What is it about?
The study of long bone proportions of an extinct animal sheds light on the type of locomotion or lifestyle that it had. We tested this in Hypnomys eliomyoides, H. sp., H. onicensis, and H. morpheus (from Balearic Islands) comparing them with the extant garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus). The results showed that Hypnomys had a more jumping, gliding, and digging life style than E. quercinus. In other words, it was better adapted to arboreal life than E. quercinus. This is accordance with the presence of important forest masses when Hypnomys lived, that are inferred by other authors.
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Why is it important?
The study of locomotion and biomechanics of extint fauna is always very interesting. And, having approaches with different methodologies is also paramount. In this article, we applied a new methodology for estimating the locomotion of Hypnomys, which is not in accordance with previous results of other authors. Differences in ecosystems imply differences in lifestyle.
Perspectives
Knowing the locomotion is a step further to understand the biology of extinct insular species. All form part of a puzzle for understanding the ecological pattern coined as Island Rule. For the moment, we lack many parts of it.
PhD Blanca Moncunill-Solé
Universidade da Coruna
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Reconsidering locomotor habits and life style of the Balearic insular giant rodent Hypnomys Bate, 1918 from the allometry of the limb long bones, Comptes Rendus Palevol, May 2014, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.crpv.2013.11.003.
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