Exploring the feeding ecology and habitat of the primate from Dafnero-3
Résumé
Objectives: The aim of our study is to characterize the environmental context and feeding habits of the fossil primate genus Procynocephalus from the Early Pleistocene site of Dafnero-3 (MNQ-17), Northern Greece. Methods and Results: The dental microwear textures of herbivores, as plant direct
consumers, reflects the vegetal resource availability in the habitat and is therefore a good proxy to characterize paleo-environments. By being plastic deer constitute appropriate taxa for paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Here we explore the dental microwear texture of Eucladoceros ctenoides (n=3) and Metacervoceros rhenanus (n=6) from Dafnero in order to decipher the paleoenvironmental context of the primate locality Dafnero-3. To do so, our results are compared with those of two contrasted reference populations of extant Cervus elaphus. Lugar Nuevo (n=116), Southern Spain and Białowieża (n=23), Eastern Poland. The wide range of dental microwear textures for both Eucladoceros ctenoides and Metacervoceros rhenanus from Dafnero, occupying the entire ecospace between the two reference localities reflects the diversity of food categories available in the locality. Most Metacervoceros rhenanus occupy a grazing ecospace similar to extant red deer from Lugar Nuevo reflecting the consumption of abrasive herbaceous monocotyledons. In a second time, the dental microwear texture data and 3D enamel thickness (micro CT scan imaging) of the Procynocephalus (DFN3-150) are explored in order to better understand the feeding ecology of this taxa in the environmental context of Dafnero-3. Furthermore, two indices that describe the molar flare are measured: molar flare index (MF) and dentine flare index (DFI). The results are compared with a set of fossil Papio specimens (n=75) and 6 primate species with different dietary habits (Papio cynocephalus n=27, Papio ursinus n=12, Theropithecus gelada n=12, Semnopithecus entellus n=8, Gorilla beringei n=16, Macaca fascicularis n=20). The microwear textural characteristics of Procynocephalus from Dafnero-3 differ from the extant folivorous primates compared and instead resemble more closely to the textural signal of the omnivorous primates. The comparisons of enamel thickness combined with data from the two indices MF and DFI, indicate that Procynocephalus from Dafnero-3 possessed thick enamel and pronounced molar flare. Conclusions: The wide range of variation of the dental microwear signal from Dafnero deer illustrates the high diversity of available vegetal resources in the habitat. These results are in accordance with previous paleoenvionmental reconstructions that stated that Dafnero was a savannah-like woodland habitat. In that mosaic habitat Procynocephalus from Dafnero-3 may have included a wide spectrum of food items from fruits, seeds to herbaceous monocots and dicots depending on spatial and seasonal availability. This is consistent with previous suggestions about the paleoecology of Procynocephalus genus from the Upper Siwaliks, India.
Domaines
PaléontologieOrigine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
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