Supplementary data from: Diversity, population structure and palaeoecology of the Pleistocene large cervids from the Padang Highlands, Sumatra
Authors/Creators
- 1. HALMA- UMR 8164 (CNRS), Université de Lille, Campus Pont-de-Bois, Rue du Barreau, 59653 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France & Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
- 2. Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Raamsteeg 2, Leiden, The Netherlands.
- 3. Department of Messel Research and Mammalogy, Senckenberg Research Institute, Senckenberganlage 25, Frankfurt, Germany.
- 4. The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans, Senckenberg Research Institute, Senckenberganlage 25, Frankfurt, Germany.
- 5. Department of Anthropology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, United Kingdom.
Description
This chapter deals with the dentognathic remains of the large deer from the Padang Highland caves in Sumatra. By means of a multiproxy approach we attempt to more fully document the presence and characteristics of the cervid family during the Late Pleistocene in this region. We used linear and geometric morphometric techniques to investigate variation, taxonomic position and body size trends in a dataset of upper and lower molars. Dental mesowear was used to assess dietary prefence in a sub-sample. The results suggest the Padang Highland cervids belonged to multiple populations of an early stock of Rusa deer of the size of Rusa unicolor, but morphologically similar to Rusa timorensis. Rusa sp. was reconstructed as a mixed feeder with an increase of the grazing component with age.