Booth Id:
ANIM055
Category:
Animal Sciences
Year:
2021
Finalist Names:
Paget, Andrew (School: Olathe North High School)
Abstract:
Oreodonts are a common herbivorous artiodactyl from the Oligocene epoch of Wyoming. While quite common in this area, these creatures are still somewhat understudied and not fully understood. This study looked into the difference between two of the major genera from this time and place, Merycoidedontodiea and Miniochoerus, specifically the differences between the jaw sizes of the two genera. In this study, specific sections of the jaw were measured to test the hypothesis that Meryciodedontodiea is larger than Miniochoerus to the point of suggesting different lifestyles. The values collected lead to an average jaw length of 43.561mm for the sample of Merycoidedontodiea and an average length of 29.32 for the sample of Miniochoerus. These values lead to statistically significant evidence that the jaw lengths are different to the point of indicating lifestyle differences between the two genera.