Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T19:44:12.316Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reconstructing the migration patterns of late Pleistocene mammals from northern Florida, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Kathryn A. Hoppe  and
Paul L. Koch
Kathryn A. Hoppe*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
Paul L. Koch
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
*
*Corresponding author.E-mail address:[email protected] (K.A. Hoppe).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We used analyses of the strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) ratios of tooth enamel to reconstruct the migration patterns of fossil mammals collected along the Aucilla River in northern Florida. Specimens date to the late-glacial period and before the last glacial maximum (pre-LGM). Deer and tapir displayed low 87Sr/86Sr ratios that were similar to the ratios of Florida environments, which suggest that these taxa did not migrate long distance outside of the Florida region. Mastodons, mammoths, and equids all displayed a wide range of 87Sr/86Sr ratios. Some individuals in each taxon displayed low 87Sr/86Sr ratios that suggest they ranged locally, while other animals had high 87Sr/86Sr ratios that suggest they migrated long distances (> 150 km) outside of the Florida region. Mastodons were the only taxa from this region that provided enough well-dated specimens to compare changes in migration patterns over time. Pre-LGM mastodons displayed significantly lower 87Sr/86Sr ratios than late-glacial mastodons, which suggests that late-glacial mastodons from Florida migrated longer distances than their earlier counterparts. This change in movement patterns reflects temporal changes in regional vegetation patterns.

Keywords

EnamelEquusFloridaMammutMammuthusMigrationOdocoileusStrontiumTapirus
Type
Short Paper
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 68 , Issue 3 , November 2007 , pp. 347 - 352
Copyright
University of Washington

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.)

