Geographic variation of diet and habitat of the Mexican populations of Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi)

• Published in: Quaternary international 2012-10, Vol.276-277, p.8-16
• Main Authors: Pérez-Crespo, Víctor Adrián, Arroyo-Cabrales, Joaquín, Benammi, Mouloud, Johnson, Eileen, Polaco, Oscar J., Santos-Moreno, Antonio, Morales-Puente, Pedro, Cienfuegos-Alvarado, Edith
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: C3 plants; C4 plants; carbon; diet; Earth Sciences; eating habits; geographical variation; habitats; latitude; longitude; Odocoileus virginianus; oxygen; Paleontology; population; Sciences of the Universe; Tapiridae; tooth enamel
• ISSN: 1040-6182; 1873-4553
• DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2012.03.014

Isotopic data (δ13C and δ18O) for 25 enamel samples from Mammuthus columbi for 13 Mexican localities are provided. On average, the samples provide evidence of a mixed C3/C4 diet. The population consists of six individuals with an exclusive C4 plant diet, and 19 with some consumption of C3 plants. Latitude, longitude, and elevation do not have an affect on the average diet. Comparisons of data from the Mexican specimens with those values in the literature for samples from California, Arizona, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas (USA) show that food habits in North America were similar. Comparisons of δ13C and δ18O values with those of javelinas, mastodonts, tapirs, and white-tailed deer from the Floridan Late Pleistocene confirm that mammoths primarily were inhabitants of open areas, indicating a probable case of biomic specialization.