Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T21:50:28.990Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A paleoecological paradox: the habitat and dietary preferences of the extinct tethythere Desmostylus, inferred from stable isotope analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

Mark T. Clementz ,
Kathryn A. Hoppe  and
Paul L. Koch
Mark T. Clementz
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064. E-mail: [email protected]
Kathryn A. Hoppe
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720. E-mail: [email protected]
Paul L. Koch
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, Califorina 95064. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Desmostylia, an extinct order of mammals related to sirenians and proboscideans, are known from the late Oligocene to late Miocene of the North Pacific. Though often categorized as marine mammals on the basis of fossil occurrences in nearshore deposits, reconstructions of desmostylian habitat and dietary preferences have been somewhat speculative because morphological and sedimentological information is limited. We analyzed the carbon, oxygen, and strontium isotope compositions of enamel from Desmostylus and co-occurring terrestrial and marine taxa from middle Miocene sites in California to address the debate surrounding desmostylian ecology. The δ13C value of tooth enamel can be used as a proxy for diet. Desmostylus had much higher δ13C values than coeval terrestrial or marine mammals, suggesting a unique diet that most likely consisted of aquatic vegetation. Modern aquatic mammals tend to exhibit lower variability in δ18O values than terrestrial mammals. Both fossil marine mammals and Desmostylus exhibited low δ18O variability, suggesting that Desmostylus spent a large amount of time in water. Finally, the Sr isotope composition of marine organisms reflects that of the ocean and is relatively invariant when compared with values for animals from land. Sr isotope values for Desmostylus were similar to those for terrestrial, rather than marine, mammals, suggesting Desmostylus was spending time in estuarine or freshwater environments. Together, isotopic data suggest that Desmostylus was an aquatic herbivore that spent a considerable portion of its life foraging in estuarine and freshwater ecosystems.

Type
Articles
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , Fall 2003 , pp. 506 - 519
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Armstrong, R. L. 1971. Glacial erosion and the variable isotopic composition of strontium in seawater. Nature 230:132–133.Google Scholar
Aranda-Manteca, F. J., Domning, D. P., and Barnes, L. G. 1994. A new middle Miocene sirenian of the genus Metaxytherium from Baja California and California, relationships and paleo-biogeographic implications. In Berta, A. and Deméré, T. A., eds. Contributions in marine mammal paleontology honoring Frank C. Whitmore, Jr. Proceedings of the San Diego Society of Natural History 9:191–204.Google Scholar
Barnes, L. G. 1972. Miocene Desmatophocinae (Mammalia: Carnivora) from California. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 89:1–68.Google Scholar
Barnes, L. G. 1976. Outline of eastern North Pacific fossil cetacean assemblages. Systematic Zoology 25:321–343.Google Scholar
Barnes, L. G., Domning, D. P., and Ray, C. E. 1985. Status of studies on fossil marine mammals. Marine Mammal Science 1:15–53.Google Scholar
Bartow, J. A. 1987. Cenozoic evolution of the San Joaquin Valley, California. U.S. Geological Survey Report OF 87–0581.Google Scholar
Bearhop, S., Thompson, D. R., Waldron, S., Russell, I. C., Alexander, G., and Furness, R. W. 1999. Stable isotopes indicate the extent of freshwater feeding by cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo shot at inland fisheries in England. Journal of Applied Ecology 36:75–84.Google Scholar
Bocherens, H., Koch, P. L., Mariotti, A., Geraads, D., and Jaeger, J. 1996. Isotopic biogeochemistry (13C, 18O) of mammalian enamel from African Pleistocene hominid sites. Palaios 11:306–318.Google Scholar
Boon, P. L., and Bunn, S. E. 1994. Variations in the stable isotope composition of aquatic plants and their implications for food web analysis. Aquatic Botany 48:99–108.Google Scholar
Bowen, W. D. 1997. Role of marine mammals in aquatic ecosystems. Marine Ecology Progress Series 158:267–274.Google Scholar
Bryant, J. D., and Froelich, P. N. 1995. A model of oxygen isotope fractionation in body water of large mammals. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 59:4523–4537.Google Scholar
Bryant, J. D., Jones, D. S., and Mueller, P. A. 1995. Influence of freshwater flux on 87Sr/86Sr chronostratigraphy in marginal marine environments and dating vertebrate and invertebrate faunas. Journal of Paleontology 69:1–6.Google Scholar
Capo, R. C., and DePaolo, D. J. 1990. Seawater strontium isotopic variations from 2.5 million years ago to the present. Science 249:51–55.Google Scholar
