RT Journal Article
T1 Multiproxy evidence for leaf-browsing and closed habitats in extinct proboscideans (Mammalia, Proboscidea) from Central Chile
A1 González-Guarda, Erwin
A1 Petermann-Pichincura, Alia
A1 Tornero, Carlos
A1 Domingo Martínez, Laura
A1 Agustí, Jordi
A1 Pino, Mario
A1 Abarzúa, Ana M.
A1 Capriles, José M.
A1 Villavicencio, Natalia A.
A1 Labarca, Rafael
A1 Tolorza, Violeta
A1 Sevilla García, María Paloma
A1 Rivals, Florent
AB Proboscideans are so-called ecosystem engineers and are considered key players in hypotheses about Late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions. However, knowledge about the autoecology and chronology of the proboscideans in South America is still open to debate and raises controversial views. Here, we used a range of multiproxy approaches and new radiocarbon datings to study the autoecology of Chilean gomphotheres, the only group of proboscideans to reach South America during the Great American Biotic Interchange (∼3.1 to 2.7 million years before present). As part of this study, we analyzed stable isotopes, dental microwear, and dental calculus microfossils on gomphothere molars from 30 Late Pleistocene sites (31° to 42°S). These proxies provided different scales of temporal resolution, which were then combined to assess the dietary and habitat patterns of these proboscideans. The multiproxy study suggests that most foraging took place in relatively closed environments. In Central Chile, there is a positive correlation between lower δ13C values and an increasing consumption of arboreal/scrub elements. Analyses of dental microwear and calculus microfossils have verified these leaf-browsing feeding habits. From a comparative perspective, the dietary pattern of South American gomphotheres appears to be constrained more by resource availability than by the potential dietary range of the individual taxa. This multiproxy study is aimed at increasing knowledge of the life history of gomphotheres and thus follows an issue considered one of the greatest challenges for paleontology in South America, recently pointed out by the need to thoroughly understand the role of ecological engineers before making predictions about the consequences of ecosystem defaunation.
PB National Academy of Sciences
SN 0027-8424, ESSN: 1091-6490
YR 2018
FD 2018-09-11
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/13130
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/13130
LA eng
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)
NO Fondecyt
NO Goverment of Catalonia
NO AGAUR
DS Docta Complutense
RD 8 abr 2025