Footnotes

1 Present address: Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA

References

Berger, J. (2004). The last mile: how to sustain long-distance migration in mammals.. Conservation Biology 18, 320–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Budd, P., Montgomery, J., Barreiro, B., Thomas, R.G.(2000). Differential diagenesis of strontium in archaeological human dental tissues.. Applied Geochemistry 15, 678–694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chamberlain, C.P., Blum, J.D., Holmes, R.T., Feng, X., Sherry, T.W., Graves, G.R.(1996). The use of isotope tracers for identifying populations of migratory birds.. Oecologia 109, 132–141.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Churcher, C.S. (1980). Did North American mammoths migrate?.. Canadian Journal of Anthropology 1, 103–105.Google Scholar
Gosz, J.R., Moore, D.I.(1989). Strontium isotope studies of atmospheric inputs to forested watersheds in New Mexico.. Biogeochemistry 8, 115–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haynes, G. (1991). Mammoths, Mastodonts, and Elephants: Biology, Behavior, and the Fossil Record.. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Hemmings, C.A. (1998). Probable association of Paleoindian artifacts and mastodon remains from Sloth Hole, Aucilla River, North Florida.. Current Research in the Pleistocene 15, 16–17.Google Scholar
Hemmings, C.A. (2000). Inventory of inundated Paleoindian sites in the lower Aucilla-Wacissa River Drainage, Jefferson County, North Florida.. Current Research in the Pleistocene 17, 39–41.Google Scholar
Holman, J.A., Abraczinskas, L.M., Westjohn, D.B.(1988). Pleistocene proboscideans and Michigan salt deposits.. National Geographic Research 4, 4–5.Google Scholar
Hoppe, K.A. (2004). Late Pleistocene mammoth herd structure, migration patterns, and Clovis hunting strategies inferred from isotopic analyses of multiple death assemblages.. Paleobiology 30, 129–145.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoppe, K.A., Koch, P.L.(2006). The biogeochemistry of the Aucilla River fauna.. Webb, S.D. The First Floridians and Last Mastodons: The Page-Ladson Site on the Aucilla River, Topics in Geobiology Plenum Press, New York.379–401.Google Scholar
Hoppe, K.A., Koch, P.L., Carlson, R.W., Webb, S.D.(1999). Tracking mammoths and mastodons: reconstruction of migratory behavior using strontium isotope ratios.. Geology 27, 439–442.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoppe, K.A., Koch, P.L., Furutani, T.T.(2003). Assessing the preservation of biogenic strontium in fossil bones and tooth enamel.. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 13, 20–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoppe, K.A., Stover, S.M., Pascoe, J.R., Amundson, R.(2004). Tooth enamel biomineralization in extant horses: implications for isotopic microsampling.. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 206, 355–365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koch, P.L., Hoppe, K.A., Webb, S.D.(1998). The isotope ecology of late Pleistocene mammals in North America part 1: Florida.. Chemical Geology 152, 119–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee-Thorp, J., Sponheimer, M.(2003). Three case studies used to reassess the reliability of fossil bone and enamel isotope signals for paleodietary studies.. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 22, 208–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marchinton, R.L., Hirth, D.H.(1984). Behavior.. Halls, L.K. White-Tailed Deer: Ecology and Management Stackpole Books, Harrisburg.129–168.Google Scholar
Martin, P.S., Klein, R.G.(1984). Quaternary Extinctions: A Prehistoric Revolution.. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona.Google Scholar
Mihlbachler, M.C. (1998). Late-Pleistocene mastodon and digesta from Little River, North Florida.. Current Research in the Pleistocene 15, 116–118.Google Scholar
Miller, E.K., Blum, J.D., Friedland, A.J.(1993). Determination of soil-exchangeable cation loss and weathering rates using Sr isotopes.. Nature 362, 438–441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muniz, M. (1998). Preliminary results of excavations and analysis of Little River Rapids: a prehistoric inundated site in North Florida.. Current Research in the Pleistocene 15, 48–49.Google Scholar
Norman, G.R., Streiner, D.L.(1992). Biostatistics: The Bare Essentials.. Mosby, St. Louis.Google Scholar
Owen-Smith, R.N. (1988). Mega-Herbivores.. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Passey, B.H., Cerling, T.E., Perkings, M.E., Voorhies, M.R., Harris, J.M., Tucker, S.T.(2002). Environmental change in the Great Plains: an isotopic record from fossil horses.. Journal of Geology 110, 123–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, T.D., Connor, M., Parsen, J.D.(1985). Bone chemistry and the reconstruction of diet: strontium discrimination in white-tailed deer.. Journal of Archaeological Science 12, 419–442.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, T.D., Johnson, C.M., Ezzo, J.A., Jonathan, E., Burton, J.H.(1994). Residential mobility in the prehistoric Southwest United States; a preliminary study using strontium isotope analysis.. Journal of Archaeological Science 21, 315–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tafforeau, P., Bentaleb, I., Jaeger, J.-J., Martin, C.(2007). Nature of laminations and mineralization in rhinoceros enamel using histology and X-ray synchrotron microtomography: potential implications for palaeoenvironmental isotopic studies.. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 246, 206–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, R.J., Carlson, R.W., Shirey, S.B., Boyd, F.R.(1989). Os, Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope systematics of southern African peridotite xenoliths: implications for the chemical evolution of subcontinental mantle.. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 53, 1583–1595.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, W.A. (1973). The vegetation record of a Mid-Wisconsin interstadial in northwest Georgia.. Quaternary Research 3, 257–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, W.A. (1980). The late Quaternary vegetation history of the southeastern United States.. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 11, 387–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, W.A., Stuiver, M.(1980). Late Wisconsin climate of northern Florida and the origin of species-rich deciduous forest.. Science 210, 326–327.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watts, W.A., Hansen, B.C.S.(1988). Environments of Florida in the late Wisconsin and Holocene.. Purdy, B.A. Wet Site Archaeology Telford Press, Caldwell, New Jersey.307–323.Google Scholar
Watts, W.A., Hansen, B.C.S.(1994). Pre-Holocene and Holocene pollen records of vegetation history from the Florida peninsula and their climate implications.. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 109, 167–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, W.A., Hansen, B.C.S., Grimm, E.C.(1992). Camel Lake: a 40,000-yr record of vegetational and forest history from northwest Florida.. Ecology 73, 1056–1066.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webb, S.D., Dunbar, J., Newsom, L.(1992). Mastodon digesta from north Florida.. Current Research in the Pleistocene 9, 114–116.Google Scholar
Webb, D.D., Hemmings, C.A., Muniz, M.P.(1998). New radiocarbon dates for Vero tapir and stout-legged llama from Florida.. Current Research in the Pleistocene 15, 127–128.Google Scholar
Williams, K.D. (1979). Radio-tracking tapirs in the primary rain forest of west Malaysia.. Malayan Nature Journal 32, 253–258.Google Scholar