Capo, R. C., Chadwick, O. A., and Hendricks, D. M. 1994. Constraining atmospheric inputs and in situ weathering in soils developed along a climate gradient using Sr isotopes. In Lanphere, M. A., Dalrymple, G. B., and Turin, B. D., eds. Abstracts of the Eighth International Conference on Geochronology, Cosmochronology, and Isotope Geology. U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1107:1–47. Denver, Colo.Google Scholar
Capo, R. C., Stewart, B. W., and Chadwick, O. A. 1998. Strontium isotopes as tracers of ecosystem processes: theory and methods. Geoderma 82:197–225.Google Scholar
Cerling, T. E., and Harris, J. M. 1999. Carbon isotope fractionation between diet and bioapatite in ungulate mammals and implications for ecological and paleoecological studies. Oecologia 120:347–363.Google Scholar
Clementz, M. T., and Koch, P. L. 2001. Differentiating aquatic mammal habitat and foraging ecology with stable isotopes in tooth enamel. Oecologia 129:461–472.Google Scholar
Cole, M., and Domning, D. P. 1998. Locomotor and positional adaptations in the desmostylian genera Desmostylus and Paleoparadoxia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 18(Suppl. to No. 3):35A.Google Scholar
Domning, D. P. 2001. Sirenians, seagrasses, and Cenozoic ecological change in the Caribbean. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 166:27–50.Google Scholar
Domning, D. P., Ray, C. E., and McKenna, M. C. 1986. Two new Oligocene desmostylians and a discussion of Tethytherian systematics. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleontology 59:1–56.Google Scholar
Domning, D. P., and Furusawa, H. 1992. Summary of taxa and distribution of Sirenia in the North Pacific Ocean. Island Arc 3:506–512.Google Scholar
Dupras, D. L. 1985. Life beneath the Temblor Sea: Sharktooth Hill, Kern County, California. California Geology 38:147–154.Google Scholar
Estes, J. A., and Steinberg, P. D. 1988. Predation, herbivory, and kelp evolution. Paleobiology 14:19–36.Google Scholar
Hemminga, M. A., and Mateo, M. A. 1996. Stable carbon isotopes in seagrasses: variability in ratios and use in ecological studies. Marine Ecology Progress Series 140:285–298.Google Scholar
Hobson, K. A. 1987. Use of stable-carbon isotope analysis to estimate marine and terrestrial protein content in gull diets. Canadian Journal of Zoology 65:1210–1213.Google Scholar
Hodell, D. A., Mueller, P. A., and Garrido, J. R. 1991. Variations in the strontium isotopic composition of seawater during the Neogene. Geology 19:24–27.Google Scholar
Hoppe, K. A., Koch, P. L., Carlson, R. W., and Webb, S. D. 1999. Tracking mammoths and mastodons: reconstruction of migratory behavior using strontium isotope ratios. Geology 27:439–442.Google Scholar
Ingram, B. L., and Weber, P. K., 1999. Salmon origin in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin river system as determined by otolith strontium isotopic composition. Geology 27:851–854.Google Scholar
Inuzuka, N. 1984. Skeletal restoration of the desmostylians: herpetiform mammals. Memoirs of the Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, Series of Biology IX:157–253.Google Scholar
Inuzuka, N. 2000. Primitive Late Oligocene desmostylians from Japan and phylogeny of the Desmostylia. Bulletin of Ashoro Museum of Paleontology:91–123.Google Scholar
Inuzuka, N., Domning, D. P., and Ray, C. E. 1995. Summary of taxa and morphological adaptations of the Desmostylia. Island Arc 3:522–537.Google Scholar
Kennedy, B. P., Folt, C. L., Blum, J. D., and Chamberlain, C. P. 1997. Natural isotope markers in salmon. Nature 387:766–767.Google Scholar
Kennedy, M. J., Chadwick, O. A., Vitousek, P. M., Derry, L. A., and Hendricks, D. M. 1998. Changing sources of base cations during ecosystem development, Hawaiian Islands. Geology 28:1015–1018.Google Scholar
Koch, P. L., Halliday, A. N., Walter, L. M., Stearly, R. F., Huston, T. J., and Smith, G. R. 1992. Sr isotopic composition of hydroxyapatite from recent and fossil salmon: the record of lifetime migration and diagenesis. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 108:277–287.Google Scholar
Koch, P. L., Heisinger, J., Moss, C., Carlson, R. W., Fogel, M. L., and Behrensmeyer, A. K. 1995. Isotopic tracking of change in diet and habitat use in African Elephants. Science 267:1340–1343.Google Scholar
Koch, P. L., Tuross, N., and Fogel, M. L. 1997. The effects of sample treatment and diagenesis on the isotopic integrity of carbonate in biogenic hydroxylapatite. Journal of Archaeological Science 24:417–429.Google Scholar
Kohn, M. J. 1996. Predicting animal δ18O: accounting for diet and physiological adaptation. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 60:4811–4829.Google Scholar
Lee-Thorp, J. A. 2000. Preservation of biogenic carbon isotopic signals in Plio-Pleistocene bone and tooth mineral. In Ambrose, S. H. and Katzenberg, K. A., eds. Biogeochemical approaches to paleodietary analysis. Advances in archaeological Science 5:89–116. Plenum, New York.Google Scholar
Lee-Thorp, J. A., Sealy, J. C., and van der Merwe, N. J. 1989. Stable carbon isotope ratio differences between bone collagen and bone apatite, and their relationship to diet. Journal of Archaeological Science 16:585–599.Google Scholar
