Virtual reconstruction of the Canis arnensis type (Canidae, Mammalia) from the Upper Valdarno Basin (Italy, Early Pleistocene)
Bartolini-Lucenti, Saverio (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Cirilli, Omar (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Melchionna, Marina (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell'Ambiente e delle Risorse)
Raia, Pasquale (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra)
Tseng, Zhijie Jack (University of California. Department of Integrative Biology)
Flynn, John J. (American Museum of Natural History)
Rook, Lorenzo (Università di Firenze. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra)

Data:	2024
Resum:	Taphonomic deformation, whether it be brittle or plastic, is possibly the most influential process hindering the correct understanding of fossil species morphology. This is especially true if the deformation affects type specimens or applies to or obscures taxonomically diagnostic or functionally significant traits. Target Deformation, a recently developed virtual manipulation protocol, was implemented to address this issue by applying landmark-guided restoration of the original, deformed fossils, using undeformed specimens (or parts thereof) of the same species as a reference. The enigmatic Early Pleistocene canid Canis arnensis provides a typical example of a fossil species in dire need of virtual restoration. Its lectotype specimen is heavily deformed and none of the few known skulls are well preserved, obscuring the recognition of its systematic and phylogenetic position. Our results indicate that the algorithm effectively countered the lectotype skull's laterolateral compression and its concomitant rostrocaudal elongation. Morphometrically, comparison of the retrodeformed cranium (IGF 867_W) with other specimens of the same species, and to other fossil and extant canid material, confirms IGF 867_W consistently clusters within C. arnensis variability. Overall, the evidence presented here confirms that Target Deformation provides a powerful tool to better characterize complex taxa like C. arnensis, whose knowledge is severely affected by the state of preservation of its fossil material.
Ajuts:	Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación JDC2022-048590-I
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Publicat a:	Scientific reports, Vol. 14 (April 2024) , art. 8303, ISSN 2045-2322

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53073-5
PMID: 38594298

13 p, 4.6 MB

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