Microevolution in miocene Brizalina (foraminifera) studied by canonical variate analysis and analysis of landmarks

Abstract

A stratigraphically oriented series of the Micoene formainiferal species Brizalina mandoroveensis from Ikang, Cameroon, was analyzed both by conventional multivariate morphometric procedures and by the tensor biometric method of Bookstein (1986; Statist. Sci. 1, 181-142), a method which analyzes sets of landmark points rather than specific variables of shape or size. The conventional analysis used five size-measures upon 170 specimens from five stratigraphic levels; the tensor analysis encompassed six landmarks (12 coordinates) upon 50 specimens. Whereas certain features appeared in both analyses, such as the separation between levels one and five, the techniques did not always agree with respect to the interpretation of those findings or about most details in the sequence of mean phenotypes. The canonical variate analysis bases its ordination upon a general size factor (the meaning of which is obscured by the foreshortening of within-group variation which is built into the technique). The tensor analysis locates a similar ordination using mainly features of shape.