IMHICIHU   13380
INSTITUTO MULTIDISCIPLINARIO DE HISTORIA Y CIENCIAS HUMANAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Osteometric analysis of sexual dimorphism in Lama guanicoe guanicoe (Müller 1776)
Autor/es:
KAUFMANN, C.; L'HEUREUX G. L
Lugar:
Mendoza, Mendoza
Reunión:
Congreso; 10th International Mammalogical Congress; 2009
Institución organizadora:
Center for Science & Technology - CCT CONICET Mendoza (CRICYT), National Council of Science and Technology - CONICET, Institute for Aridlands Research - IADIZA, Biodiversity Research Group - GiB, International Federation of Mammalogists - IFM, Sociedad Ar
Resumen:
In wild-living populations adult camelids are mainly sexed by observing their social and reproductive behavior, and on occasion, their genitalia (first order sexually dimorphic traits). Both biologists and archaeologists usually assume the absence of clearly identifiable sexually dimorphic somatic and skeletal traits among adult guanaco (Lama guanicoe guanicoe; Müller 1776) specimens. The relatively few studies that evaluate the osteological differences between sexes in this species, had been carried out using qualitative morphological traits from a rather limited set of skeletal elements, like the skull and pelvis. Therefore, the development of methodological tools aimed to accurately discriminate between sexes using morphometric techniques on a wider range of skeletal elements is a relevant research objective. As a contribution to this aim, we assess in this paper the existence and magnitude of the cranial and postcarnial sex-related morphometric differences in a sample of modern guanaco specimens from Cinco Chañares, Río Negro, northern Patagonia, Argentina. The sample was composed by 32 individuals (8 males and 24 females) older than 2.75 years at the age of death. A standardized set of measurement was performed on 109 upper and lower canines, 66 lower hemimaxillae, 51 hemipelvis, 40 humeri, 39 radioulnae, 40 femora, and 41 tibiae. The obtained results show that the main morphometric differences between sexes are related to size variation in canines (second order dimorphic traits), and size and shape variation in the whole pelvis and acetabulum (third order dimorphic traits). In the appendicular skeleton no statistically significant differences between sexes were found, but this ought to be reevaluated increasing sample sizes, particularly that of male specimens.