International seminar n° 84 Melvin Vankelst

Speaker
Georgia Svorligkou
PhD Student, University of Athens
Inferences on the paleodiet of late Miocene rhinocerotids (Perissodactyla, Rhinocerotidae) from Axios Valley, Greece, through the application of dental mesowear analysis
Rhinocerotids are the extant perissodactyls with the most prominent dietary variability, characterized by a dietary range which peaked during the Miocene. As diet is the most direct way an organism interacts with its environment, paleodietary reconstructions are important in understanding past environments.
Therefore, in the present work, the paleodietary regiment of fossil rhinocerotids from the late Miocene of Axios Valley (Greece) is examined through dental mesowear analysis. Dental mesowear analysis is a method that examines the lifelong dental wear signal based on the classification of the tooth cusps into shape and relief categories. Though too scarce to allow for a robust paleoecological reconstructions, the results presented here point to a variety of paleoenvironments between the different localities of Axios valley.
Furthermore, a multiproxy analysis, including a collaboration with PALEVOPRIM Laboratory for the study of dental microwear, would lead to the acquisition of a greater number of paleoecological data and a better understanding of the ecology of late Miocene rhinoceros and the paleonvironments along Axios Valley in northern Greece.
Place
- Room 410, 3rd floor, North wing, Build. B35, university of Poitiers.
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