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Norwood AL, Wang B, Kingston JD. Linking African herbivore community enamel isotopes and environments: challenges, opportunities, and paleoecological implications. Oecologia 2024; 204:467-489. [PMID: 38517529 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-024-05532-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/18/2024] [Indexed: 03/24/2024]
Abstract
Paleoenvironmental reconstructions of fossil sites based on isotopic analyses of enamel typically rely on data from multiple herbivore taxa, with the assumption that this dietary spectrum represents the community's isotopic range and provides insights into local or regional vegetation patterns. However, it remains unclear how representative the sampled taxa are of the broader herbivore community and how well these data correspond to specific ecosystems. Verifying these underlying assumptions is essential to refining the utility of enamel isotopic values for paleoenvironmental reconstructions. This study explores potential links between modern herbivore community carbon isotopic enamel spectra, biome types, and climate in sub-Saharan Africa. This region is one of the most comprehensively isotopically sampled areas globally and is of particular relevance to hominin evolution. Our extensive data compilation reveals that published enamel isotopic data from sub-Saharan Africa typically sample only a small percentage of the taxa documented at most localities and that some biome types (e.g., subtropical savannas) are dramatically overrepresented relative to others (e.g., forests) in these modern data sets. Multiple statistical analyses, including linear models and cluster analyses, revealed weak relationships of associated mammalian herbivore enamel isotopic values, biome type, and climate parameters. These results confound any simple assumptions about how community isotopic profiles map onto specific environments, highlighting the need for more precise strategic approaches in extending isotopic frameworks into the past for paleoecological reconstructions. Developing more refined modern analogs will ultimately allow us to more accurately characterize the isotopic spectra of paleo-communities and link isotopic dietary signatures to specific ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Bian Wang
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - John D Kingston
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
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2
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Hullot M, Martin C, Blondel C, Rössner GE. Life in a Central European warm-temperate to subtropical open forest: Paleoecology of the rhinocerotids from Ulm-Westtangente (Aquitanian, Early Miocene, Germany). THE SCIENCE OF NATURE - NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN 2024; 111:10. [PMID: 38353735 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01893-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
The Ulm-Westtangente locality has yielded the most abundant vertebrate fauna from the Aquitanian stage in Germany. Its dating to the Mammal Neogene Zone 2a, a turnover in Cenozoic climate, makes it a crucial source for the understanding of faunal, paleoecological and paleoenvironmental specifics of the European Aquitanian. However, while most taxa from Ulm-Westtangente have been studied, little to no research has been conducted on the large herbivores, particularly on the two rhinocerotids Mesaceratherium paulhiacense and Protaceratherium minutum. Here, we used a multi-proxy approach to investigate the paleoecology of these two species. The remains of the smaller species P. minutum (438 to 685 kg) are twice as abundant as those of the larger M. paulhiacense (1389 to 2327 kg), but both display a similar age structure (~ 10% of juveniles, 20% of subadults and 70% of adults), mortality curves, and mild prevalence of hypoplasia (~ 17%). Results from dental mesowear, microwear, and carbon isotopes indicate different feeding preferences: both were C3 feeders but M. paulhiacense had a more abrasive diet and was probably a mixed feeder. Our study on rhinocerotids also yielded new paleoenvironmental insights, such as the mean annual temperature (15.8 °C) and precipitation (317 mm/year) suggesting rather warm and dry conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manon Hullot
- SNSB - Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Richard-Wagner-Straße 10, 80333, Munich, Germany.
