Resource partitioning among top predators in a Miocene food web

Paleobiology, 2016

Carnivore-rich fossil sites are uncommon in the fossil record and, accordingly, provide valuable opportunities to study predators from vantages that are rarely applied to ancient faunas. Through stable isotopes of carbon and a Bayesian mixing model, we analyze time-successive (nearly contemporaneous), late Miocene carnivoran populations from two fossil sites (Batallones-1 and Batallones-3) from central Spain. Stable isotopes of carbon in tooth enamel provide a reliable and direct methodology to track ancient diets. These two carnivoran-dominated fossil sites display differences in the composition and abundance of the carnivoran species, with some species present at both sites and some present only at one site. This disparity has been interpreted as the consequence of habitat differences between Batallones-1, the older site, and Batallones-3, the younger site. However, carbon isotope values of carnivore and herbivore tooth enamel suggest a common habitat of C3 woodland originally pre...

Carbon and oxygen isotope values reveal resource partitioning among the large mammal fauna from three contemporaneous Middle Pleistocene hominid-bearing localities within the Sierra de Atapuerca (northern Spain). Carbon isotope values sampled from the tooth enamel of fauna present during Atapuerca Faunal Unit 6 show that a C3-dominated ecosystem surrounded the area where fossils were preserved during this time. For the herbivores, Fallow deer isotope values are significantly different from Red deer and horses and show that this species did not forage in open environments at this locality. Red deer and horses show similar feeding strategies with less negative carbon values implying use of more open environments for these taxa. For the carnivores, carbon isotope values for Ursus deningeri are significantly different from either lions (Panthera leo) or foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and support the contention that this species is herbivorous. Special metabolic mechanisms involved in hibernation in U. deningeri might also have influenced its isotope values. The carbon isotope values of remaining carnivores were similar and suggest that each was typically a generalist carnivore, eating a wide variety of prey items. While the isotopic results generally correspond to ecology indicated by previous techniques, this study shows that isotope analyses can provide further insights that alternate techniques do not provide. Isotope analyses can help elucidate the ancient ecology of taxa present in the Sierra de Atapuerca during the Middle Pleistocene allowing for an accurate portrayal of the setting in which humans lived.

Palaios, 2008

Stable carbon and oxygen isotope analyses of mammalian carnivoran and herbivore species from the late Pleistocene Valdegoba cave site in northern Spain imply competition and partitioning in resource use. In general, the data support the previously recognized ecology for the analyzed species. δ13C values show that the ecosystem around the cave was dominated by C3 plants. The observed δ18O values are similar to what is found in modern environments. The analyzed bovids, Bos primigenius, Capra pyrenaica, and Rupicapra rupicapra, showed the most positive δ13C values. Bos primigenius had the most positive mean carbon isotope value and is suggested to feed on grasses in open environments. Values for Capra pyrenaica primarily indicate grass feeding, while Rupicapra rupicapra had the widest diet for the analyzed species, likely including grass and browse. Cervus elaphus, Equus ferus, Equus hydruntinus, and Stephanorhinus hemitoechus displayed more negative δ13C values indicating the use of similar resources. The smallest species analyzed, Castor fiber, displayed the most negative δ13C and δ18O values, implying a preference for eating C3 plants and being semi-aquatic. The canids, Canis lupus and Vulpes vulpes, displayed the most positive δ13C and δ18O values, and overlap many of the sampled ungulate species. Positive δ18O values in canids implies that this group obtains much of its water from its prey, uses a different water source, or has physiological differences from the other carnivorans that influence oxygen isotope values. Lynx pardinus had values similar to the canids. Crocuta crocuta had δ13C values more negative than expected for a generalist predator. These values are likely due to concentration of diet on taxa from more forested environments. The most negative δ13C values are observed in the bears, Ursus arctos and Ursus spelaeus. These values are the likely result of hibernation and the inclusion of significant vegetation in bear diets.

Quaternary Science Reviews, 2017

The northern coastal area of the Iberian Peninsula shows an excellent archaeo-paleontological record with a unique representation of Pleistocene mammalian fossils. While the Late Pleistocene is better recorded, the Middle Pleistocene record remains more fragmentary. The Punta Lucero site (Biscay) has yielded the most important fossil assemblage of the middle Middle Pleistocene for the northern Iberian Peninsula in both, number of identified specimens and taxonomic diversity. Punta Lucero constitutes a unique opportunity to evaluate Middle Pleistocene mammalian resource and habitat use, and trophic dynamics employing a combined approach: biogeochemical analysis and mathematical modeling. Stable isotope analysis points to resource partitioning between Punta Lucero cervids and bovids. Stable isotope analysis and trophic modeling evidence resource overlap and interspecific competition among predators, especially between the scimitar-toothed cat Homotherium latidens and the European jaguar Panthera gombaszoegensis. The trophic resource availability modeling assumes that Canis mosbachensis consumed a 20% of preys of more than 10 kg, mainly as carrion. Thus, while there would be a taxonomic overlap with those preys consumed by the large felids, the different strategy would have facilitated the coexistence of these canids with larger carnivores. Trophic modeling indicates a high competition among the predator guild. The potential presence of hominins in the area would have reached to an unsustainable situation. However, the potential presence of other prey species, such as Equus sp., would have made the ecosystem more sustainable. The methodology followed in this study highlights the potential of multidisciplinary approaches in the assessment of Pleistocene faunal dynamics.