Longinelli, A. 1984. Oxygen isotopes in mammal bone phosphate; a new tool for paleohydrological and paleoclimatological research? Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 48:385–390.Google Scholar
Luz, B., and Kolodny, Y. 1985. Oxygen isotope variations in phosphate of biogenic apatites. IV. Mammal teeth and bones. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 75:29–36.Google Scholar
Luz, B., Kolodny, Y., and Horowitz, M. 1984. Fractionation of oxygen isotopes between mammalian bone-phosphate and environmental drinking water. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 48:1689–1693.Google Scholar
MacFadden, B. J., and Cerling, T. E. 1996. Mammalian herbivore communities, ancient feeding ecology, and carbon isotopes: a 10 million-year sequence from the Neogene of Florida. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 16:103–115.Google Scholar
MacFadden, B. J., Wang, Y., Cerling, T. E., and Anaya, F. 1994. South American fossil mammals and carbon isotopes: a 25 million-year sequence from the Bolivian Andes. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 107:257–268.Google Scholar
McLeod, S. A., and Barnes, L. G. 1984. Fossil desmostylians. Pp. 39–44in Butler, B., Grant, J., and Stadum, C. J., eds. The natural science of Orange County. Memoirs of the Natural History Foundation of Orange County. Natural History Foundation of Orange County, Newport Beach, Calif.Google Scholar
Miller, E. K., Blum, J. D., and Friedland, A. J. 1993. Determination of soil exchangeable-cation loss rates using Sr isotopes. Nature 362:438–441.Google Scholar
Muhs, D. R., Bush, C. A., Tracy, R. R., and Stewart, C. C. 1990. Geochemical evidence of Saharan dust parent material for soils developed on Quaternary limestones of Caribbean and western Atlantic islands. Quaternary Research 33:157–177.Google Scholar
Nelson, B. K., DeNiro, M. J., Schoeninger, M. J., DePaolo, D. J., and Hare, P. E. 1986. Effects of diagenesis on strontium, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen concentration and isotopic composition of bone. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 50:1941–1949.Google Scholar
Novacek, M. J., and Wyss, A. R. 1987. Selected features of the desmostylian skeleton and their phylogenetic implications. American Museum of Novitates 2870:1–8.Google Scholar
O'Leary, M. H. 1988. Carbon isotopes in photosynthesis. Bioscience 38:328–336.Google Scholar
Osmond, C. B., Valaane, N., Haslam, S. M., Uotila, P., and Roksandic, Z. 1981. Comparisons of δ13C values in leaves of aquatic macrophytes from different habitats in Britain and Finland: some implications for photosynthetic processes in aquatic plants. Oecologia 50:117–124.Google Scholar
Peterken, C. J., and Conacher, C. A. 1997. Seed germination and recolonisation of Zostera capricorni after grazing by dugongs. Aquatic Botany 59:333–340.Google Scholar
Rau, G. H., Chavez, F. P., and Friederich, G. E. 2001. Plankton 13C/12C variations in Monterey Bay, California: evidence of non-diffusive inorganic carbon uptake by phytoplankton in an upwelling environment. Deep-Sea Research I 48:79–94.Google Scholar
Ravens, J. A., Johnston, A. M., Kubler, J. E., Korb, R., McInroy, S. G., Handley, L. L., Scrimgeour, C. M., Walker, D. I., Beardall, J., Vanderklift, M., Fredriksen, S., and Dunton, K. H. 2002. Mechanistic interpretation of carbon isotope discrimination by marine macroalgae and seagrasses. Functional Plant Biology 29:355–378.Google Scholar
Repenning, C. A. 1965. Stanford fossil; studied by U.S.G.S. Mineral Information Service 18:124–125.Google Scholar
Roe, L. J., Thewissen, J. G. M., Quade, J., O'Neil, J. R., Bajpai, S., Sahmi, A., and Hussain, S. T. 1998. Isotopic approaches to understanding the terrestrial-to-marine transition of the earliest cetaceans. Pp. 399–422in Thewissen, J. G. M., ed. The emergence of whales. Plenum, New York.Google Scholar
Schmitz, B., Ingram, S. L., Dockery, D. T. III, and Aberg, G. 1997. Testing 87Sr/86Sr as a paleosalinity indicator on mixed marine, brackish-water and terrestrial vertebrate skeletal apatite in late Paleocene–early Eocene near-coastal sediments, Mississippi. Chemical Geology 140:275–287.Google Scholar
Schwarcz, H. P., and Schoeninger, M. J. 1991. Stable isotope analyses in human nutritional ecology. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 34:283–322.Google Scholar
Vennemann, T. W., Hegner, E., Cliff, G., and Benz, G. W. 2001. Isotopic composition of recent shark teeth as a proxy for environmental conditions. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 65:1583–1599.Google Scholar
Wang, Y., and Cerling, T. E. 1994. A model of fossil tooth and bone diagenesis: implications for paleodiet reconstruction from stable isotopes. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 107:281–289.Google Scholar
Zachos, J., Pagani, M., Sloan, L., Thomas, E., and Billups, K. 2001. Trends, rhythms, and aberrations in global climate 65 Ma to present. Science 292:686–693.Google Scholar