| | - Céline Martin
- Géosciences Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, Campus Triolet cc060, Bât 22 - Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier cedex 5, France
| | - Cécile Blondel
- PALEVOPRIM Poitiers, Université de Poitiers Bât B35 - TSA 51106, 6 Rue Michel Brunet, 86073, Poitiers, France
| | - Gertrud E Rössner
- SNSB - Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Richard-Wagner-Straße 10, 80333, Munich, Germany
- Department für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften, Paläontologie & Geobiologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Richard-Wagner-Straße 10, 80333, Munich, Germany
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3
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Negash EW, Barr WA. Relative abundance of grazing and browsing herbivores is not a direct reflection of vegetation structure: Implications for hominin paleoenvironmental reconstruction. J Hum Evol 2023; 177:103328. [PMID: 36857987 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2022] [Revised: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023]
Abstract
The diet of fossil herbivores inferred from enamel stable carbon isotopes is often used to make paleoenvironmental reconstructions. While many studies have focused on using environmental indicator taxa to make paleoenvironmental reconstructions, community-based approaches are considered to provide a more complete picture of paleolandscapes. These studies assume that the diet and relative abundance of herbivores are related to the areal extent of different vegetation types on the landscape. Here, we quantitatively test this assumption in 16 modern ecosystems in eastern and southern Africa with a wide range of woody vegetation cover. We conducted a landscape-level spatial analysis of vegetation patterns using a published land cover data set and computed landscape metrics. We compiled data on relative abundance and diet of herbivores inferred from carbon isotope studies for all large herbivores in these ecosystems. We found that despite differences in the total areal extent of different vegetation types, numerous sizable patches of each vegetation type are available in most ecosystems. However, despite variation across the ecosystems examined, grazers are typically the most abundant herbivores even in sites that have a higher proportion of forest and shrub cover. This indicates that the diet and relative abundance of herbivores is not a simple reflection of the total areal extent of vegetation types available on the landscape. The higher proportion of grazers observed in these ecosystems is a result of multiple factors including habitat heterogeneity, differences in biomass turnover rate between grasses and woody vegetation, resource partitioning, and the advantages of group living in open environments. Comparison of diet and relative abundance of herbivores in modern ecosystems to fossil herbivore assemblages shows that very different vegetation regimes can support similar herbivore assemblages. This study has significant implications for paleolandscape reconstructions and cautions against a simplistic wooded vs. grassland paleoenvironmental interpretations based on fossil herbivore assemblages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enquye W Negash
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, 800 22nd Street, Northwest, Washington D.C. 20052, USA.
| | - W Andrew Barr
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, 800 22nd Street, Northwest, Washington D.C. 20052, USA
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Lüdecke T, Leichliter JN, Aldeias V, Bamford MK, Biro D, Braun DR, Capelli C, Cybulski JD, Duprey NN, Ferreira da Silva MJ, Foreman AD, Habermann JM, Haug GH, Martínez FI, Mathe J, Mulch A, Sigman DM, Vonhof H, Bobe R, Carvalho S, Martínez-García A. Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen stable isotopes in modern tooth enamel: A case study from Gorongosa National Park, central Mozambique. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.958032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The analyses of the stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N), and oxygen (δ18O) in animal tissues are powerful tools for reconstructing the feeding behavior of individual animals and characterizing trophic interactions in food webs. Of these biomaterials, tooth enamel is the hardest, most mineralized vertebrate tissue and therefore least likely to be affected by chemical alteration (i.e., its isotopic composition can be preserved over millions of years), making it an important and widely available archive for biologists and paleontologists. Here, we present the first combined measurements of δ13C, δ15N, and δ18O in enamel from the teeth of modern fauna (herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores) from the well-studied ecosystem of Gorongosa National Park (GNP) in central Mozambique. We use two novel methods to produce high-precision stable isotope enamel data: (i) the “oxidation-denitrification method,” which permits the measurement of mineral-bound organic nitrogen in tooth enamel (δ15Nenamel), which until now, has not been possible due to enamel’s low organic content, and (ii) the “cold trap method,” which greatly reduces the sample size required for traditional measurements of inorganic δ13Cenamel and δ18Oenamel (from ≥0.5 to ≤0.1 mg), permitting analysis of small or valuable teeth and high-resolution serial sampling of enamel. The stable isotope results for GNP fauna reveal important ecological information about the trophic level, dietary niche, and resource consumption. δ15Nenamel values clearly differentiate trophic level (i.e., carnivore δ15Nenamel values are 4.0‰ higher, on average, than herbivores), δ13Cenamel values distinguish C3 and/or C4 biomass consumption, and δ18Oenamel values reflect local meteoric water (δ18Owater) in the park. Analysis of combined carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen stable isotope data permits geochemical separation of grazers, browsers, omnivores, and carnivores according to their isotopic niche, while mixed-feeding herbivores cannot be clearly distinguished from other dietary groups. These results confirm that combined C, N, and O isotope analyses of a single aliquot of tooth enamel can be used to reconstruct diet and trophic niches. Given its resistance to chemical alteration, the analysis of these three isotopes in tooth enamel has a high potential to open new avenues of research in (paleo)ecology and paleontology.
