Late Middle Pleistocene ecology and climate in Northeastern Thailand inferred from the stable isotope analysis of Khok Sung herbivore tooth enamel and the land mammal cenogram

摘要

Paleoecological and paleoclimatic records based on the stable isotopes of mammalian tooth enamel are poorly known in mainland Southeast Asia during the Pleistocene. Khok Sung in Northeastern Thailand is a late Middle Pleistocene terrace deposit, tentatively dated either as 213 ka or 188 ka, yielding 15 described mammalian taxa with especially abundant and complete fossil remains. To investigate paleodiets and habitats of these ancient mammals and to understand the corresponding regional climate, we performed an analysis of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes extracted from tooth enamel carbonate of various mammalian taxa, coupled with the cenogram method. The enamel delta C-13 values of Khok Sung mammals indicate a variety of diets, ranging from pure C-3 to C-4 plants, suggesting that C-4 grasses were a major component of local Thai ecosystems during the late Middle Pleistocene. The stable isotopic distinction between C-3 and C-4 plants suggests that the Pleistocene wildlife habitats ranged from closed forests to open grasslands for the Khok Sung area. Moreover, differences within sympatric Pleistocene herbivores such as proboscideans, rhinoceroses, and cervids characterize possible niche partitioning by minimizing interspecific overlap. Paleoclimatic interpretations based on the intra-tooth variability in enamel delta O-18 values from large mammals and on the cenogram analysis reflect significant seasonal variations in precipitation and temperature, and humid conditions, for the Khok Sung locality. Compared to modern environments in Thailand, it is apparent that C-4-dominated grasslands were more widespread at that time when anthropic impacts on the ecosystems were presumably absent or minimal. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.