An Evaluation of Landmark-Based Methods to Explore Tooth Score Morphology: A Case Study on Felids and Hyenids
Taphonomic studies aim to identify the modifying agents that intervene in bone assemblages found at archaeopaleontological sites. Carnivores may modify, accumulate, or scavenge skeletal parts inflicting tooth marks, including scores, on the cortical surface. Several works have studied tooth score mo...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-03-01
|
| Series: | Applied Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/6/3864 |
| _version_ | 1827751499776655360 |
|---|---|
| author | Mari Carmen Arriaza Julia Aramendi Lloyd A. Courtenay Miguel Ángel Maté-González Darío Herranz-Rodrigo Diego González-Aguilera José Yravedra |
| author_facet | Mari Carmen Arriaza Julia Aramendi Lloyd A. Courtenay Miguel Ángel Maté-González Darío Herranz-Rodrigo Diego González-Aguilera José Yravedra |
| author_sort | Mari Carmen Arriaza |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Taphonomic studies aim to identify the modifying agents that intervene in bone assemblages found at archaeopaleontological sites. Carnivores may modify, accumulate, or scavenge skeletal parts inflicting tooth marks, including scores, on the cortical surface. Several works have studied tooth score morphology to discern which carnivore group modified the bone assemblages, achieving different results. In the present study, different methods based on the use of landmarks and semilandmarks have been tested to describe and analyze the score profile cross-sections of spotted and brown hyenas, leopards, and lions. According to our results, the already published seven-landmark method is useful in order to differentiate between carnivore species from different families (e.g., felids and hyenids). Meanwhile, felid species (e.g., leopards and lions) cannot be consistently distinguished using any of the methods tested here. In contrast, hyenid species can be morphologically differentiated. On the other hand, the use of semilandmarks does not generally improve morphological characterization and distinction, but low numbers of landmarks and the inclusion of the score’s deepest point might provide the best results when semi-automatic semilandmark models are preferred to avoid sampling biases. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:58:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d7de7666537c472e8685cfb5fc627eb8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:58:00Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-d7de7666537c472e8685cfb5fc627eb82023-11-17T09:28:01ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172023-03-01136386410.3390/app13063864An Evaluation of Landmark-Based Methods to Explore Tooth Score Morphology: A Case Study on Felids and HyenidsMari Carmen Arriaza0Julia Aramendi1Lloyd A. Courtenay2Miguel Ángel Maté-González3Darío Herranz-Rodrigo4Diego González-Aguilera5José Yravedra6Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Av. Séneca, 2, 28040 Madrid, SpainDepartment of Geology, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco-Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU), Barrio Sarriena s/n, 48940 Leioa, SpainDepartment of Cartographic and Terrain Engineering, Higher Polytechnic School of Ávila, Universidad de Salamanca, Hornos Caleros 50, 05003 Ávila, SpainDepartment of Cartographic and Terrain Engineering, Higher Polytechnic School of Ávila, Universidad de Salamanca, Hornos Caleros 50, 05003 Ávila, SpainC.A.I. Archaeometry and Archaeological Analysis, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Calle Profesor Aranguren 2, 28040 Madrid, SpainDepartment of Cartographic and Terrain Engineering, Higher Polytechnic School of Ávila, Universidad de Salamanca, Hornos Caleros 50, 05003 Ávila, SpainDepartment of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Av. Séneca, 2, 28040 Madrid, SpainTaphonomic studies aim to identify the modifying agents that intervene in bone assemblages found at archaeopaleontological sites. Carnivores may modify, accumulate, or scavenge skeletal parts inflicting tooth