Paleobiology, 2014

Within ancient ecosystems, it is generally difficult to determine the specific diets of species from higher trophic levels, which in turn hinders our understanding of trophic relationships and energy flow through these systems. To better understand the ecology of taxa at higher trophic levels, we used analysis of tooth enamel stable carbon isotope values to infer the dietary preferences of Canis edwardii and Smilodon gracilis from the Leisey Shell Pit 1A (LSP 1A) and Inglis 1A, two Pleistocene localities in Florida. The goals of the analyses were to (1) determine whether these carnivorans specialized in particular prey types or maintained a generalist diet; (2) ascertain whether carbon isotope values support what was previously suggested about the ecology of these species; and (3) establish what ecological details of ancient food webs can be discovered by carbon isotope analyses at higher trophic levels. Results show that the sampled carnivoran carbon isotope values are distributed among suspected prey isotope values, suggesting that varied prey were taken at the study localities. Prey compositions were modeled for each carnivoran species by using Stable Isotope Analysis in R (SIAR). The modeled diets indicate that each studied carnivoran had a generalist diet; however, there are differences in how these taxa achieved dietary generalization. At the glacial Inglis 1A locality, sampled individuals of C. edwardii and S. gracilis show similar isotope values and modeled dietary prey proportions, although both carnivorans do show a preference for grazing prey species. The similar isotopic values, and calculated prey proportions, observed between these species may imply greater interspecific competition for food. At the interglacial LSP 1A locality, C. edwardii shows values similar to those observed at Inglis 1A. In contrast, the data for S. gracilis shows a preference for consuming browsing prey species. Further, its restricted range of carbon isotope values suggests that S. gracilis may have concentrated its feeding within a particular habitat. Examination of stable carbon isotope values among species at higher trophic levels reveals that some intricacies of ancient food webs can be discerned.

The late Miocene expansion of plants using the C4 photosynthetic pathway in South America has been documented by tooth enamel carbon isotope ratios (δ13Cen). However, a more detailed understanding of this ecological event is hampered by poor chronological control on the widespread fossil localities from which isotopic data are derived. This study develops a δ13Cen record from a single 2500 m-thick stratigraphic section in subtropical South America. Strata at Puerta de Corral Quemado (PCQ), northwestern Argentina, span 9 to 3.5 Ma in age, and existing paleosol carbonate data (δ13Cpc) document C4 expansion across the Miocene–Pliocene boundary. Comparison of δ13Cen data with δ13Cpc data at high stratigraphic resolution refines understanding of this ecological event in South America. Small mammal δ13Cen data in particular are complementary to that of large mammal and paleosol δ13C data. Small mammal teeth integrate isotopic data over much shorter temporal and spatial scales than large mammal teeth, providing a sensitive measure of local vegetation and placing constraints on the landscape distribution of C3 and C4 plants. Explicit consideration of the distinctive carbon isotope enrichment factor between enamel and diet for rodents (ε*en– diet=11‰, as opposed to 14‰ for large mammals) allows for unequivocal inference of C4 vegetation ~1 Ma prior to that inferred from large mammal δ13Cen data, and ~2 Ma prior to δ13Cpc data. This multiproxy record demonstrates that C4 plants were a stable component of the ecosystem hundreds of thousands of years prior to their major ecological expansion, and that the expansion of C4 plants was pulsed at PCQ. Two periods of ecological change are demonstrated by δ13C and δ18O data at ~7 Ma and 5.3 Ma (coincident with the Miocene–Pliocene boundary). Development of small mammal δ13Cen records on other continents may provide similar insight into the early stages of the global C4 event.

Palaeogeography, …, 2007

Stable isotope analysis of mammalian tooth enamel is a valuable method for examining resource partitioning in modern and ancient environments where there is a mixture of C3 and C4 plants. However, before 7 Ma North American ecosystems were composed predominantly of C3 plants, complicating isotopic assessment of resource partitioning. Study of modern African and North American ecosystems has shown that niche partitioning among mammals may be discerned in communities dominated by C3 plants, suggesting that a similar approach may work for ancient C3 ecosystems. Here, such analyses are applied to explore resource use and niche partitioning in two ancient C3-dominated communities, one from California and one from Florida. Each locality, Black Hawk Ranch (California) and the Love Bone Bed (Florida), occurs in Miocene deposits that accumulated prior to the rapid increase in C4 ecosystems 7 Myr ago. δ13C and δ18O values were obtained from the tooth enamel of eight species from Black Hawk Ranch, and 15 species from the Love Bone Bed. Results from the 197 bulk isotope samples showed significant differences in δ13C among taxa at the Love Bone Bed, but no significant differences were observed among taxa at Black Hawk Ranch. At both localities, equids generally have more positive δ13C values than co-occurring taxa, suggesting that equids occupied more open habitats, whereas antilocaprids, camelids, and proboscideans have more negative values, implying utilization of more closed communities. One result of note is the positive δ13C values of Pediomeryx (Yumaceras) hamiltoni from the Love Bone Bed, which suggests that P. (Y.) hamiltoni incorporated abundant fiber, possibly grass, in the diet similar to the horses from this locality. The lack of significant differences among taxa at Black Hawk Ranch may indicate a relatively homogeneous flora, or presence of abundant resources permitting niche overlap, whereas the opposite is implied by the presence of significantly different isotope values among taxa at the Love Bone Bed. The results from this study highlight the utility of isotopic techniques allowing discernment of resource partitioning in C3-dominated landscapes such as those that persisted for the millions of years before the rapid increase in C4 ecosystems that occurred during the late Miocene.