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IMPROVING THE REPEATABILITY OF LOW MAGNIFICATION MICROWEAR METHODS USING HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGING

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4 Canada
² Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1
³ 87 Chisholm Cr. NW, Calgary, AB T2L 0Y9 Canada
⁴ dfrase{at}ucalgary.ca

The recent advent of low magnification microwear analysis has allowed the efficient study of entire vertebrate faunas using only an optical stereomicroscope. Photographic visualization of microwear by this means has proven difficult, however, and, as a result, few high-resolution photos of low magnification microwear have been published. The repeatability of the method has also been questioned because low magnification microwear analysis involves the visual inspection of microwear features. We show that the use of high dynamic range imaging improves the visualization of microwear features in photographs and that using these photographs as a counting medium increases the repeatability of the method. We also show that counting from the photographs allows us to accurately classify ungulates as browsers, grazers, or mixed feeders.