The Farasan gazelle—A frugivorous browser in an arid environment?

Abstract

a b s t r a c tFood preferences of Arabian gazelle (Gazella arabica) on Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia, were evaluated using focal animal sampling, 'food tracking' and an eco-morphological method examining tooth wear. Behavioural observations showed that gazelles generally consumed foliage, fruits and flowers of trees and shrubs, and to much lower extent annual and perennial herbs. Grass represents only 4.4% of the total time spent feeding at ground level. During dry season, gazelles spent significantly more time browsing on trees and shrubs and less time browsing on herbs than under wet conditions. Thus, consistent with predictions, gazelles are selective browsers. Major food plants are Acacia ehrenbergiana, Corchorus depressus and Capparis sinaica. During dry season the time spent feeding on fallen pods of Acacia and the time spent browsing on hind legs significantly increased. No sexual and age-related differences in the dietary choice of gazelles were revealed. The tooth wear signature of Farasan gazelles is dominated by abrasive food components classifying them with seasonally variable browsers and frugivorous dwarf ungulates. Based on the feeding behaviour we linked abrasion to the high mineral component of pods. Since the Farasan Islands are subject to high dust load, we also attribute the observed tooth wear signal to the high grit load.

Gazella arabica dareshurii: a remarkable relict population on Farur Island, Iran

“…They are mainly browsers (diurnal and partially nocturnal), feeding on foliage, flowers, and seed pods of A. tortilis (Fig. 5 ) and other shrubs, but also graze on grasses and herbs, like other populations of G. gazella and G. arabica do [ 34 – 36 ]. Acacia trees produce a large number of pods that are eaten by gazelles.…”

Sharpening the mesowear tool: geometric morphometric analysis of cusp shape and diet in ruminants

“…The most widely recognized confounding variable when relating mesowear to diet is the relative impact of extrinsic geological material (e.g., dust, silt, sand) that is ingested along with food (Schulz et al, 2013;Wronski and Schulz-Kornas, 2015) and this additional source of abrasion may be responsible for some degree of dietary misclassification.…”

Shellfish resilience to prehistoric human consumption in the southern Red Sea: Variability in Conomurex fasciatus across time and space

“…However, enough localised vegetation persisted to maintain a population of gazelle (Gazella arabica). Gazelles likely relied on food sources such as foliage, fruits, flowers, and also, to a lesser extent, annual and perennial herbs (Wronski and Schulz-Kornas, 2015). Given that these food sources are available for gazelle, it is likely that prehistoric humans also made use of them, as well as hunting the gazelle itself, bones of which are occasionally found in shell middens (Bailey et al, 2013).…”