Paleoecologia isotópica (δ13C, δ18O) de mamíferos do Pleistoceno final–Holoceno de Ituaçu, Bahia, Brasil

Abstract

Isotopic paleoecology (δ13c, δ18o) of mammals from the late Pleistocene–Holocene of Ituaçu, Bahia, Brazil. In this paper, the isotopic paleoecology (δ13C, δ18O) of fossils of the mammals Alouatta sp., Cebus sp., Myocastor coypus, Dicotyles tajacu, Tamandua tetradactyla, and Tapirus terrestris collected in Lapa do Bode cave, Ituaçu Municipality, State of Bahia, is described. Radiocarbon ages of 6,480–6,653 Cal yr. BP (14C collagen = 5,790±25 years) were obtained for T. tetradactyla and 27,798–28,221 Cal yr. BP (14C collagen = 23,950±50 years) for M. coypus. The herbivore taxa (T. terrestris, δ13C = -14.9 ‰; Alouatta sp., δ13C = -13.0 ‰; M. coypus, δ13C = -12.7 ‰) had a diet composed mainly of C3 plants (piC3< 80%), indicating forested environment, a similar interpretation also suggested from other taxa that ingested >60% C3 plants such as Cebus sp. (δ13C = -13.1 ‰); D. tajacu (δ13C = -9.7 ‰; T. tetradactyla, δ13C = -11.0 ‰), allowing to suggest that these taxa lived in low-density forests and arboreal savanna habitats. Keywords: caves, paleodiet, carbon isotopes, oxygen isotopes.