Research Paper
Stable isotope analysis evidences dietary changes in toxodontids (Mammalia, Notoungulata) across the Neogene-Quaternary from Argentina
DÁNAE SANZ-PÉREZ
Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain. dasanz01@ucm.es,
Departamento de Geología Sedimentaria y Cambio Medioambiental, Instituto de Geociencias (CSIC, UCM), 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Corresponding author
RODRIGO L. TOMASSINI
INGEOSUR, Departamento de Geología, Universidad Nacional del Sur (UNS)-CONICET, 8000 Bahía Blanca, Argentina. rodrigo.tomassini@yahoo.com.ar
CLAUDIA I. MONTALVO
Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, 6300 Santa Rosa, Argentina. cmontalvolp@yahoo.com.ar
ALFREDO E. ZURITA
Laboratorio de Evolución de Vertebrados y Ambientes Cenozoicos-Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral (UNNE-CONICET), 3400 Corrientes, Argentina. aezurita74@yahoo.com.ar
MANUEL HERNÁNDEZ FERNÁNDEZ
Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain. hdezfdez@ucm.es
Departamento de Geología Sedimentaria y Cambio Medioambiental, Instituto de Geociencias (CSIC, UCM), 28040 Madrid, Spain.
LAURA DOMINGO
Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain. lauradomingo@geo.ucm.es
Earth and Planetary Sciences Department, University of California Santa Cruz, 95064 Santa Cruz, United States.
ABSTRACT
Toxodontidae was an extinct family of South American notoungulates, widely studied systematically, but not so much from an ecological perspective. This work aims to improve the knowledge about variations in diet and habitats of different representatives of this group in the context of biotic and abiotic events throughout the last 20 My. The tooth enamel carbon isotope composition (δ13C) of 7 genera recorded in 11 localities of Central, West and Northeastern Argentina, from the Early Miocene to the Late Pleistocene, was analyzed. The diet of the toxodontids studied in this work ranges from mainly C3 resources during the Miocene, mixed C3-C4 in the Pliocene, to a significant consumption of C4 plants during the Pleistocene. Differences in diet during the Late Pleistocene were also recorded, associated with geographic (i.e., Northeastern vs. Central) and temporal (i.e., glacial vs. interglacial periods) variations, evidencing the adaptive capacity of the group under ecological and environmental pressures.
Key words: Late Cenozoic, Macroevolution, Niche Evolution, Paleoecology, South America, Vegetation.
How to cite: Sanz-Pérez, D., Tomassini, R. L., Montalvo, C. I., Zurita, A. E., Hernández Fernández, M., & Domingo, L. (2024). Stable isotope analysis evidences dietary changes in toxodontids (Mammalia, Notoungulata) across the Neogene-Quaternary from Argentina Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, 39.
Received 30 January 2024, Accepted 23 May 2024, Published online 31 May 2024
https://doi.org/10.7203/sjp.28828
