Unexpected differences between males and females in early mouse deer

Drawing of the male (left) and female mouse deer of the species Dorcatherium naui, which lived eleven million years ago in what is now Germany's Allgäu region.

Reconstruction of the female (top/left) and male (bottom/right) mouse deer skull from the Hammerschmiede clay pit.

Virtual reconstruction of the male mouse deer skull from the Hammerschmiede clay pit. Microcomputed tomographic data show the air-filled internal structure of the pronounced cranial ridges.

Publication:

Josephina Hartung & Madelaine Böhme 2022. Unexpected cranial sexual dimorphism in the tragulid Dorcatherium naui based on material from the middle to late Miocene localities of Eppelsheim and Hammerschmiede (Germany). PLOS ONE, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267951

/University of Tuebingen Public Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).View in full here.

Publication:

You might also like