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Insular Vertebrate Evolution: the Palaeontological Approach

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Insular Vertebrate Evolution: the Palaeontological Approach 21 FOOD HABITS OF uPRAEMEGACEROS" CAZ/OTI (DEPÉRET, 1897) FROM DRAGONARA CAVE (NW SARDINIA, ITALY) INFERRED FROM CRANIAL MORPHOLOGY AND DENTAL WEAR Maria Rita PALOMBO PALOMBO, M.R. 2005. Food habits of "Praemegaceros"cazioti (Depéret, 1897) from Dragonara Cave (NW Sardinia, Italy) inferred from cra­ nial morphology and dental wear. In ALCOVER, JA & BOVER, P. (eds.): Proceedings ofthe International Symposium "Insular Vertebrate Evo­ lution: the Palaeontological Approach': Monografies de la Societat d'Història Natural de les Balears, 12: 233-244. Resum S'ha estudiat l'adaptació alimentària de "Praemegaceros" cazioti (Depéret, 1897), en base a la rica mostra trobada als dipòsits del Pleistocè tardà de la cova de Dragonara (nord-oest de Sardenya, Itàlia). Amb aquest objecte, s'han pres en consi­ deració els trets cranials, així com el gradient de desgast d'abrasió - atrició (mesodesgast), i els efectes produïts a l'esmalt den­ tari per les particules contingudes als vegetals, per l'acidesa i/o duresa del menjar i per la força i direcció dels moviments mandibulars (microdesgast). Els resultats de les anàlisis qualitatives i quantitatives són consistents amb una adaptació alimentària a una dieta mixta, tal com també ho són algunes característiques cranio-dentàries: en particular, el morro, més aviat quadrat, les grans àrees d'inserció del musculus masseter, el desenvolupament de la prominència massetèrica sobre el M', la profunditat i altura del corpus i ramus a I' angulus mandibulae, la superfície d'inserció reduïda del musculus temporalis a la mandibula i les dents hipsodontes. Els resultats de la nostra anàlisi suggereixen que el cèrvid de la Cova Dragonara era un animal de dieta mixta, que va incrementar el consum d'herba en comparació amb el seu possible ancestre. Paraules clau: "Praemegaceros" cazioti, Pleistocè tardà, Sardenya, morfologia cranio-dentària, microdesgast dentari, meso­ desgast, adaptacions alimentàries. Abstract The dietary adaptation of "Praemegaceros" cazioti (Depéret, 1897) has been investigated on the basis of on the rich sam­ ple found in the Late Pleistocene deposits in Dragonara Cave (north-western Sardinia, Italy). To this end, we have taken into consideration cranial features as well as the abrasion-attrition wear gradient (mesowear) and the defects produced on tooth enamel by the particles contained in vegetables, by the acidity and/ or hardness of food and by the strength and direction of jaw movements (microwears). Results of qualitative and quantitative analyses of microwears are consistent with mixed-feeder dietary adaptation, as are some crania-dental features: in particular the rather square muzzle, the large insertion areas of musculus rnassetet; the developed masseteric prominence above M'; the depth and height of corpus and ramus at angulus mandibulae; the reduced insertion surface of musculus temporalis on the jaw and hypsodont teeth. Results of our analyses suggest that the cervid from Dragonara Cave was a mixed-feeder, increasing the consumption of grass as compared to its possible ancestor. Keywords: "Ptaemegaceros" cazioti, Late Pleistocene, Sardinia, crania-dental morphology, dental microwear, mesowear, die­ taryadaptation. INTRODUCTION As indicators of herbivore feeding behaviour, we can analyse cranio-dental morphology (see Mendoza et al., Several morphological features of the herbivore 2002, and references therein), skull foramina (Solounias skull, mandible and dentition can be correlated with die­ & Moelleken, 1999), the relative height of crown and the tary adaptations and used in estimating the feeding eco­ morphology of the occlusal surface of chewing teeth, logy of extinct taxa (e.g., Solounias & Dawson-Saunders, which depend on combined attrition-abrasion actions 1988; Janis, 1988; Solounias et al., 1988; Solounias & Moe­ (see Kaiser & Solounias, 2003, and references therein), lleken, 1993a,b; Janis, 1995; Caloi & Palombo, 1996; Mac­ the enamel scars produced during mastication by tooth­ Fadden & Shockey, 1997; Pérez-Barbería & Gordon, 1999; food and tooth-tooth contact (e.g., Resenberg, 1978; MacFadden, 2000; Pérez-Barbería & Gordon, 2001; Solounias & Hayek, 1993; Solounias et al., 2000; Solou­ Pérez-Barbería et al., 2001; Williams & Kay, 2001; Mendo­ nias & Semprebon, 2002; Mainland, 1997; 2003; Teaford, za et al., 2002; Kaiser & Solounias, 2003; Mainland, 2003, 1988; 1991; 1994; Hayek et al., 1991; Maas, 1991; Solou­ and references therein). nias & Moelleken, 1992; Palombo etal., 2005). FOOD HABITS OF //PRAEMEGACEROS// CAZIOTI __E===============-- 233 Research on the dietary adaptation of "Praemegaceros" cazioti' is of great interest, since this cervid is the only large herbivore existing