BOLETÍN DE LA SOCIEDAD GEOLÓGICA MEXICANA Vol 65, Núm. 3, 2013, P. 573-580 http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2013v65n3a10

Variación de la dieta del mamut de las praderas de Laguna de las Cruces, San Luis Potosí, México

Víctor Adrián Pérez-Crespo^1,2,*, Joaquín Arroyo-Cabrales², Mouloud Benammi³, Oscar J. Polaco², Antonio Santos-Moreno⁴, Pedro Morales-Puente⁵, Edith Cienfuegos-Alvarado⁵, Francisco J. Otero⁵

¹Posgrado en Ciencias, CIIDIR-Oaxaca-IPN, Calle Hornos 1003, Sta. Cruz Xoxocotlán, Oaxaca.
²Laboratorio de Arqueozoología "M.en C. Ticul Álvarez Solórzano", Subdirección de Laboratorios y Apoyo Académico, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Moneda 16, Col. Centro, Ciudad de México 06060.
³Institut International de Paléoprimatologie Humaine: Evolution et Paléoenvironnements (IPHEP)-UMR CNRS 6046, SFA-Université de Poitiers, Bât. de Sciences Naturelles (3ème étage). 40 avenue du Recteur Pineau, F86022 Poitiers Cedex, Francia.
⁴Laboratorio de Ecología Animal, CIIDIR-Oaxaca-IPN, Calle Hornos 1003, Sta. Cruz Xoxocotlán, Oaxaca.
⁵Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, 04150.

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Abstract

Using biogeochemical techniques based on ¹³C/¹²C and ¹⁸O/¹⁶O relationships in dental enamel, it was inferred if the diets of four Columbian mammoths (Mammuthus columbi) from Laguna de las Cruces (Salinas, San Luis Potosí, México) changed or were similar in time as a response to temperature variations. The results show that the diet of individual DP-1975 kept unchanged, whereas for mammoths DP-1976 and DP-1978 there was a small tendency for eating more C₃ plants than C₄ plants, possibly due to decreased temperatures, as shown by δ¹⁸O values. However, the isotopic carbon values of mammoth DP-1979 show that the specimen was first a mixed feeder C₃/C4 and later ate mostly C₄ plants, probably due to an increase in the temperature. Furthermore comparisons made between δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values at the population level show that the two young mammoths, with 18 and 20 years old, are different from the two adults, which seem to be 43 and 47 years old respectively. Such differences may be due to different feed behaviors among young and adult, although it could also indicate that the individuals came from different areas.

Keywords: Mammuthus columbi, diet, habitat, Laguna de las Cruces, México.