气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Ecological flexibility and differential survival of Pleistocene Stegodon orientalis and Elephas maximus in mainland southeast Asia revealed by stable isotope (C; O) analysis

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DOI	10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.03.021
	Ecological flexibility and differential survival of Pleistocene Stegodon orientalis and Elephas maximus in mainland southeast Asia revealed by stable isotope (C; O) analysis
	Ma J.; Wang Y.; Jin C.; Hu Y.; Bocherens H.
发表日期	2019
ISSN	0277-3791
起始页码	33
结束页码	44
卷号	212
英文摘要	Elephas maximus and Stegodon orientalis were two keystone proboscideans in southern Asia that coexisted mainly after the Middle Pleistocene in many regions. The long-term paleoecology and possible foraging competition of these two species have not been intensively investigated yet. Here, we applied stable isotope (C, O) analysis to the tooth enamel of coexisting Elephas maximus, Stegodon orientalis, and other associated mammalian species in Quzai Cave, southern China, dated to the early Late Pleistocene, to explore their paleoenvironmental context and foraging ecology. The δ 13 C values of Elephas maximus were widely distributed between −17.9‰ and −11.9‰ (n = 10), while Stegodon orientalis δ 13 C values ranged from −16.7‰ to −14.7‰ (n = 7). These results suggest that Elephas maximus was possibly a mixed feeder with a broader range of dietary resources than Stegodon orientalis, which probably browsed on a narrower range of plant resources in more densely forested landscape. A chronological comparison (from 8 Ma to recent) of published δ 13 C data for these two species from Asia showed that none of them were dietary specialists. However, Elephas had a more flexible foraging ecology and a stronger ability to exploit abrasive grasses than Stegodon. The niche partitioning and perceived different foraging behaviors of Stegodon and Elephas might have reduced the level of interspecific competition and allowed them to coexist during the Pleistocene. Moreover, the high-level of ecological flexibility of Elephas might have helped them to survive until the present day, while Stegodon eventually went extinct by the terminal Pleistocene ∼12 ka. An extensive comparison and evaluation of the δ 13 C data from fossil mammals in mainland southeast Asia during the Early to Late Pleistocene suggests that southern China was dominated by C 3 vegetation throughout the Pleistocene, in contrast with the evidence of C 4 biomes in neighboring Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. Southern China experienced relatively stable environments during the Pleistocene, which can be attributed to the wide range of mountainous regions that acted as ecological refugia from human interference and climatic fluctuations, and allowed the preservation of high biodiversity. The isotopic data we present here provides new evidence about the ecological complexity of mainland southeast Asia and elucidates the need for more systematic research to investigate extinction models and ecological conservation in this region. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd
英文关键词	Coexistence; Elephas; Paleoecology; Paleoenvironment; Pleistocene; Southeast Asia; Stable isotopes; Stegodon
语种	英语
scopus关键词	Biodiversity; Isotopes; Mammals; Plants (botany); Tooth enamel; Coexistence; Elephas; Paleo-environment; Paleoecology; Pleistocene; Southeast Asia; Stable isotopes; Stegodon; Ecology; biodiversity; climate effect; coexistence; ecological approach; elephant; extinction; fossil record; interspecific competition; mammal; mountain region; paleoecology; paleoenvironment; Pleistocene; preservation; refugium; stable isotope; survival; Cambodia; China; Laos; Thailand; Elephas; Elephas maximus; Mammalia; Poaceae
来源期刊	Quaternary Science Reviews
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/151950
作者单位	Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China; Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; Fachbereich Geowissenschaften, Forschungsbereich Paläobiologie, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, 72074, Germany; Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (S-HEP), Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, 72074, Germany; CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, 100044, China
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Ma J.,Wang Y.,Jin C.,et al. Ecological flexibility and differential survival of Pleistocene Stegodon orientalis and Elephas maximus in mainland southeast Asia revealed by stable isotope (C; O) analysis[J],2019,212.
APA	Ma J.,Wang Y.,Jin C.,Hu Y.,&Bocherens H..(2019).Ecological flexibility and differential survival of Pleistocene Stegodon orientalis and Elephas maximus in mainland southeast Asia revealed by stable isotope (C; O) analysis.Quaternary Science Reviews,212.
MLA	Ma J.,et al."Ecological flexibility and differential survival of Pleistocene Stegodon orientalis and Elephas maximus in mainland southeast Asia revealed by stable isotope (C; O) analysis".Quaternary Science Reviews 212(2019).