Studies on Amerindian dogs, 3: Prehistoric wolf/dog hybrids from the northwestern plains

Discriminant function analysis is an invaluable statistical tool for the taxonomic identification of hybrids between various extant species of Canis in the eastern United States. This technique has recently been applied to the taxonomic identification of canid skulls from several Wyoming archaeological sites. Analysis indicates most canid remains, originally identified as wolf (Canis lupus), to be wolf/dog hybrids exhibiting constant and continual backbreeding to the local wolf populations. The spatial and temporal extent of the form is discussed.     

Can morphospace shed light on cave bear spatial-temporal variation? Population dynamics of Ursus spelaeus from Romualdova pe?ina and Vindija, (Croatia)

Cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) behavioural ecology, as evidenced through population dynamics, is crucial for improving our understanding of why this species went extinct. Despite the fact that the bones of this species have been recovered in very large quantities, allowing for extensive study, fundamental questions regarding its life-ways remain unanswered. We present research using geometric morphometrics (GMM) on molars to investigate population structure based on morphological variation over space and through time. This preliminary work deliberately restricts the geographic catchment area for sampling, allowing for a meaningful appraisal of scale of variation within a spatially conservative framework. Our results demonstrate no significant morphological variation evident temporally and a small but statistically significant degree of shape variation geographically despite the proximity of the study localities. These findings suggest that an accurate quantitative exploration of morphospace may be an important source of evidence on environmental and climatic shifts and the resulting influence on animal morphology.