SGER: Scanning Electron Microscope Imaging of Bat and Rodent Long Bone Sections: A Potential Source of Climatic and Physiological Information from the Fossil Record

Murray State University, Murray KY

Investigators

Abstract

Martin.9904282 This exploratory research investigates the possibility that ring structures in bat and rodent bones may provide climatic information. Long bone segments in modern animals that hibernate and those that do not will be embedded, sectioned, and examined under a scanning electron microscope. Theoretically, there should be differences in skeletal morphology represented by these behavioral differences. If successful, this approach can be used to explore the physiological strategies of ancient mammals, perhaps identifying the earliest fossil evidence for torpor in many mammalian groups. Ring structures could also be used to infer climatic changes during the Pleistocene, perhaps consistent with interglacial and glacial cycles.