La dieta y el hábitat del mamut y los caballos del Pleistoceno tardío de El Cedral con base en isótopos estables (δ13C, δ18O)

Abstract

The diet and habitat for Mammuthus columbi and three species of Equus from El Cedral (San Luis Potosí, Mexico) were inferred from the analysis of stable isotopes, δ13C and δ18O, present in dental enamel apatite. For the mammoth, δ13C values indicate a mix C3/C4 diet, while the equids have a range of values from individuals feeding only a mix C3/C4 diet to those that ate exclusively C4 plants. Comparisons between values obtained for Mexican samples with those published for the same groups from Florida, New Mexico, and Texas, point out to similar food habits in both groups. Also, comparisons of δ13C and δ18O values of the El Cedral species with those for javelinas, mastodonts, tapirs, and white-tailed deer from the Floridan late Pleistocene, showed that horses and mammoth from El Cedral lived in open spaces, with grasslands savanna, in accordance with the pollen studies for the locality.