On the wing: Morphological variation in the osteology of Mediterranean, Near Eastern and Continental Europe Anatidae (excluding Anserinae)

Ashleigh Francis Haruda*, Camilla Mazzucato, Lisa Yeomans

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Accurate identification of waterfowl bones in archaeological and fossil assemblages has potential to unlock new methods of past environmental reconstruction, as species have differing habitat preferences and migration patterns. Therefore, identifying the presence of avian species with different ecological niches is key to determining past environments and ultimately how prehistoric people responded to climatic and environmental realignments. However, the identification of osteological remains of waterbirds such as ducks to species level is notoriously challenging. We address this by presenting a new two-dimensional geometric morphometric protocol on wing elements from over 20 duck species and test the utility of these shape data for correct species identification. This is an ideal starting point to expand utilization of these types of approaches in avifaunal research and test applicability to an extremely difficult taxonomic group.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere21750
JournalJournal of Morphology
Volume258
Issue number8
ISSN0362-2525
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Keywords

  • Faculty of Humanities
  • Anatidae
  • Ducks
  • Geometric morphometrics
  • Mediterranean
  • Morphology
  • Zooarchaeology

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