Dietary response of early Pleistocene ungulate communities to the climate oscillations of the Gelasian/Calabrian transition in Central Italy

Abstract

Climatic oscillations at the Gelasian/Calabrian transition modified terrestrial palaeoenvironmental settings in the European region. A gradual drop in global temperatures beginning about 2.7 Ma led to drier conditions and to a reduction in, and subsequent disappearance of, subtropical vegetation in the central Mediterranean area by ca 1.2 Ma. Large ungulates are sensitive to vegetation changes and faced with harsher environmental settings may shift their feeding strategies to exploit available food resources in different ecosystems. In fossil assemblages such dietary adaptations are reflected by tooth morphology (a phylogenetic signal) and tooth wear degree (a direct signal of the species' diet). In this paper, we investigate how large herbivores responded to palaeoenvironmental changes that occurred at the passage between the Gelasian and Calabrian ages in the Italian Peninsula, analysing the dental wear patterns and hypsodonty of the early Pleistocene fossil ungulates assemblage of Olivola (Aulla, Central Italy). We found that while

Dietary Adaptations of Early and Middle Pleistocene Equids From the Anagni Basin (Frosinone, Central Italy)

“…Dental mesowear patterns are compatible with a grazing behavior similarly to E. stenonis populations, e.g., from Sésklo (MN17 biozone, Early Pleistocene, Greek Peninsula) (Rivals and Athanassiou, 2008) and from Olivola (∼1.8 Ma, Italian Peninsula) (Strani et al, 2018b). E. stenonis is a common species of both Italian and Greek Peninsulas associated with fossil ungulates showing generally mixed or grazing dietary adaptations in open and dry environments (Rivals and Athanassiou, 2008;Strani et al, 2018b). In contrast, E. senezensis aff.…”

“…These findings allow us to provide information on the paleoecology of the two groups of fossil equids of the Anagni Basin, hereby shedding light on their ecological response to the major climatic events that marked the Early and Middle Pleistocene: the onset of the Pleistocene glaciation, which led to a gradual trend toward cooler climatic conditions and subsequent reduction of sub-tropical vegetation in Eurasia (Fortelius et al, 2006;Combourieu-Nebout et al, 2015), and strengthening of the Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition, which led to an increase of interglacial temperatures (Head and Gibbard, 2015 (Pushkina et al, 2014). Dental mesowear patterns are compatible with a grazing behavior similarly to E. stenonis populations, e.g., from Sésklo (MN17 biozone, Early Pleistocene, Greek Peninsula) (Rivals and Athanassiou, 2008) and from Olivola (∼1.8 Ma, Italian Peninsula) (Strani et al, 2018b). E. stenonis is a common species of both Italian and Greek Peninsulas associated with fossil ungulates showing generally mixed or grazing dietary adaptations in open and dry environments (Rivals and Athanassiou, 2008;Strani et al, 2018b).…”

“…E. senezensis aff. E. sen. stehlini is also one of the best represented ungulates from CSG, whereas fewer individuals have been recorded in Olivola (Strani et al, 2018b). This suggests that this equid, while feeding mostly on grasses, may have also accessed more diverse food items leading to a greater intake of softer plant resources compared to the similarly aged E. stenonis from Sésklo and to the later stenonid equids from Olivola.…”

“…Previously unavailable upper teeth of E. senezensis aff. E. sen. stehlini (N = 9) have been added to the original sample analyzed in Strani et al (2015Strani et al ( , 2018b.…”

Evolution of the Family Equidae, Subfamily Equinae, in North, Central and South America, Eurasia and Africa during the Plio-Pleistocene

“…It was a medium-large species of Equus , with mean body mass between 400 and 500 kg ( Table S2 ). Available paleodietary evidence indicates mostly grazing diets for E. stenonis [ 370 , 371 ] ( Tables S2 and S3 ), but the small sample from East Runton, UK, had a more mixed dietary signal ( Table S2 ). Analysis of body mass, mesowear and the NPP of E. stenonis paleopopulations indicates a strong inverse relationship of the amount of grass in diet and body size ( Figure 1 ).…”