in Sardinia during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. Consequently, "P." cazioti did not have any competitor for niche occupation and resource partitioning in Sardinia, whereas in Corsica, during the Middle Pleistocene, it had to compete with C. elaphus rossii, thus far not recorded in Sardinia (Pereira, 2001). In the post-Tyrrhenian deposits of Dragonara Cave, more than 800 remains belonging to "P." cazioti, carefully described by Caloi & Malatesta (1974), were found. A pre­ liminary analysis of the morpho-functional features of skull, mandible and autopodium (CaI-PUS, tarsus, meta­ podials and phalanges, Caloi & Palombo, 1991), as well as Fig. I. Localisation of Dragonara Cave (Alghero, North-Western Sardinia). limb proportions, showed that the cervid from Dragona­ ra Cave shared some cranial morphologies with grazers Fig.L. Localització de la cOlla Dragonara (L'Algue/; nord-oest de Sardenya). and was capable of agile, fast locomotion on prevalently hard and uneven ground (Caloi & Palombo, 1995; 1996). In this paper, a multiple analytical approach is adop­ Such features are obviously functionally constrained ted in order to compare crania-dental morphology with by the "baup-plane" inherited from the ancestor, as four dental micro- and mesowear, using a large sample; this main combined factors (phylogeny, morphogenetic enables us to create support for further studies devoted structure, biological function, and environment), lead to to better defining the ecological niche of "P." cazioti from the overall constructional morphology of each organism. Sardinia and Corsica. Moreover, it is worth noting that many ungulates are also opportunistic, and their diets can vary according to place or season or, sometimes, only occasionally. Though MATERIAL AND METHODS three main dietary classes (browser, grazer, mixed fee­ der) were generally considered, the type of food and life­ style spectrum between typical grazer and browser is extremely varied, as highlighted by the heterogeneous We have examined the skulls, mandibles (Plate 1) feeding behaviour shown by so-called mixed feeders (see and upper and lower teeth uncovered in the "post­ Kaiser & Solounias, 2003). Tyrrhenian" deposits filling the Dragonara Cave (Caloi & Deer, generally regarded as brachyodont herbivores Malatesta, 1974) (Fig. 1). The specimens are currently inhabiting woodlands, are actually rather adaptable ani­ kept at the "Museo di Paleontologia" at "La Sapienza" mals able to live in different environments (Geist, 1999). University in Rome (MPUR). Among extant and Pleistocene cervids, many are mixed As fat" as craniodental morphology is concerned, we feeders, alternating seasonally, regionally or occasionally have analysed extant and fossil species as listed in the between browse and grass, though the feeding spectrum appendix. is extremely vast. Microwear analysis (see below) was done on casts of For instance, Capreolus capreolus, Alces alces and the enamel cusp of M' paracone. Analytical methods Odocoileus virginian us, are typical browsers; Dama were adapted from those described by Solounias & Moe­ dama, Axis axis, Cervus canadensis, Rangifer tarandus lleken (1992) and Solounias & Semprebon (2002), for and species of the genus Rusa are feeders on fruit and SEM and stereomicroscopic analysis respectively. foliage (trees and shrubs) as well as fresh-grasses, alter­ nating their food according to the season, or even occa­ sionally (meal-by-meal); Elaphurus davidianus and Cer­ It is worth noting that Joleaud (1914) proposed the name Megaceroi­ des, as Ceruus with the type species "Cetuus" algericus, for a vus albirostris seems to be deer whose diet most resem­ subgenus, fragmentary maxillary: subsequently, Arambourg (1932, 1938) ascri­ bles that of not Corne­ strictly grazers (Hofmann, 1989; bed a skull from the Late Pleistocene of Algeria and Morocco to this lius et al., 1999; Geist, 1999; Fortelius & Solounias, 2000; species. Mean similarities in skull characters between specimens from tile and the from first out Cransac et al., 2001; Stewart et al., 2002), whereas the Magreb megalocerine Europe, pointed by Azzaroli (1952), have subsequently been widely debated (see e.g. Had­ Cervus feeds on the most available European elaphus joudis, 1990; Azzaroli & Mazza, 1992; Abbazzi, 2004; van der Made & resources in its inhabited area (Groot Bruinderink & Palombo, in press). All in all, it seems more correct to maintain tile name for the North African Nevertheless, Hazebrock, 1995). Moreover, the feeding aptitude can Megaceroides only species. the problem concerning the nomenclature of the genera referring to in environmental conditions, change particular depen­ tile tribu Megacerini is still unresolved. Assuming that tile species ding on the vegetation cover or the occurrence of unu­ ascribed to tile so-called" uerticornis" group and those
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