Growth and life history of a palaeomerycid : Inferences from the histological analysis of the long bones of Ampelomeryx ginsburgi (Ruminantia, Giraffomorpha) from Els Casots (Catalonia, Spain)
Viladot, Alexandra (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Casanovas i Vilar, Isaac (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Sánchez, Israel M. (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Nacarino-Meneses, Carmen (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)

Date:	2026
Abstract:	The palaeomerycid Ampelomeryx ginsburgi is one of the most iconic mammals found at the early Middle Miocene fossil site of els Casots (Catalonia). To date, several investigations have addressed its taxonomy and phylogeny, but many aspects of its paleobiology still remain to be studied. Here, we performed a paleohistological analysis on several limb bones to provide a first insight into its growth and life history. Specifically, we studied bone tissue types and bone growth marks in four tibiae, one humerus, and two metapodial bones. As in many other mammals, we found that the predominant type of primary bone in A. ginsburgi is fibrolamellar bone, suggesting high growth rates for this extinct artiodactyl. The various analyzed bones, however, differ in the orientation of the vascular canals, likely because they experienced different biomechanical stresses and exhibited different rates of intrinsic growth. Different types of secondary tissue, including compacted coarse cancellous bone, were also found. The skeletochronological study focused on the tibia, where we observed that the external fundamental system always appears after the third cyclical growth mark. This suggests that A. ginsburgi achieved skeletal maturity after its third year of life. Growth plots, on the other hand, revealed that reproductive maturity occurred after the second year of life. All in all, our study provides a preliminary understanding of the paleobiology of A. ginsburgi from els Casots and sets the stage for further investigations.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-117118GB-I00 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-117289GB-I00 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2024-156593NB-I00 Generalitat de Catalunya 2021/SGR-01184 Generalitat de Catalunya 2022/SGR-00620 Generalitat de Catalunya CLT0009/22/000019 Generalitat de Catalunya 2021/BP-00078
Note:	Altres ajuts: CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya; Beca Leonardo a Investigadores y Creadores Culturales 2024 de la Fundación BBVA
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Published in:	Journal of Mammalian Evolution, Vol. 33 (April 2026) , art. 12, ISSN 1573-7055

DOI: 10.1007/s10914-025-09789-w

17 p, 4.9 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles