New Geometric Morphometric Insights in Digital Taphonomy: Analyses into the Sexual Dimorphism of Felids through Their Tooth Pits

Abstract

Recent studies using geometric morphometrics for taphonomy have yielded interesting results, opening new horizons of research in both archaeological and paleontological sites. Here we present the analysis of tooth pits left by male and female individuals of two different carnivore species (Panthera tigris and Panthera pardus) in order to see if sexual dimorphism influences the morphology of tooth pit marks. In the process, 3D-scanning and applied statistics were used. Based on samples derived from two individuals of different sexes, the present results indicate sexual dimorphism in these felid species to not be a conditioning factor of tooth pit morphology.

Keywords

• neotaphonomy
• sexual dimorphism
• actualistic studies
• geometric morphometrics