbivore: a baseline for zooarchaeological investigation

Holstein

Hamilton

Craig

et al. 2013

Rapid Comm Mass Spectrometry

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of isotopic variability in proteinaceous tissues of a domesticated herbivore: a baseline for zooarchaeological investigation

Holstein

Hamilton

Craig

et al. 2013

Rapid Comm Mass Spectrometry

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“…As the specimen reaches adult size, linear growth stops and the epiphyses start to fuse with the diaphyses (Popkin et al. ). When completely fused, the limb bone can only increase in width.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Calibration of life history traits with epiphyseal closure, dental eruption and bone histology in captive and wild red deer

et al. 2019

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The study of skeletochronology and bone tissue as a record of information on ontogenetic stages and events is widely used for improving the knowledge about life histories (LHs) of extinct and extant vertebrates. Compared with dinosaurs and extant reptiles, mammalian bone histology has received little attention. Here, we calibrate for the first time bone and dental age with histological bone characteristics and LH stages in ontogenetic series of red deer. We rely on known LHs of different aged individuals of captive Cervus elaphus hippelaphus from Austria to correlate epiphyseal closure, dental eruption pattern, bone growth marks and bone tissue patterns in femora and tibiae, and of wild Cervus elaphus hispanicus from Spain. Our data show that females (of both subspecies) attain skeletal maturity earlier than males. At this moment, epiphyseal closure (in femora and tibiae) and dental eruption are complete and long bones start to deposit an external fundamental system. The results also show that the attainment of reproductive maturity in red deer occurs slightly before skeletal maturity.

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“…At the end of the growth, the epiphyses and the diaphyses fuse and the cartilage disappears until it is not apparent in older mammals, at which point the growth in length stops. The growth in breadth/depth may continue more slowly throughout life (Davis, ; Popkin et al ., ). Previous studies by Legge & Rowley‐Conwy () of red deer at Star Carr, by Davis () of modern sheep, by Vigne et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…() of modern and Mesolithic wild boar and of Popkin et al . () of modern sheep, have demonstrated that there is a good correspondence between width/depth and age for some skeletal parts such as the scapular neck, the proximal extremity of the humerus and radius, the acetabulum of the pelvis and breadth of the astragalus.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prediction Models for Age-at-Death Estimates for Calves, Using Unfused Epiphyses and Diaphyses

Gillis

Arbogast²,

Piningre

et al. 2013

Int. J. Osteoarchaeol.

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International audienceFor cattle (Bos taurus), age estimations using dental criteria before the eruption of the first molar (3–8 months) have large error margins. This hampers archaeozoological investigation into perinatal mortality or the putative slaughtering of very young calves for milk exploitation. Previous ageing methods for subjuveniles have focused on the length of unfused bones, but it is rarely possible to use them because they are restricted to foetuses and because of the fragmentation of bones. This paper presents new age prediction models based on length, breadth and depth of post cranial bones produced from a dataset of modern calves (n = 27). This reference collection was compiled from material of known age at death, sex and breed from collections in Britain, France, Germany and Switzerland. Linear regression models were constructed using the modern data for age prediction, and these models were then successfully tested and assessed using a Middle Neolithic assemblage of complete calves' skeletons from Bourguignon-Lès-Morey, France. From the assessment, the astragalus and metapodials were determined to be the most reliable bones, and the femur was the worst. Measurements of the epiphyseal and distal elements and depth measurements were the most reliable. For ages before 12 months, these models can provide ±1 month age estimates. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

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The Sheep Project (1): determining skeletal growth, timing of epiphyseal fusion and morphometric variation in unimproved Shetland sheep of known age, sex, castration status and nutrition

Cited by 77 publications

References 19 publications

Comparison of isotopic variability in proteinaceous tissues of a domesticated herbivore: a baseline for zooarchaeological investigation

Comparison of isotopic variability in proteinaceous tissues of a domesticated herbivore: a baseline for zooarchaeological investigation

Calibration of life history traits with epiphyseal closure, dental eruption and bone histology in captive and wild red deer

Prediction Models for Age-at-Death Estimates for Calves, Using Unfused Epiphyses and Diaphyses

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