An examination of dietary diversity patterns in Pleistocene proboscideans (Mammuthus, Palaeoloxodon, and Mammut) from Europe and North America as revealed by dental microwear

Abstract

Recently, dental wear studies in mammals have emerged as valuable proxies for documenting the existence of geographical and/or temporal variability in diet and vegetation. However, very few paleodietary studies have focused on proboscidean dietary reconstruction. The most sensitive proxy for discerning short-term dietary shifts is dental microwear. Dental microwear analysis was used to study the dietary traits of fossil proboscideans in eleven samples from nine Pleistocene localities from Europe and North America (Palaeoloxodon antiquus, Mammuthus meridionalis, Mammuthus columbi, Mammuthus primigenius, and Mammut americanum). The North American M. americanum was a committed browser in both localities studied. Interestingly, M. americanum and M. columbi from the same locality (Phosphate Beds, South Carolina) were both engaged in browsing. The genus Mammuthus shows a more browsing habit in a sampled population of its early representative (M. meridionalis), with a probable trend through rather variable mixed feeding in late Mammuthus trogontherii, to grazing specialization in some, but possibly not all, M. primigenius. P. antiquus from Europe also demonstrates dietary plasticity. However, P. antiquus apparently shows a trend toward including a larger component of browse in its diet following its entry into Europe. These different dietary trends in the latter two genera, as far as current data allow, might be the result of a trend towards niche differentiation in these taxa.