Abstract

BRAVO-CUEVAS, Victor Manuel et al. Taxonomy and dietary behavior of Mammuthus columbi (Proboscidea: Elephantidae) from central and southern Mexico. Bol. Soc. Geol. Mex [online]. 2020, vol.72, n.1, e141019.  Epub Dec 22, 2020. ISSN 1405-3322.  https://doi.org/10.18268/bsgm2020v72n1a141019.

Paleontological work carried out during the past years in the late Pleistocene (Rancholabrean) localities of Hidalgo, Puebla and Oaxaca states allowed the recovery of an important sample of proboscidean specimens, which consists of skull fragments, teeth, and several postcranial bones, collected from fluviolacustrine sediments. This material was identified as Mammuthus columbi. Based on tooth position and the estimated age in African elephant years, the sample studied represents 15 or 16 individuals; seven or eight from Oaxaca, and at least four from each locality of Puebla and Hidalgo. The best-represented age category is that of mature adults (≥ 30 years), followed by adolescents (3 to 17 years). Lamellar frequency (≤ 5) and enamel width (≥ 2.4 mm) indicate the presence of at least one adult male sexually mature in each of the Mexican states from where the specimens were recovered. On the other hand, the microwear analysis of some of the individuals studied showed a higher number of scratches compared to the pits and a high frequency of wide scratches. This microwear pattern is indicative of a mixed-feeding dietary habit with a high proportion of abrasive resources intake. Indirectly, the mixed-feeder condition of these M. columbi individuals indicates the presence of open areas, probably covered with grasses, bushes and herbs and closed-vegetation areas (with trees), in what now is the southeastern portion of Hidalgo, the Valsequillo basin in Puebla and the Mixteca Alta in Oaxaca during the late Pleistocene.

Keywords : Mammuthus; Hidalgo; Puebla; Oaxaca; Pleistocene; Taxonomy; Microwear.

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