Functional analysis reveals Miocene fossil pig's foraging behavior
Monday, July 28, 2014 - 07:30
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Foraging behavior and adaptations for feeding in the context of habitat condition have been studied widely in living suids (pigs) but rarely in their fossil relatives. A study published in Science China: Earth Sciences (5) compared the skull and mandible of a Late Miocene fossil pig from the Linxia Basin, Gansu Province, China, Chleuastochoerus, with those of extant pigs and peccaries, and revealed the foraging behavior of Chleuastochoerus, adding fresh evidence that the area of the Linxia Basin was open but still relatively humid in the middle-late Late Miocene.