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Wang B, Badgley C. Carbon-isotope composition of artiodactyl tooth enamel and its implications for paleodiets. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.958859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The stable carbon-isotope composition of mammalian tooth enamel is a powerful tool for reconstructing paleodiet and paleoenvironment. Its application in the fossil record relies on a thorough understanding of the isotopic composition of mammalian diets in modern ecosystems. We compiled and evaluated a global dataset of the carbon-isotope values of artiodactyl tooth enamel, supplemented by new samples, for 79 extant species. After correcting for differences in atmospheric carbon-isotope composition, body mass, and digestive physiology, we compared the inferred carbon-isotope values of ingested forage (δ13Cdiet) among seven feeding categories. The artiodactyl herbivore dietary spectrum is expressed through a wide range of δ13Cdiet values, with the most depleted mean value in frugivores and the most enriched in obligate grazers. In general, grazing species have a broader range of isotope values than browsing species, suggesting a wider dietary niche breadth. Notably, variable grazers exhibit a bimodal distribution of δ13Cdiet values, with North American and Asian taxa consuming C3 diets and African taxa consuming C4 diets, reflecting the amount of C4 vegetation in the environment. Variation in δ13Cdiet values also occurs among terrestrial ecoregions and artiodactyl clades. Grassland ecoregions differ significantly from forest ecoregions. We detected a low but significant phylogenetic signal in the mean δ13Cdiet values of extant species, with some of the oldest ruminant lineages having maintained C3 feeding and pure C4 diets being restricted to two bovid clades. Determining variation in δ13Cdiet values in different feeding categories and lineages will help refine paleoecological and paleoenvironmental reconstructions from the rich fossil record of artiodactyls.
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Chibowski P, Brzeziński M, Suska-Malawska M, Zub K. Diet/Hair and Diet/Faeces Trophic Discrimination Factors for Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopes, and Hair Regrowth in the Yellow-Necked Mouse and Bank Vole. ANN ZOOL FENN 2022. [DOI: 10.5735/086.059.0115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Piotr Chibowski
- Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, PL-02-089 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Marcin Brzeziński
- Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, PL-02-089 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Małgorzata Suska-Malawska
- Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, PL-02-089 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Karol Zub
- Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Stoczek 1, PL-17-230 Białowieża, Poland
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Engelman RK. Occipital condyle width (OCW) is a highly accurate predictor of body mass in therian mammals. BMC Biol 2022; 20:37. [PMID: 35130893 PMCID: PMC8883515 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-021-01224-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Body mass estimation is of paramount importance for paleobiological studies, as body size influences numerous other biological parameters. In mammals, body mass has been traditionally estimated using regression equations based on measurements of the dentition or limb bones, but for many species teeth are unreliable estimators of body mass and postcranial elements are unknown. This issue is exemplified in several groups of extinct mammals that have disproportionately large heads relative to their body size and for which postcranial remains are rare. In these taxa, previous authors have noted that the occiput is unusually small relative to the skull, suggesting that occiput dimensions may be a more accurate predictor of body mass. RESULTS The relationship between occipital condyle width (OCW) and body mass was tested using a large dataset (2127 specimens and 404 species) of mammals with associated in vivo body mass. OCW was found to be a strong predictor of body mass across therian mammals, with regression models of Mammalia as a whole producing error values (~ 31.1% error) comparable to within-order regression equations of other skeletal variables in previous studies. Some clades (e.g., monotremes, lagomorphs) exhibited specialized occiput morphology but followed the same allometric relationship as the majority of mammals. Compared to two traditional metrics of body mass estimation, skull length, and head-body length, OCW outperformed both in terms of model accuracy. CONCLUSIONS OCW-based regression models provide an alternative method of estimating body mass to traditional craniodental and postcranial metrics and are highly accurate despite the broad taxonomic scope of the dataset. Because OCW accurately predicts body mass in most therian mammals, it can be used to estimate body mass in taxa with no close living analogues without concerns of insufficient phylogenetic bracketing or extrapolating beyond the bounds of the data. This, in turn, provides a robust method for estimating body mass in groups for which body mass estimation has previously been problematic (e.g., "creodonts" and other extinct Paleogene mammals).
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Affiliation(s)
- Russell K Engelman
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA.
