Isotopic paleoecology (delta C-13) from mammals from IUIU/BA and paleoenvironmental reconstruction (delta C-13, delta O-18) for the Brazilian intertropical region through the late Pleistocene

摘要

Stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen of fossil specimens are widely used for paleoecological and paleoenvironmental inferences, and there has been an effort to better understand the isotopic paleoecology and chronology of herbivores that inhabited the Brazilian Intertropical Region during the late Quaternary. In the present work, new radiocarbon datings and carbon and oxygen isotopes data for Eremotherium laurillardi, Notiomastodon platensis, Tapirus terrestris, Tayassu pecan, and Mazama gouazoubira are presented, from specimens that lived on Iuiu county (Toca Fria and Jatoba caves), state of Bahia, in the Brazilian Intertropical Region. E. laurillardi was dated as of similar to 32 ka BP, representing the oldest direct dating for this species in the Brazilian Intertropical Region, while N. platensis was dated as of similar to 25 ka BP. Fossils of the extant species T. pecan, M. gouazoubira, and T. terrestris presented radiocarbon ages of similar to 23 ka BP, similar to 21 ka BP, and similar to 15 ka BP, respectively, showing that some of these species lived in Iuiu during the Last Glacial Maximum. According to our analyses, T. terrestris was the only specialist (delta C-13 = -11.0 parts per thousand; p(i)C(3) = 0.76; B-A = 0.49), whereas the remaining taxa were generalists mixed-feeders (delta C-13 = -1.3 to -10.0 parts per thousand; p(i)C(3) = 0.24 to 0.69; B-A > 0.58). The paleoenvironment reconstruction in Iuiu and other localities in BIR, during similar to 32 ka BP to similar to 15 ka BP, allow us to suggest that the dry arboreal to open Savanna habitats (rich in grass and shrubs) were the most common environment. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.