A multiproxy approach to unravel the diet of Pleistocene fossil mammals from the Brazilian Intertropical Region
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Data
2025-10-07
Autores
Germano, Rodrigo Ventura
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Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo
Resumo
This study synthesizes paleoecological and dietary insights from Brazilian Quaternary mammals, primarily upon Peter Lund's extensive fossil collection from the Lagoa Santa Karst region, Minas Gerais, and additional insights about the Quaternary fossil primates from Brazil using extant howler monkeys for comparisons. Utilizing dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) and stable carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotope analyses, I reconstructed the dietary niches and inferred the paleoenvironments of diverse representatives of several mammalian orders, including Didelphimorphia, Rodentia, Chiroptera, Perissodactyla, Artiodactyla, and Primates. DMTA revealed a wide spectrum of dietary strategies, from soft browsing in Artiodactyla and Perissodactyla to highly varied and specialized diets in Chiroptera and Didelphimorphia, and a restrict strategy among Rodentia. Primates, specifically subfossil individuals belonging to Alouatta and Caipora bambuiorum, exhibited microwear patterns consistent with a more frugivorous or mixed-feeding diet, similar to extant Alouatta guariba that shows a more generalized, mixed-feeding strategy when compared with the known DMTA data of Alouatta palliata. Isotopic data focused on meso- and small mammals further elucidated habitat preferences and dietary flexibility for them. For instance, individuals of Tapirus cristatellus and Tayassu pecari showed strong C3 plant preferences and δ18O signatures that suggest that they lived in humid forested areas, while an individual of Myocastor coypus indicated drier conditions with possible C4 plant consumption. Individuals of Coendou magnus and Lutreolina crassicaudata demonstrated significant dietary flexibility and inhabited transitional environments. Radiocarbon dating of some specimens placed them within the Late Pleistocene and Holocene in a complex and heterogeneous landscape that supported diverse ecological niches. This multi-proxy approach enhances our understanding of the Brazilian Intertropical Region and the adaptive capabilities of their mammalian fauna in response to environmental changes
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Paleoecologia , Análise da textura do microdesgaste dentário (DMTA) , Isótopos estáveis , Quaternário brasileiro , Mamíferos , Inferências alimentares , Paleoecology , Dental Microwear Texture Analysis (DMTA) , Stable isotopes , Brazilian Quaternary , Mammals , Dietary inferences , Paleontologia , Zoologia