marks, including scores, on the cortical surface. Several works have studied tooth score morphology to discern which carnivore group modified the bone assemblages, achieving different results. In the present study, different methods based on the use of landmarks and semilandmarks have been tested to describe and analyze the score profile cross-sections of spotted and brown hyenas, leopards, and lions. According to our results, the already published seven-landmark method is useful in order to differentiate between carnivore species from different families (e.g., felids and hyenids). Meanwhile, felid species (e.g., leopards and lions) cannot be consistently distinguished using any of the methods tested here. In contrast, hyenid species can be morphologically differentiated. On the other hand, the use of semilandmarks does not generally improve morphological characterization and distinction, but low numbers of landmarks and the inclusion of the score’s deepest point might provide the best results when semi-automatic semilandmark models are preferred to avoid sampling biases.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/6/3864geometric morphometricstooth scorestaphonomysemilandmarkscarnivores |
| spellingShingle | Mari Carmen Arriaza Julia Aramendi Lloyd A. Courtenay Miguel Ángel Maté-González Darío Herranz-Rodrigo Diego González-Aguilera José Yravedra An Evaluation of Landmark-Based Methods to Explore Tooth Score Morphology: A Case Study on Felids and Hyenids Applied Sciences geometric morphometrics tooth scores taphonomy semilandmarks carnivores |
| title | An Evaluation of Landmark-Based Methods to Explore Tooth Score Morphology: A Case Study on Felids and Hyenids |
| title_full | An Evaluation of Landmark-Based Methods to Explore Tooth Score Morphology: A Case Study on Felids and Hyenids |
| title_fullStr | An Evaluation of Landmark-Based Methods to Explore Tooth Score Morphology: A Case Study on Felids and Hyenids |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Evaluation of Landmark-Based Methods to Explore Tooth Score Morphology: A Case Study on Felids and Hyenids |
| title_short | An Evaluation of Landmark-Based Methods to Explore Tooth Score Morphology: A Case Study on Felids and Hyenids |
| title_sort | evaluation of landmark based methods to explore tooth score morphology a case study on felids and hyenids |
| topic | geometric morphometrics tooth scores taphonomy semilandmarks carnivores |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/6/3864 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT maricarmenarriaza anevaluationoflandmarkbasedmethodstoexploretoothscoremorphologyacasestudyonfelidsandhyenids AT juliaaramendi anevaluationoflandmarkbasedmethodstoexploretoothscoremorphologyacasestudyonfelidsandhyenids AT lloydacourtenay anevaluationoflandmarkbasedmethodstoexploretoothscoremorphologyacasestudyonfelidsandhyenids AT miguelangelmategonzalez anevaluationoflandmarkbasedmethodstoexploretoothscoremorphologyacasestudyonfelidsandhyenids AT darioherranzrodrigo anevaluationoflandmarkbasedmethodstoexploretoothscoremorphologyacasestudyonfelidsandhyenids AT diegogonzalezaguilera anevaluationoflandmarkbasedmethodstoexploretoothscoremorphologyacasestudyonfelidsandhyenids AT joseyravedra anevaluationoflandmarkbasedmethodstoexploretoothscoremorphologyacasestudyonfelidsandhyenids AT maricarmenarriaza evaluationoflandmarkbasedmethodstoexploretoothscoremorphologyacasestudyonfelidsandhyenids AT juliaaramendi evaluationoflandmarkbasedmethodstoexploretoothscoremorphologyacasestudyonfelidsandhyenids AT lloydacourtenay evaluationoflandmarkbasedmethodstoexploretoothscoremorphologyacasestudyonfelidsandhyenids AT miguelangelmategonzalez evaluationoflandmarkbasedmethodstoexploretoothscoremorphologyacasestudyonfelidsandhyenids AT darioherranzrodrigo evaluationoflandmarkbasedmethodstoexploretoothscoremorphologyacasestudyonfelidsandhyenids AT diegogonzalezaguilera evaluationoflandmarkbasedmethodstoexploretoothscoremorphologyacasestudyonfelidsandhyenids AT joseyravedra evaluationoflandmarkbasedmethodstoexploretoothscoremorphologyacasestudyonfelidsandhyenids |