DOI: 10.5061/dryad.x69p8czsm
title: Data from: A 3D geometric morphometric analysis of the bovid distal humerus, with special reference to Rusingoryx atopocranion (Pleistocene, Eastern Africa)

description: The family Bovidae [Mammalia: Artiodactyla] is speciose and has extant
 representatives on every continent, forming key components of mammal
 communities. For these reasons, bovids are ideal candidates for studies of
 ecomorphology. In particular, the morphology of the bovid humerus has been
 identified as highly related to functional variables such as body mass and
 habitat. This study investigates the functional morphology of the bovid
 distal humerus in isolation due to its increased likelihood of
 preservation in the fossil record, and the resulting opportunity for
 better understanding the ecomorphology of extinct bovids. A landmark
 scheme of 30 landmarks was used to capture the 3D distal humerus
 morphology in 111 extant bovid specimens. We find that the distal humerus
 has identifiable morphologies associated with body mass, habitat
 preference, and tribe affiliation, and that some characteristics are
 shared between high body mass bovids and those living on hard, flat
 terrain which is likely due to the high stress on the bone in both cases.
 We directly apply our findings regarding extant bovids to the extinct
 alcelaphine bovid, Rusingoryx atopocranion from the mid to late
 Pleistocene (&gt;33-45 ka) Lake Victoria region of Kenya. This species
 is known for some peculiar morphologies including a domed cranium with
 hollow nasal crests, and having small hooves for a bovid of its size.
 Another interesting aspect of Rusingoryx’s skeletal morphology which has
 not been addressed is an unusual protrusion on the lateral epicondyle of
 the distal humerus. Despite considerable individual variation in the
 Rusingoryx specimens, we find evidence to support its historical
 assignment to the tribe Alcelaphini, and that it likely preferred open
 grassland habitats, which is consistent with independent reconstructions
 of the paleoenvironment. We also provide the most accurate body mass
 estimate for Rusingoryx to date, based on distal humerus centroid size.
 Overall, we are able to conclude that the distal humerus in extant bovids
 is highly informative regarding body mass, habitat preference and tribe,
 and that this can be applied directly to a fossil taxon with promising
 results.
description: # Data from: A 3D geometric morphometric analysis of the bovid distal
 humerus, with special reference to Rusingoryx atopocranion (Pleistocene,
 Eastern Africa)
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.x69p8czsm](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.x69p8czsm) This README.md file was generated on 07/05/2024 by Sophia C. Anderson GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Title of dataset: 'Data from: A 3D geometric morphometric analysis of the bovid distal humerus, with special reference to Rusingoryx atopocranion (Pleistocene, Eastern Africa)' 2. Author information: Corresponding author: ``` Name: Sophia C. Anderson Institution: University of York, York, UK Email: sca527@york.ac.uk ``` Coauthor 1: ``` Name: Kris Kovarovic Institution: University of Durham, Durham, UK ``` Coauthor 2: ``` Name: W. Andrew Barr Institution: The George Washington University, Washington DC, USA ``` 3\. Date of data collection: 2020-2021 1. Language: English (UK) DATA AND FILE OVERVIEW 1. Description of dataset This dataset contains both raw (File 2) and Procrustes superimposed (File 3) landmark coordinates for 114 bovid specimens (111 of which are extant species, and 3 of which are Rusingory atopocraniopn specimens), as well as relevant identifying information for each specimen, and category assignments for the categorical variables used in the study (File 1). These data are used in the article, 'A 3D geometric morphometric analysis of the bovid distal humerus, with special reference to Rusingoryx atopocranion (Pleistocene, Eastern Africa)', Anderson et al. 2024 in Journal of Anatomy. 1. File list File 1: Specimen_summary.csv ``` Table containing 114 rows (number of individuals in the dataset including Rusingoryx specimens) and 11 columns containing information on the specimens. Variables: Tribe = tribe assignment following ultimateungulate.com (Huffman 2020) Genus = genus name following VertLife (Upham et al. 2019) Species = species name following VertLife (Upham et al. 2019) Specimen accession number = accession number of the specimen in the collection to which it belongs Museum collection source = museum collection from which the specimen was obtained, including museum abbreviation Scan source = individual responsible for producing the 3D specimen scan Scan technique = modality/technique used to acquire the 3D digital surface Previous work using scan = publications in which the same 3D digital scan is used