The figure above shows the dorsal side of the metacarpals’ morphology of 7 different populations/species of small bovids in Eurasia. From the shape of the bones, could you discern the variation in the morphology between these bones? What are they? And what are they linked with?

The study of the variations of the animal bones and distinctive morphological features between them is called “Comparative Osteomorphology”. These studies form the basis of the the techniques in the identification of various species that can be discovered from the archaeological or paleontological sites in prehistory, which help us understand what animals were living in an area thousands or millions years ago.

Looking deeper into the links between vertebrate morphological adaptations and ecological role of an individual is the study of ecomorphology. The term “morphological” here is in the anatomical context. Through ecomorphological studies, we coulder infer the ecological adaptive traits of the animals based on their skeletal morphology, and therefore the natural and artificial environments the animals adapted to in the past, and hence the human behaviours towarids them. Hence, ecomorphological study can be very useful for unlock the past behavioural patterns of animals, humans, and the environments they dwelled.