The dietary ecology of the extinct springbok Antidorcas bondi

摘要

The common springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis), with its characteristic dorsal fan and stotting movement is the national animal of South Africa. In the Pleistocene, this species shared the subcontinent with the extinct Bond's springbok (Antidorcas bondi), and differences in their ecological relationship has been of long-standing interest to palaeontologists. Brink (1987) proposed that Bond's springbok, as a characteristic species for the Florisian Land Mammal Age, was an essential part of a Pleistocene grazing community that likely occupied open grasslands in the interior. This niche contrasts markedly with the flexible browsing habits of the extant springbok, which can tolerate arid habitats. Here we revisit the dietary ecological history of A. bondi by means of published species distribution data through time, and carbon stable isotope data. The results suggest that its specialist grazing ecology remained stable from the Mid-Pleistocene onwards until its extinction in the early Holocene (c. 8-10ka). The results are discussed in the context of Pleistocene palaeoenvironmental change in southern Africa.