[dinosaur] Studying bipedal dinosaur trackways using geometric morphometrics (free pdf)

Ben Creisler
[email protected]

A recent paper in open access:


Mireia Costa-Pérez, José Joaquín Moratalla, and Jesús Marugán-Lobón (2019)
Studying bipedal dinosaur trackways using geometric morphometrics.
Palaeontologia Electronica 22.3.pvc_3, 1-13.
doi:  https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.26879_980&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=BlmH1AF3gTNDXdXyBTCmdCAv08hP-EpoYEaz_uJUuCg&s=WZiVCkmnXc74shwQPSZ27jIQUbS5Nvxo2CvuXDxKCds&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__palaeo-2Delectronica.org_content_pvc-2D3&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=BlmH1AF3gTNDXdXyBTCmdCAv08hP-EpoYEaz_uJUuCg&s=wnkwxAm69WdbXpplbAjm8sJzPxJvVNPh2roLzecVwGo&e= 

Free pdf:
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__palaeo-2Delectronica.org_content_pdfs_980.pdf&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=BlmH1AF3gTNDXdXyBTCmdCAv08hP-EpoYEaz_uJUuCg&s=XzyJalAHSK71i04rtaX4PT_gmEtygNBqObtaGjlC_zA&e= 



Traditionally, the study of dinosaur tracks and trackways has been helpful
to learn about the anatomy of the trackmaker and its biodynamics. The
implementation of digital techniques has further allowed delving into
elusive evidence, such as the nature of autopod-substrate interaction and
to build virtual collections. However, new methods that help to
discriminate more objectively traits that lurk undetected within the tracks
and the trackways are needed. Geometric Morphometrics (GM) is one of such
advanced tools for shape analysis, but it has only been used for the
comparison and ichnotaxonomic assessment of isolated footprints, and never
for the study of dinosaur trackways. Using 2D GM, we analysed the
differences between 75 randomly selected trackways of bipedal dinosaurs
from literature, and tested if their variation was associated to the sizes
of the trackways and to the estimated speeds at which the latter moved when
leaving the trackways. Our results show that the method easily summarizes
most of the trackway geometric differences, showing that such variation
relates to footprint relative sizes, their orientation and their relative
positions within the trackway. Importantly, the multivariate statistics
indicated that none such differences could be attributed to ichnotaxa,
while they clearly correlated with size, and in a much larger degree, to
the estimated speeds at which the trackways were laid. Moreover, size and
speed are unrelated, entailing that much of the trackway differences
involve the biodynamics of bipedal dinosaurs, irrespective of their
trackmaker assignment, plus substrate dynamics.

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