The Use of Resources in Terrestrial Habitats

Based on functional morphological investigations it is possible to directly correlate parameters of tooth wear with the availability of food in the habitat. As different ungulate taxa eat a particular range of food components, the availability of food items has an effect on the dietary signal. That is why dietary adaptations of hoofed mammals can be used as indicators for the availability of food sources in an investigated habitat. Thus reliable hypothesis about the availability and use of resources in terrestrial habitats can be generated. It has become obvious, that some ungulates show a high degree of flexibility as far as food selection is concerned. These opportunistic feeders can be employed as a model in comparatively recording habitat parameters and these parameters can be isolated in their function as motors of evolutionary change.