PALEOECOLOGY READING GROUP
Course readings and links to reference materials will be posted here for each topic.
Also, we will be using the statistical programming environment R in this course; the program
can be downloaded here.
Jan. 25, 2006: Basic statistics review
Statistical concepts:
- variables and distributions
- central tendency (mean, median, mode)
- spread (variance, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, standard error)
- significance testing
- significance vs. effect size
- Student t-test
- calculating appropriate sample size
- correlation
- regression
- Model I: ordinary least squares
- Model II: reduced major axis, major axis (principal components analysis)
Feb . 1, 2006: Ecomorphology - morphological diversity
Measures of morphological diversity:
- Euclidean distance
- mean link length of the minimum spanning tree
- mean distance from centroid (Levene test)
- mean nearest neighbor distance
- morphological disparity (mean pairwise dissimilarity) (Foote, 1992)
- volume of occupied morphospace (Wagner, 1996)
Statistical concepts:
Readings:
- Van Valkenburgh, B. (1988). Trophic diversity in past and present guilds of large predatory mammals. Paleobiology 14(2): 155-173. [pdf]
- Wesley-Hunt, G. D. (2005). The morphological diversification of carnivores in North America. Paleobiology 31(1): 35-55. [pdf]
Feb . 8, 2006: Ecomorphology - inferring paleohabitat
Statistical concepts:
- principal components analysis (PCA)
- covariance matrices
- correlation matrices
- factor loadings
- factor scores
- canonical variates analysis (CVA)
- discriminant function analysis (DFA)
- scale-free variables
- stepwise functions
- Mahalanobis distance
- Box's M-test for homogeneity of covariance
- cross-validation
Readings:
- Kappelman, J. (1988) Morphology and locomotor adaptations of the bovid femur in relation to habitat. Journal of Morphology 198: 119-130. [pdf]
- Kappelman, J., Plummer, T., Bishop, L., Duncan, A., and Appleton S. (1997) Bovids as indicators of Plio-Pleistocene paleoenvironments in East Africa. Journal of Human Evolution 32: 229-256. [pdf]
- Scott, R.S., J. Kappelman, and J. Kelley. (1999) The paleoenvironment of Sivapithecus parvada. Journal of Human Evolution 36: 245-274. [pdf]
- DeGusta, D., and Vrba, E.S. (2003) A method for inferring paleohabitats from the functional morphology of bovid astragali. Journal of Archaeological Science 30: 1009-1022. [pdf]
Feb . 15, 2006: Measuring and assessing relative abundance
Counting specimens:
- number of identifiable specimens (NISP)
- minimum number of elements (MNE)
- minimum number of individuals (MNI)
- minimum number of animal units (MAU)
- minimum number of skeletal units (MNSU)
Statistical concepts:
- Type I verus Type II error
- Chi-square test
- Cochran's test
- Taxonomic evenness
- Monte Carlo methods
- jacknife
- bootstrap
- randomization
Readings:
- Cannon, M.D. (2001). Archaeofaunal relative abundance, sample size, and statistical methods. Journal of Archaeological Science 28: 185-195. [pdf]
- Grayson, D.K., Delpech, F., Rigaud, J.-P., and Simek, J.F. (2001). Explaining the development of dietary dominance by a single ungulate taxon at Grotte XVI, Dordogne, France. Journal of Archaeological Science 28: 115-125. [pdf]
Feb . 22, 2006: Trends in relative abundance
Readings:
- Scott, R.S., Fortelius, M., Huttunen, K., and Armour-Chelu, M. (2003). Abundance of "Hipparion". In eds. Fortelius, M., Kappelman, J., Sen, S., Bernor, R.L.: Geology and Paleontology of the Miocene Sinap Formation, Turkey. pp: 380-397. [pdf]
- Scott, R.S., and Maga, M. (2005). Paleoecology of the Akkasdagi hipparions (Mammalia, Equidae), late Miocene of Turkey. Geodiversitas. 27(4): 809-830. [pdf]
Feb . 27, 2006: Computer applications
March. 8, 2006: AAPA meetings
March. 15, 2006: Spring Break
Mar. 23, 2006: Diversity indices
Readings:
- Bobe, R., and Eck, G.G. (2001). Responses of African bovids to Pliocene climate change. Paleobiology Memoirs. 27(2) Supplement: 1-47. [pdf]
- Grayson, D.K., Delpech, F., Rigaud, J.-P., and Simek, J.F. (2001). Explaining the development of dietary dominance by a single ungulate taxon at Grotte XVI, Dordogne, France. Journal of Archaeological Science 28: 115-125. [pdf]
Mar. 31, 2006: Coding in R
Apr. 7, 2006: Project Discussion