Isotopic paleoecology (δ13C, δ18O) of a late Pleistocene vertebrate community from the Brazilian Intertropical Region

Mário André Trindade Dantas; Alexander Cherkinsky; Carlos Micael Bonfim Lessa; Luciano Vilaboim Santos; Mario Alberto Cozzuol; Érica Cavalcante Omena; Jorge Luiz Lopes Silva; Alcides Nóbrega Sial; Hervé Bocherens

doi:10.4072/rbp.2020.2.05

Authors

Mário André Trindade Dantas Laboratório de Ecologia e Geociências, Instituto Multidisciplinar em Saúde, Universidade Federal da Bahia – Campus Anísio Teixeira, Vitória da Conquista, BA, Brazil.
Alexander Cherkinsky Center for Applied Isotope Studies, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
Carlos Micael Bonfim Lessa Laboratório de Ecologia e Geociências, Instituto Multidisciplinar em Saúde, Universidade Federal da Bahia – Campus Anísio Teixeira, Vitória da Conquista, BA, Brazil.
Luciano Vilaboim Santos Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Mario Alberto Cozzuol Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Érica Cavalcante Omena Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geociências, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
Jorge Luiz Lopes Silva Departamento de Paleontologia, Museu de História Natural, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceió, AL, Brazil.
Alcides Nóbrega Sial NEG-LABISE, Departamento de Geologia, Centro de Tecnologia e Geociências, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
Hervé Bocherens Biogeology, Department of Geosciences and Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (HEP), Universität Tübingen, Hölderlinstr. 12, 72074 Tübingen, Germany.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4072/rbp.2020.2.05

Abstract

Isotopes are one of the best tools to reconstruct the paleoecology of extinct taxa, allowing us to evaluate their diet (through carbon; C3 and C4 plants), their niche breadth (BA) and the environment in which they lived. In the present work we go deeper in the use of isotopes, and explore a mathematical mixing model with the stable isotopic composition of one (carbon) and two elements (carbon and oxygen) to evaluate (i) the relative contributions of three types of food resources (leaves, fruits and C4 grass) for meso- and megaherbivores (body mass > 100 kg) that lived during the late Pleistocene in Sergipe, Brasil, and (ii) which of these herbivores (together with some faunivorous taxa) could be potential preys for Smilodon populator and Caiman latirostris. Finally, we reconstructed the paleoenvironment in which the vertebrate community of Sergipe lived and concluded that the environment of Sergipe was a closer and drier landscape than African savannah nowadays, at least between 27 ka to 11 ka.

Keywords: Quaternary, mammals, paleoecology, South America, stable isotopes.

Isotópos são uma das melhores ferramentas para reconstruir a Paleoecologia de táxons extintos, permitindo sugerir dieta (por meio do carbono, plantas C3 e C4), o nicho ecológico (BA) e ambiente em que viveram. No presente artigo nos aprofundamos no uso dos isotópos, e exploramos um modelo matemático misto com um isotópo (carbono) e dois isotópos (carbono e oxigênio) (i) para sugerir três recursos tipos de recursos alimentares (folhas, frutas e gramíneas C4) para meso-megaherbívoros (massa corporal acima de 100 kg) que viveram no Pleistoceno final de Sergipe, Brasil, e (ii) qual desses herbívoros (juntamente com faunívoros) foram presas potenciais de Smilodon populator e Caiman latirostris. Por fim, reconstruímos o paleoambiente na qual a comunidade de vertebrados de Sergipe viveu, concluindo que era
mais fechada e seca do que as savanas da Africa atualmente, pelo menos entre 27 mil a 11 mil anos atrás.

Palavras-chave: Quaternário, paleoecologia, América do Sul, isotópos estáveis.

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