Habitat preference category = assigned habitat preference category (one of six: Grassland/treeless (GT), Wooded bushland/grassland (WBG), Light woodland/bushland (LWB), Heavy woodland/bushland (HWB), Forest (F), and Montane (M)) Mean body mass = mean body mass of bovid, following Kingdon (2015) and Etienne et al. (2021) Body mass category = assigned body mass category (one of seven: 1-10kg, 10-45kg, 45-90kg, 90-180kg, 180-360kg, 360-575kg, and &gt;575kg), following Kovarovic & Andrews (2007) ``` File 2: Raw_coordinates.csv ``` Table containing 114 rows (as above), and 91 columns (90 0f which represent landmark coordinates). Variables: Id = combination numerical and letter identifier in which the letters provide the species identification of the specimen* (see end of document for full list of abbreviations and their meaning) RawCoord1-90: landmark coordinates of the 30 landmarks, in which each column represents a single component of the 3D coordinate, e.g., RawCoord1-3 represent the three coordinates of landmark 1 ``` File 3: Procrustes_coordinates_with_centroid_size.csv ``` Table containing 114 rows (as above), and 93 columns (90 of which represent landmark coordinates following Procrustes superimposition, and two of which represent centroid size) Variables: Id = as File 2 Centroid Size: centroid size of the specimen calculated from Procrustes coordinates Log Centroid Size: log of Centroid Size ProcCoord1-90: ordered in the same manner as File 2 RawCoord1-90, but these coordinates are the product of a Procrustes superimposition on the raw coordinates ``` METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION 1. Scan acquisition and landmarking: 3D scans of the humerus 111 extant bovid species representing 54 extant bovid species + 3 scans of Rusingoryx atopocranion were obtained from a variety of sources (see File 1). These were landmarked in 3D in Avizo v7.1.0 (Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum Berlin, 2012) following the landmark configuration laid out in the associated manuscript (Anderson et al. 2024), which uses 30 true landmarks. 2. Landmark processing: The raw landmark coordinates (File 2) were imported into MorphoJ v1.07a (Klingenberg, 2011) where Procrustes superimosition was performed (the output being File 3) 3. Categorical variables: A six-level habitat system was used to classify each extant taxon to a broad habitat category: Grassland/treeless (GT), Wooded bushland/grassland (WBG), Light woodland/bushland (LWB), Heavy woodland/bushland (HWB), Forest (F), and Montane (M) (full definitions in the original sources: Barr 2020; Etienne et al. 2020; Kovarovic et al. 2021). It is important to note that the habitat categories relate to the amount of vegetation cover, not the type of cover itself. A seven-level body mass classification system was used following Kovarovic & Andrews (2007): 1-10kg, 10-45kg, 45-90kg, 90-180kg, 180-360kg, 360-575kg, and &gt;575kg. Body mass values were obtained from Kingdon (2015) and Etienne et al. (2021). Tribe assignment follows ultimateungulate.com (Huffman 2020). SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION These data are used in Anderson et al. 2024, in press with Journal of Anatomy. CODE/SOFTWARE Landmarking was carried out in Avizo v7.1.0 (Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum Berlin, 2012). Landmark processing was carried out in MorphoJ v1.07a (Klingenberg, 2011). Subsequent multivariate analyses used in the article Anderson et al. (2024) were carried out in R v4.0.3 (The R Foundation for Statistical Computing, 2020). Identifying abbreviations used in Files 2 & 3 Ab = Alcelaphus buselaphus Ac = Antilope cervicapra Al = Ammotragus lervia Am = Antidorcas marsupialis An = Addax nasomaculatus Bbi = Bison bison Bbu = Bubalus bubalis Bd = Bubalus depressicornis Bg = Bos grunniens Bj = Bos javanicus Bt = Boselaphus tragocamelus Cg = Connochaetes gnou Cm = Cephalophus monticola Cmi = Capricornis milneedwardsii Cs = Cephalophus silvicultor Ct = Connochaetes taurinus Dl = Damaliscus lunatus Dp = Damaliscus pygargus Er = Eudorcas rufifrons Et = Eudorcas thomsonii Gd = Gazella dorcas He = Hippotragus equinus Hj = Hemitragus jemlahicus Hn = Hippotragus niger Ke = Kobus ellipsiprymnus Kk = Kobus kob Kv = Kobus vardonii Lw = Litocranius walleri Mk = Madoqua kirki Nd = Nanger dama Ng = Nanger granti Oa = Oreamnos americanus Od = Oryx dammah Og = Oryx gazella Ol = Oryc leucoryx Om = Ovibos moschatus Oor = Oreotragus oreotragus Oou = Ourebia ourebi Pn = Pseudois nayaur Ra = Redunca arundum Rf = Redunca fulvorufula Rr = Redunca redunca Rru = Rupicapra rupicapra Rusi = Rusingoryx atopocranion Sc = Syncerus caffer Sg = Sylvicapra grimmia St = Saiga tatarica Td = Taurotragus derbianus Te = Tragelaphus eurycerus To = Taurotragus oryx Tq = Tetracerus quadricornis Ts = Tragelaphus scriptus Tsp = Tragelaphus spekii Tst = Tragalephus strepsiceros