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Just found out that the owl pellet booklet is now called Analysis of Owl Pellets and is on this page along with one on bat droppings and another on otter spraint. http://www.mammal.org.uk/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=11&Itemid=219 <http://www.mammal.org.uk/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=11&Itemid=219> SH-D ArchaeoZoology http://www.shd-archzoo.co.uk On 14/02/2012 20:02, [log in to unmask] wrote: > Hi, Fiona: Strange you should ask just at this moment! I'm here at KU on > another research visit, and my colleague Dr. Robert Timm and I have spent > almost the entire time on this question. Actually, A. flavicollis comes > into it too, as it is also part of the British small mammal fauna > (assuming your site is in England). > > We find that we probably have both A. sylvaticus and A. flavicollis, but > we also certainly have Mus musculus. Two publications have been > particularly helpful to us. One is Jim Williams' thing, which appears to > be a kind of classroom handout. I got it by simply downloading it off Bone > Commons somewhere -- the title is "Small Mammal Identification and > Taphonomy." > > The other publication is: Musser, Guy G., E.M. Brothers, M.D. Carleson and > R. Hutterer. 1996. "Taphonomy and distributional records of Oriental and > European Apodemus, with a discussion of the Apodemus-Sylvaeums problem," > Bonn. Zool. Beitrag., 46(1-4): 143-190. If you want this, EMail me and > I'll forward the PDF. > > Basically, what I have learned to look for in terms of differences are > related to the fact that Mus is much more snub-nosed than Apodemus. If > they were dogs, Mus would be a pit-bull while Apodemus would be a Doberman > Pinscher. Their skulls being about equally broad therefore means that the > angle of convergence of the jaw rami in Mus is noticeably steeper, and > therefore also in the isolated single ramus you will find that the > combined molar alveolar "slot" diverges from the long axis of the ramus > much more. It is also more curving. The depth of the jaw below anterior > M/1 is also greater in Mus than in Apodemus, even when the particular > Apodemus species, i.e. A. flavicollis, is quite a bit bigger than Mus > musculus. > > As to the teeth, if you've got the anterior molar tooth, you'll find that > Apodemus sports three very clear sets of loops, and that on the heel at > the posterior end there's a good strong cingular cusp that doesn't wear > out very soon. In general the British Apodemus species are so high-cusped > that they're verging on subhypsodonty -- they just don't quite get around > to putting cementum between the loops. Mus, on the other hand, has a > stubbier M/1 with only two sets of strong loops. The heel at the rear is > quite broad but bears a cusp that isn't very strong. > > But have a look at the papers and see what you think. > > By the way, in case you or anybody else on list wants a GREAT new tool for > just this type of work, go to Wolfe's Camera on the Internet and look up > the Celestron videomicroscope. No larger than the butt end of an electric > toothbrush and thus eminently suited to pop into your computer bag, the > optics and the images it makes are just amazing even though the > videocamera has only 1.5 or 2.0 mpix. I find that it outperforms the best > "expensive" videomicroscopes -- 6 little integral LED lights help, by > assuring bright, uniform lighting. It will magnify well over 35X, i.e. > better than the standard lab binocular 'scope. It's a little primitive in > having both zoom and focus on the same wheel, but you'll find that you can > jigger about anything you need by using handy books of different > thicknesses and/or blocks of styrofoam to hold either the 'scope or else > the specimen. It has an integral measuring function also -- not that you > can believe that it really measures in mm, but nonetheless with one 'hard' > caliper measurement of the total length of the object, you then have a > scale and can calculate lengths of teeth or any other shorter dimension by > just running ratios, which will give you accuracy the same as any other > micrometer and allow you to circumvent the danger of damaging the tiny > teeth by trying to caliper them. > > Buying price for this little miracle: a mere $65USD. Go get 'em.... > Cheers, best wishes to all -- Dr. Deb > > > >> Hello Zooarch >> Can anyone point me in the direction of any diagrams showing the >> difference between the teeth and/or the alveoli of Mus musculus and >> Apodemus sylvaticus? >> Thank you >> Fiona >> >> >> Fiona Beglane MSc >> Animal Bone Specialist >> Licensed Archaeologist >> Donegal, Ireland >> 074 97 21937 >> 087 686 3914 (M) >> Alternate email address: [log in to unmask] >> Institute of Technology, Sligo >> > >> Hello Zooarch >> Can anyone point me in the direction of any diagrams showing the >> difference between the teeth and/or the alveoli of Mus musculus and >> Apodemus sylvaticus? >> Thank you >> Fiona >> >> >> Fiona Beglane MSc >> Animal Bone Specialist >> Licensed Archaeologist >> Donegal, Ireland >> 074 97 21937 >> 087 686 3914 (M) >> Alternate email address: [log in to unmask] >> Institute of Technology, Sligo >>