Potentials and limits of Morphometry in the understanding of Squamate Osteological Structures

Abstract

Morphometry is widely regarded as a powerful tool for the taxonomic identification and functional understanding of structures in fossil vertebrates. According to the principles of actuopalaeontology the number of extant specimens should — where possible — strongly exceed the fossil sample. Thereby a stable morphometric frame is provided for the interpretation of fossil structures. Structure analyses using computer methods can represent far more powerful tools compared to single distance measurements. This allows to encounter the information loss which is correlated with increasing abstraction. As palaeontologists focus on the functional limitations given by hard tissues, they can contribute to previously unknown functional contexts of the skeleton by making statements on the constructional morphology of the organisms in question.