Dental wear analyses of Middle Pleistocene site of Lunel-Viel (Hérault, France): Did Equus and Bos live in a wetland?

Abstract

This study presents comparison of dental meso and micro-wear analyses on Middle Pleistocene equids and bovids from Lunel-Viel I (Hérault, France) with their extant counterpart from Camargue. Previous paleoenvironnemental observations hypothesize a great proximity between the Camargue wetland and Lunel-Viel environment. Teeth wear analyses provides an innovative approach to describe eco-ethological parameters, such as diet and biotope.Camarque's horses and cattle diets are similar and characterized by a mixed feeding. Lunel-Viel I's Equus had a grass-dominated mixed feeding diet while Bos had a browsing diet. The differences in the feeding habits and resource partitioning between the two taxa in the two locations suggest two different biotopes. While the extant sample still need to be completed, preliminary observations indicate that it is very unlikely bovids and equids from Lunel-Viel inhabited a biotope like nowadays Camague.This study highlights the contributions of a combined comparative approach and adds new data to analyse the paleodietary patterns of extinct ungulates.