Feeding habits of the Gomphothere Cuvieronius hyodon in Costa Rica:A biochemical approach

ABSTRACT

The feeding and habitat habits of 12 gomphotheres Cuvieronius hyodon from the Pleistocene of Costa Rica were inferred using carbon and oxygen isotopic ratios of tooth enamel. The results indicate that these animals fed mainly on C₃ plants and lived in forested areas and those specimens that lived in high altitudes and latitudes consumed more C₃ plants compared to those that lived in low areas or low latitudes. This indicates that, in Costa Rica, the gomphotheres were specialists in the consumption of this type of plants, similar to that shown in some specimens from North and South America.

KEYWORDS:

• Cuvieronius hyodon
• Costa Rica
• Pleistocene
• diet
• stable isotopes

Acknowledgments

We thank the Support Program for Technological Research and Innovation Projects – UNAM for financial support (grant # IN101321) for this study. Thanks to the National Laboratory of Geochemistry and Mineralogy/Stable Isotope Laboratory of the Institute of Geology, National Autonomous University of Mexico, especially to Rafael Puente Martínez who helped with sample preparation. M. C. Alan Ulises Luis Loredo Jasso, from the Molecular Environmental Geochemistry Laboratory – Department of Environmental and Soil Sciences, Institute of Geology – UNAM LANGEM assisted with the FT-IR-ATR measurements. Andrew Somerville helped translate this manuscript to English. Two anonymous reviewers for the comments that helped to improve the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the PAPIIT [IN101321].