High incidence of cervical ribs indicates vulnerable condition in Late Pleistocene woolly rhinoceroses

Mammals as a rule have seven cervical vertebrae, a number that remains remarkably constant. Changes of this number are associated with major congenital abnormalities (pleiotropic effects) that are, at least in humans, strongly selected against. Recently, it was found that Late Pleistocene mammoths (...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alexandra A.E. van der Geer, Frietson Galis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: PeerJ Inc. 2017-08-01
Series:PeerJ
Subjects:
Online Access:https://peerj.com/articles/3684.pdf