Functional implications of skeletal diversity in two South American tamarins
- 1 July 1983
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in American Journal of Physical Anthropology
- Vol. 61 (3) , 291-298
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.1330610303
Abstract
This study examines the relationship between positional behavior and morphology for two closely related South American tamarin species, Saguinus fuscicollis illigeri and Saguinus oedipus oedipus. Although never systematically documented, the two species are suspected of exhibiting highly similar yet subtly different locomotor behaviors with a greater propensity for climbing, springing, and more powerful leaping in S. oedipus. Fourteen measurements reflecting biomechanical structuring were taken from the postcranial skeleton of 28 individuals of each species. The data were reduced to principal component scores and subjected to a multiple analysis of variance to determine the extent of intergroup skeletal variation. Areas of significant skeletal diversity were interpreted functionally. The results suggest that the differences in functional patterning among the two species is consistent with the behavioral hypothesis. It is concluded that subtle changes in positional behavior may be capable of altering skeletal morphology.Keywords
This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
- A multivariate analysis of temporal change in Arikara craniometrics: A methodological approachAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1981
- Locomotor behavior and feeding ecology of the panamanian tamarin (Saguinus oedipus geoffroyi, callitrichidae, primates)International Journal of Primatology, 1980
- Locomotor adaptations within theCercopithecus genus: A multivariate approachAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1979
- Morphometric affinities of the human shoulderAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1976
- Affinities of Tertiary Hominoid FemoraFolia Primatologica, 1976
- Functional Inferences from Morphometrics: Problems Posed by Uniqueness and Diversity Among the PrimatesSystematic Zoology, 1973
- The functional and classifieatory significance of combined metrical features of the primate shoulder girdleJournal of Zoology, 1971
- Evolution of the human shoulder: Some possible pathwaysAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1969
- FUNCTIONAL ADAPTATIONS IN THE PRIMATE SHOULDER GIRDLEJournal of Zoology, 1964
- The musculature of the primate shoulderThe Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, 1963