 |
| Titel |
Contribution of stable isotopes (C,N,S) in collagen of late Pleistocene large mammal trophic ecology and landscape use: a case study in Goyet and Scladina cave (30-40,000 years BP) |
| VerfasserIn |
Herve Bocherens, Mietje Germonpre |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2010
|
| Medientyp |
Artikel
|
| Sprache |
Englisch
|
| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 12 (2010) |
| Datensatznummer |
250035570
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Zusammenfassung |
| Two Belgian caves yielded very rich large mammal associations dating around 30 to 40,000
years ago: Goyet and Scladina cave (layer 1A). These sites are only 5 km apart but the cave
entrances open on different valleys, in a quite diverse landscape ranging between open,
unprotected uplands, steep cliffs and sheltered sun-exposed gorges, with the larger Meuse
valley nearby. This mosaic scenery permitted during the Last Glacial a rich diversity of fossil
flora and fauna. The faunal association includes a large diversity of taxa including Aurochs
Bos primigenius, steppe bison Bison priscus, reindeer Rangifer tarandus, giant deer
Megaloceros giganteus, horse Equus ferus, woolly rhinoceros Coelodonta antiquitatis,
woolly mammoth Mammuthus primigenius, cave bear Ursus spelaeus, brown bear Ursus
arctos, wolf Canis lupus, cave lion Panthera leo spelaea, and cave hyaena Crocuta
crocuta spelaea. All the 90 studied bones and teeth yielded collagen with excellent
collagen preservation, allowing reliable investigations of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur
isotopic biogeochemistry. The combination of three different isotopic tracers allows to
deciphering the effects of food selection and landscape use by different herbivorous and
carnivorous taxa. This is the first study to include sulfur isotopic signatures in the study of
late Quaternary large mammal palaeobiology. This new tracer yields evidence on
mobility and differences in pasture areas, as different geological bedrock may exhibit
various sulfur isotopic signatures that will pass on the herbivores and further on their
predators. Using this feature in addition to the trophic information provided by
carbon and nitrogen isotopic signatures, it appears that for some species present in
both sites, such as horse and woolly rhinoceros, the individuals found in each site
probably did not use the same pasture areas. This seems to also the case for the
overwhelmingly vegetarian cave bears. In addition, individuals from the same species
found in one site sometimes exhibit clear isotopic differences in the three isotopic
tracers that suggest different pasture grounds as well, and therefore the possibility
of different herds in the vicinity of the cave site. In the case of cave hyeanas, the
isotopic signatures of individuals from both caves are not significantly different and
suggest that these predators obtained their prey from a large territory including
the pasture grounds of herbivores from both caves. In addition, direct radiocarbon
dating of some of the studied collagen allows to investigating possible chronological
trends.
This study shows how new isotopic tracers can provide invaluable information on late
Quaternary large mammal palaeobiology. |
|
|
|
|
|
|