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CARBON ISOTOPE ANALYSIS OF MAMMALIAN HERBIVORE TEETH FROM A 10 MILLION-YEAR-TIME SPAN, INCLUDING THE MID MIOCENE CLIMATIC OPTIMUM, FLORIDA By MICHELLE MARIE BARBOZA-RAMIREZ A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2018 © 2018 Michelle Marie Barboza-Ramirez To my parents, who instilled in me a sense of wonder and a love of learning. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to begin by thanking my advisor, Bruce MacFadden, for not only providing invaluable guidance for the development of this thesis but encouraging me to pursue my projects in science communication, diversity, and women's studies. My other committee members Andrea Dutton and Marta Wayne also helped me develop the skills necessary for conducting this study, and I thank them for their patience and encouragement. I thank all contributors to the completion of this work. Sean Moran, Dr. Jay O’Sullivan, Dr. Larisa DeSantis, and Dr. Bruce MacFadden contributed unpublished isotope data to this study. The curators of the vertebrate paleontology collections of the Florida Museum of Natural History allowed me access to the materials used in this study, and Dr. Richard Hulbert helped in identifying and cataloging material relevant to this study that had not yet been accessioned. The members of my lab group provided much feedback throughout the two years of developing and writing this thesis. Funding for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation (1115210, 1547229) in support of the Integrated Digitized Biodiversity Collections (iDigBio) project at the University of Florida. Support was also provided by the Vice President for Research and Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Florida. Finally, I would like to thank my family and my fiancé, who have supported me in every way. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 7 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 8 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................. 9 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 13 Background ............................................................................................................. 13 Stable Isotopes ....................................................................................................... 15 13 A Review of δ C .................................................................................................... 15 C3, C4, and CAM Photosynthesis ..................................................................... 15 13 δ C values of Vegetation ................................................................................. 18 13 δ C values of Fossil Tooth Enamel ................................................................. 20 18 A Review of δ O .................................................................................................... 22 Paleoenvironment ............................................................................................ 22 Precipitation and Aridity .................................................................................... 22 Miocene Ecology and the Mid Miocene Climatic Optimum ..................................... 23 Cenozoic Climate Trends ................................................................................. 23 Origin and Expansion of C4 Vegetation ............................................................ 24 2 MATERIALS AND METHODS ................................................................................... 27 Sample Selection .................................................................................................... 27 Tooth Selection ................................................................................................ 27 Fossil Localities ................................................................................................ 29 Sample Pretreatment and Analysis ......................................................................... 33 3 RESULTS ................................................................................................................... 35 δ13C: Results ........................................................................................................... 35 δ13C values in Early to Mid Miocene Florida ..................................................... 35 δ13C values by Taxa and Feeding Habit ........................................................... 37 δ18O: Results .......................................................................................................... 39 Average δ18O values in Early to Mid Miocene Florida ...................................... 39 δ13C and δ18O by Site ............................................................................................. 41 4 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................. 43 5 Paleoecology of Mid Miocene Florida ..................................................................... 43 No Evidence for C4 Vegetation in Florida During the MMCO ............................ 43 Evidence of Open Canopy System ................................................................... 43 Aridity ............................................................................................................... 45 Local Meteoric Water ....................................................................................... 46 Herbivore Diets ....................................................................................................... 46 Ungulate Species Richness and Composition .................................................. 46 Further Research: Mean Annual Precipitation ........................................................ 46 5 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 48 APPENDIX A ISOTOPE DATA ........................................................................................................ 49 B VALIDITY OF LEGACY DATA ................................................................................... 56 C WOMENS STUDIES: THE FEMMES OF STEM ....................................................... 64 Summary ................................................................................................................ 64 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 64 Background ............................................................................................................. 65 Perceptions of Scientists .................................................................................. 65 History of Women in Science and Feminist Science Studies ........................... 66 Research ................................................................................................................ 67 Product And Press .................................................................................................. 68 Mentorship .............................................................................................................. 70 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 70 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................... 72 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ............................................................................................ 85 6 LIST OF TABLES Table page 2-1 Taxonomic representation of mammalian herbivores from 7 Mid Miocene sites in Florida. ................................................................................................... 28 3-1 Average carbon isotope values of sites sampled................................................ 35 3-2 Results of Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test on the δ13C data from all sites under study. .................................................................................................................. 37 3-3 Average oxygen isotope values of sites sampled. .............................................. 40 3-4 Results of Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test on the δ18O data from all sites under study. .................................................................................................................. 41 B-1 Taxonomic representation of mammalian herbivores resampled from the late Miocene Love site in Florida. .............................................................................. 57 B-2 Results of Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test on the δ18O data from all sites under study. .................................................................................................................. 59 B-3 Results of Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test on the δ18O data from all sites under study. .................................................................................................................. 60 7 LIST OF