Systematics and paleoecology of northern Great Basin Mylagaulidae (Mammalia: Rodentia)
Datum
2010-06
Autor:innen
Zeitschriftentitel
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Verlag
University of Oregon
Zusammenfassung
Burrowing rodents are important ecosystem engineers in today's
environments. The fossil record offers the opportunity to study patterns and processes
in the evolution of the burrowing rodent guild through the Cenozoic. During the
Miocene, this guild was very diverse, including numerous families ranging in ecology
from semi-fossorial to subterranean. I use the emblematic family Mylagaulidae, a
group of subterranean rodents, to test hypotheses of abiotic and biotic controls on
mammalian evolution with the goal of better understanding turnover in the
composition of the fossorial rodent guild in the Miocene of the Great Basin. I
investigate the relative contributions of climate and biotic interactions to the
purported intraguild competition between mylagaulids and geomyids with an
emphasis on differences and similarities in patterns of occurrence and diet. Patterns of
site occupancy and microwear suggest the importance of habitat changes in driving
changes in guild composition among burrowers.
Beschreibung
xx, 281 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.