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8
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Tejada JV, Flynn JJ, MacPhee R, O'Connell TC, Cerling TE, Bermudez L, Capuñay C, Wallsgrove N, Popp BN. Isotope data from amino acids indicate Darwin's ground sloth was not an herbivore. Sci Rep 2021; 11:18944. [PMID: 34615902 PMCID: PMC8494799 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-97996-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2021] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Fossil sloths are regarded as obligate herbivores for reasons including peculiarities of their craniodental morphology and that all living sloths feed exclusively on plants. We challenge this view based on isotopic analyses of nitrogen of specific amino acids, which show that Darwin's ground sloth Mylodon darwinii was an opportunistic omnivore. This direct evidence of omnivory in an ancient sloth requires reevaluation of the ecological structure of South American Cenozoic mammalian communities, as sloths represented a major component of these ecosystems across the past 34 Myr. Furthermore, by analyzing modern mammals with known diets, we provide a basis for reliable interpretation of nitrogen isotopes of amino acids of fossils. We argue that a widely used equation to determine trophic position is unnecessary, and that the relative isotopic values of the amino acids glutamate and phenylalanine alone permit reliable reconstructions of trophic positions of extant and extinct mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia V Tejada
- Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution, UMR 5554, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
- Departmento de Paleontología de Vertebrados, Museo de Historia Natural-UNMSM, Lima, Peru.
| | - John J Flynn
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ross MacPhee
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
| | - Tamsin C O'Connell
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ, UK
| | - Thure E Cerling
- Department of Geology and Geophysics and Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA
| | | | | | - Natalie Wallsgrove
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, USA
| | - Brian N Popp
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, USA
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9
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A chimpanzee enamel-diet δ 13C enrichment factor and a refined enamel sampling strategy: Implications for dietary reconstructions. J Hum Evol 2021; 159:103062. [PMID: 34536662 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2020] [Revised: 08/01/2021] [Accepted: 08/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Reconstructing diets from stable carbon isotopic signals in enamel bioapatite requires the application of a δ13C enamel-diet enrichment factor, or the isotopic offset between diet and enamel, which has not been empirically determined for any primate. In this study, an enamel-diet enrichment factor (ε∗enamel-diet) of 11.8 ± 0.3‰ is calculated for chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) at Ngogo in Kibale National Park, Uganda, based on a comprehensive isotopic assessment of previously analyzed dietary plant data and new isotopic analyses of enamel apatite. Different enamel sampling methods are evaluated to determine the potential influence of weaning on isotopic enamel values and dietary interpretations. The new chimpanzee enrichment factor and a sampling strategy that excludes teeth that formed before weaning completion are applied to all known chimpanzee δ13Cenamel data, either previously published or newly derived in this study, resulting in a dietary range of almost 6‰ across all chimpanzees sampled. This new chimpanzee enamel-diet enrichment factor is then used to reassess dietary reconstructions of 12 fossil hominin species whose isotopic enamel signatures have been determined. Results reveal hominin diets that are isotopically more positive than previously reconstructed, highlighting the widespread contribution of 13C-enriched C4/crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) resources in fossil hominin diets and emphasizing the broad use of these resources during human evolution. These findings stress the importance of ascertaining and employing an appropriate enrichment factor for dietary reconstructions of specific taxa as well as standardizing the sampling protocol for tooth enamel in isotopic paleodietary reconstructions.
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10
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Late Pleistocene human paleoecology in the highland savanna ecosystem of mainland Southeast Asia. Sci Rep 2021; 11:16756. [PMID: 34408215 PMCID: PMC8373907 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-96260-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2021] [Accepted: 08/06/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The late Pleistocene settlement of highland settings in mainland Southeast Asia by Homo sapiens has challenged our species's ability to occupy mountainous landscapes that acted as physical barriers to the expansion into lower-latitude Sunda islands during sea-level lowstands. Tham Lod Rockshelter in highland Pang Mapha (northwestern Thailand), dated between 34,000 and 12,000 years ago, has yielded evidence of Hoabinhian lithic assemblages and natural resource use by hunter-gatherer societies. To understand the process of early settlements of highland areas, we measured stable carbon and oxygen isotope compositions of Tham Lod human and faunal tooth enamel. Our assessment of the stable carbon isotope results suggests long-term opportunistic behavior among hunter-gatherers in foraging on a variety of food items in a mosaic environment and/or inhabiting an open forest edge during the terminal Pleistocene. This study reinforces the higher-latitude and -altitude extension of a forest-grassland mosaic ecosystem or savanna corridor (farther north into northwestern Thailand), which facilitated the dispersal of hunter-gatherers across mountainous areas and possibly allowed for consistency in a human subsistence strategy and Hoabinhian technology in the highlands of mainland Southeast Asia over a 20,000-year span near the end of the Pleistocene.
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11
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Wooller MJ, Bataille C, Druckenmiller P, Erickson GM, Groves P, Haubenstock N, Howe T, Irrgeher J, Mann D, Moon K, Potter BA, Prohaska T, Rasic J, Reuther J, Shapiro B, Spaleta KJ, Willis AD. Lifetime mobility of an Arctic woolly mammoth. Science 2021; 373:806-808. [PMID: 34385399 DOI: 10.1126/science.abg1134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2020] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Little is known about woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) mobility and range. Here we use high temporal resolution sequential analyses of strontium isotope ratios along an entire 1.7-meter-long tusk to reconstruct the movements of an Arctic woolly mammoth that lived 17,100 years ago, during the last ice age. We use an isotope-guided random walk approach to compare the tusk's strontium and oxygen isotope profiles to isotopic maps. Our modeling reveals patterns of movement across a geographically extensive range during the animal's ~28-year life span that varied with life stages. Maintenance of this level of mobility by megafaunal species such as mammoth would have been increasingly difficult as the ice age ended and the environment changed at high latitudes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Wooller
- Alaska Stable Isotope Facility, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA. .,Department of Marine Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Clement Bataille
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada. .,Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Patrick Druckenmiller
- University of Alaska Museum of the North, Fairbanks, AK, USA.,Department of Geosciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Gregory M Erickson
- Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
| | - Pamela Groves
- Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Norma Haubenstock
- Alaska Stable Isotope Facility, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Timothy Howe
- Alaska Stable Isotope Facility, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Johanna Irrgeher
- Department of General, Analytical and Physical Chemistry, Montanuniversität Leoben, Leoben, Austria
| | - Daniel Mann
- Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Katherine Moon
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Ben A Potter
- Arctic Studies Center, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng City, Shandong Province, China
| | - Thomas Prohaska
- Department of General, Analytical and Physical Chemistry, Montanuniversität Leoben, Leoben, Austria
| | | | - Joshua Reuther
- University of Alaska Museum of the North, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Beth Shapiro
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Karen J Spaleta
- Alaska Stable Isotope Facility, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Amy D Willis
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
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12
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Cerling TE, Bernasconi SM, Hofstetter LS, Jaggi M, Wyss F, Rudolf von Rohr C, Clauss M. CH4/CO2 Ratios and Carbon Isotope Enrichment Between Diet and Breath in Herbivorous Mammals. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.638568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Breath and diet samples were collected from 29 taxa of animals at the Zurich and Basel Zoos to characterize the carbon isotope enrichment between breath and diet. Diet samples were measured for δ13C and breath samples for CH4/CO2 ratios and for the respired component of δ13C using the Keeling plot approach. Different digestive physiologies included coprophagous and non-coprophagous hindgut fermenters, and non-ruminant and ruminant foregut fermenters. Isotope enrichments from diet to breath were 0.8 ± 0.9‰, 3.5 ± 0.8‰, 2.3 ± 0.4‰, and 4.1 ± 1.0‰, respectively. CH4/CO2 ratios were strongly correlated with isotope enrichments for both hindgut and foregut digestive strategies, although CH4 production was not the sole reason for isotope enrichment. Average CH4/CO2 ratios per taxon ranged over several orders of magnitude from 10–5 to 10–1. The isotope enrichment values for diet-breath can be used to further estimate the isotope enrichment from diet-enamel because Passey et al. (2005b) found a nearly constant isotope enrichment for breath-enamel for diverse mammalian taxa. The understanding of isotope enrichment factors from diet to breath and diet to enamel will have important applications in the field of animal physiology, and possibly also for wildlife ecology and paleontology.
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13
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Jiang Q, Zhao L, Guo L, Hu Y. First direct evidence of conservative foraging ecology of early Gigantopithecus blacki (~2 Ma) in Guangxi, southern China. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 176:93-108. [PMID: 33964022 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2020] [Revised: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 04/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Gigantopithecus blacki, the largest hominoid known, is one of the representative Pleistocene mammals in southern China and northern Southeast Asia. Here we investigate the feeding ecology of G. blacki in its core habitat (Guangxi, Southern China) during the early Early Pleistocene, which was the early period in its evolution. MATERIALS AND METHODS The stable isotopic (C, O) analysis of tooth enamel of the fauna associated with G. blacki (n = 58), including the largest number of G. blacki teeth (n = 12) to date from the Liucheng Gigantopithecus Cave (~2 Ma), Guangxi, China, is undertaken. RESULTS The δ13 C values of Liucheng fauna range from -12.9 to -19.0‰ with an average of -16.1 ± 1.3‰ (n = 58) and the δ18 O values range from -4.3 to -9.6‰ with an average of -6.9 ± 1.2‰ (n = 58). The δ13 C values of G. blacki range from -15.9‰ to -17.0‰ with an average of -16.5 ± 0.4‰ (n = 12), and the δ18 O values vary from -5.9‰ to -7.5‰ with an average of -6.6 ± 0.5‰ (n = 12). CONCLUSIONS The isotopic data show Guangxi was characterized by closed C3 forest and humid climate in the early Early Pleistocene. Niche partitioning is found among G. blacki, Sinomastodon, Ailuropoda and Stegodon, the typical megafauna in South China in the early Early Pleistocene. This could be one of the important factors for them to co-exist until the Middle Pleistocene. Smallest isotopic variations of G. blacki are found compared with those of contemporary animals, indicating a conservative foraging ecology i.e., limited foraging area and/or narrow dietary flexibility. Furthermore, the more confined foraging ecology of G. blacki is also seen in comparison with fossil and extant large-bodied primates. However, the unique dietary pattern of G. blacki does not seem to have hindered its survival. The environment in Guangxi during the early Early Pleistocene offered the suitable conditions for G. blacki to become one of the typical species in the faunal assemblages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quyi Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Zhejiang Provincial Office of Cultural Relics Authentication, Hangzhou, China
| | - Lingxia Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, China
| | - Lin Guo
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, China.,College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yaowu Hu
- Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.,Institute of Archaeological Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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Abstract
Closed-canopy rainforests are important for climate and ecology, yet identifying this ecosystem in the fossil record is challenging. An existing paradigm for identification of closed-canopy rainforests using fossil mammal carbon isotope data is the presence of highly negative δ13Cdiet values (<−31‰) in the herbivore community, as observed in modern equatorial African rainforest ecosystems. Our data from western Amazonian mammals, however, show that the absence of these values is not evidence for absence of closed-canopy rainforests. Our results also document that the proposed relationship between carbon isotope spacing variables and traditional dietary ecological classifications is not straightforward, and that better characterizations of the mixture of nutrients in animal diets are necessary to fully understand diet-tissue isotopic fractionation patterns. Closed-canopy rainforests are important for climate (influencing atmospheric circulation, albedo, carbon storage, etc.) and ecology (harboring the highest biodiversity of continental regions). Of all rainforests, Amazonia is the world’s most diverse, including the highest mammalian species richness. However, little is known about niche structure, ecological roles, and food resource partitioning of Amazonian mammalian communities over time. Through analyses of δ13Cbioapatite, δ13Chair, and δ15Nhair, we isotopically characterized aspects of feeding ecology in a modern western Amazonian mammalian community in Peru, serving as a baseline for understanding the evolution of Neotropical rainforest ecosystems. By comparing these results with data from equatorial Africa, we evaluated the potential influences of distinct phylogenetic and biogeographic histories on the isotopic niches occupied by mammals in analogous tropical ecosystems. Our results indicate that, despite their geographical and taxonomic differences, median δ13Cdiet values from closed-canopy rainforests in Amazonia (−27.4‰) and equatorial Africa (−26.9‰) are not significantly different, and that the median δ13Cdiet expected for mammalian herbivores in any closed-canopy rainforest is −27.2‰. Amazonian mammals seem to exploit a narrower spectrum of dietary resources than equatorial African mammals, however, as depicted by the absence of highly negative δ13Cdiet values previously proposed as indicative of rainforests (<−31‰). Finally, results of keratin and bioapatite δ13C indicate that the predictive power of trophic relationships, and traditional dietary ecological classifications in bioapatite-protein isotopic offset expectations, must be reconsidered.
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15
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Gregariousness in the giant sloth Lestodon (Xenarthra): multi-proxy approach of a bonebed from the Last Maximum Glacial of Argentine Pampas. Sci Rep 2020; 10:10955. [PMID: 32616813 PMCID: PMC7331707 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-67863-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2020] [Accepted: 06/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Megamammals constituted an important component in the Pleistocene faunal communities of South America. Paleobiological and paleoecological studies involving different megamammal taxa have increased significantly in the last years, but there are still several poorly-known issues of its life history. In this work, we analyze an assemblage composed of 13 individuals of different ontogenetic stages, and possibly different sex, belonging to the giant ground sloth Lestodon armatus (Xenarthra, Folivora), recovered from Playa del Barco site (Pampean Region, Argentina). A dating of 19,849 years Cal BP allows assigning this assemblage to a period of the MIS (Marine Isotope Stage) 2 related to the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. Based on multiple lines of research (e.g. taphonomy, paleopathology, osteohistology, isotopy), we interpret the origin of the assemblage and diverse paleobiological and paleoecological aspects (e.g. social behavior, ontogenetic changes, sexual dimorphism, diseases, resource and habitat use, trophic relationships) of L. armatus. Evidence suggests that the assemblage was formed by a local single event of catastrophic mortality, which affected different members of a social group. This record represents the first accurate evidence of gregariousness for this ground sloth, providing new data on a poorly-known behavior among extinct Folivora.
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Abstract
Methane (CH4) production is a ubiquitous, apparently unavoidable side effect of fermentative fibre digestion by symbiotic microbiota in mammalian herbivores. Here, a data compilation is presented of in vivo CH4 measurements in individuals of 37 mammalian herbivore species fed forage-only diets, from the literature and from hitherto unpublished measurements. In contrast to previous claims, absolute CH4 emissions scaled linearly to DM intake, and CH4 yields (per DM or gross energy intake) did not vary significantly with body mass. CH4 physiology hence cannot be construed to represent an intrinsic ruminant or herbivore body size limitation. The dataset does not support traditional dichotomies of CH4 emission intensity between ruminants and nonruminants, or between foregut and hindgut fermenters. Several rodent hindgut fermenters and nonruminant foregut fermenters emit CH4 of a magnitude as high as ruminants of similar size, intake level, digesta retention or gut capacity. By contrast, equids, macropods (kangaroos) and rabbits produce few CH4 and have low CH4 : CO2 ratios for their size, intake level, digesta retention or gut capacity, ruling out these factors as explanation for interspecific variation. These findings lead to the conclusion that still unidentified host-specific factors other than digesta retention characteristics, or the presence of rumination or a foregut, influence CH4 production. Measurements of CH4 yield per digested fibre indicate that the amount of CH4 produced during fibre digestion varies not only across but also within species, possibly pointing towards variation in microbiota functionality. Recent findings on the genetic control of microbiome composition, including methanogens, raise the question about the benefits methanogens provide for many (but apparently not to the same extent for all) species, which possibly prevented the evolution of the hosting of low-methanogenic microbiota across mammals.
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17
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Zinc isotopes in Late Pleistocene fossil teeth from a Southeast Asian cave setting preserve paleodietary information. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:4675-4681. [PMID: 32071235 PMCID: PMC7060694 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1911744117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Dietary habits, especially meat consumption, represent a key aspect in the behavior and evolution of fossil hominin species. Here, we explore zinc (Zn) isotope ratios in tooth enamel of fossil mammals. We show discrimination between different trophic levels and demonstrate that Zn isotopes could prove useful in paleodietary studies of fossil hominin, or other mammalian species, to assess their consumption of animal versus plant resources. We also demonstrate the high preservation potential of pristine diet-related Zn isotope ratios, even under tropical conditions with poor collagen preservation, such as the studied depositional context in Southeast Asia. However, assessing the preservation of original δ66Zn values is required for each fossil site as diagenesis may vary across and even within taphonomic settings. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of collagen from bone and dentin have frequently been used for dietary reconstruction, but this method is limited by protein preservation. Isotopes of the trace element zinc (Zn) in bioapatite constitute a promising proxy to infer dietary information from extant and extinct vertebrates. The 66Zn/64Zn ratio (expressed as δ66Zn value) shows an enrichment of the heavy isotope in mammals along each trophic step. However, preservation of diet-related δ66Zn values in fossil teeth has not been assessed yet. Here, we analyzed enamel of fossil teeth from the Late Pleistocene (38.4–13.5 ka) mammalian assemblage of the Tam Hay Marklot (THM) cave in northeastern Laos, to reconstruct the food web and assess the preservation of original δ66Zn values. Distinct enamel δ66Zn values of the fossil taxa (δ66Zncarnivore < δ66Znomnivore < δ66Znherbivore) according to their expected feeding habits were observed, with a trophic carnivore-herbivore spacing of +0.60‰ and omnivores having intermediate values. Zn and trace element concentration profiles similar to those of modern teeth also indicate minimal impact of diagenesis on the enamel. While further work is needed to explore preservation for settings with different taphonomic conditions, the diet-related δ66Zn values in fossil enamel from THM cave suggest an excellent long-term preservation potential, even under tropical conditions that are well known to be adverse for collagen preservation. Zinc isotopes could thus provide a new tool to assess the diet of fossil hominins and associated fauna, as well as trophic relationships in past food webs.
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The Great American Biotic Interchange revisited: a new perspective from the stable isotope record of Argentine Pampas fossil mammals. Sci Rep 2020; 10:1608. [PMID: 32005879 PMCID: PMC6994648 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58575-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2019] [Accepted: 01/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
This study aims at assessing resource and habitat use, niche occupation and trophic interactions from a stable isotope perspective on fossil mammals from the Argentine Pampas during the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI). We present stable isotope data of more than 400 samples belonging to 10 mammalian orders and spanning a temporal range from ~9.5 Ma to ~12 ky. Rodents, notoungulates and pilosians record an increase in the consumption of C4 plants, whereas litopterns and cingulates show δ13C values that remain mostly within a C3-dominated diet. Our stable isotope data indicates that the expansion of C4 vegetation opened up new niche opportunities, probably alleviating resource competition among endemic taxa. Gomphothere, equid and camelid δ13C records show a broad variability pointing to consumption of C3 and mixed C3-C4 vegetation. This flexible dietary behavior may have facilitated the successful settlement of immigrant groups in South America. In the case of carnivorous taxa, Late Miocene pre-GABI endemic sparassodonts consumed prey from C3 environments, whereas immigrant carnivorans preferred prey from mixed C3-C4 areas. Our research contributes to the study of the GABI from a different perspective as stable isotope records permit to characterize, from a (semi)quantitative standpoint, ecological traits within extinct fauna.
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19
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Late Middle Pleistocene Elephants from Natodomeri, Kenya and the Disappearance of Elephas (Proboscidea, Mammalia) in Africa. J MAMM EVOL 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-019-09474-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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20
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Quinn RL. Isotopic equifinality and rethinking the diet of
Australopithecus anamensis. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2019; 169:403-421. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2018] [Revised: 03/08/2019] [Accepted: 04/16/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Rhonda L. Quinn
- Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social WorkSeton Hall University South Orange New Jersey
- Department of Earth and Planetary SciencesRutgers University Piscataway New Jersey
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21
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Cullen TM, Longstaffe FJ, Wortmann UG, Goodwin MB, Huang L, Evans DC. Stable isotopic characterization of a coastal floodplain forest community: a case study for isotopic reconstruction of Mesozoic vertebrate assemblages. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2019; 6:181210. [PMID: 30891263 PMCID: PMC6408390 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.181210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2018] [Accepted: 01/04/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Stable isotopes are powerful tools for elucidating ecological trends in extant vertebrate communities, though their application to Mesozoic ecosystems is complicated by a lack of extant isotope data from comparable environments/ecosystems (e.g. coastal floodplain forest environments, lacking significant C4 plant components). We sampled 20 taxa across a broad phylogenetic, body size, and physiological scope from the Atchafalaya River Basin of Louisiana as an environmental analogue to the Late Cretaceous coastal floodplains of North America. Samples were analysed for stable carbon, oxygen and nitrogen isotope compositions from bioapatite and keratin tissues to test the degree of ecological resolution that can be determined in a system with similar environmental conditions, and using similar constraints, as those in many Mesozoic assemblages. Isotopic results suggest a broad overlap in resource use among taxa and considerable terrestrial-aquatic interchange, highlighting the challenges of ecological interpretation in C3 systems, particularly when lacking observational data for comparison. We also propose a modified oxygen isotope-temperature equation that uses mean endotherm and mean ectotherm isotope data to more precisely predict temperature when compared with measured Atchafalaya River water data. These results provide a critical isotopic baseline for coastal floodplain forests, and act as a framework for future studies of Mesozoic palaeoecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- T M Cullen
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2
- Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2C6
| | - F J Longstaffe
- Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7
| | - U G Wortmann
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, 22 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B1
| | - M B Goodwin
- University of California Museum of Paleontology, 1101 Valley Life Sciences, Berkeley, CA 94720-4780, USA
| | - L Huang
- Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7
| | - D C Evans
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2
- Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2C6
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