SPARASSODONTA (METATHERIA) COPROLITES FROM THE EARLY-MID MIOCENE (SANTACRUCIAN AGE) OF PATAGONIA (ARGENTINA) WITH EVIDENCE OF EXPLOITATION BY COPROPHAGOUS INSECTS

Palaios ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (12) ◽  
pp. 639-651
Author(s):  
RODRIGO L. TOMASSINI ◽  
CLAUDIA I. MONTALVO ◽  
M.SUSANA BARGO ◽  
SERGIO F. VIZCAÍNO ◽  
JOSÉ I. CUITIÑO
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Trophic Interactions ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Dung Beetles ◽  
Santa Cruz ◽  
Size And Shape ◽  
History Of ◽  
Bone Remains

ABSTRACT Coprolites are a useful tool to obtain information related to the life history of the producer, trophic interactions, biodiversity, paleoenvironments, and paleoclimate, among other issues. We analyze here a sample of 111 coprolites recovered from levels of the Santa Cruz Formation (lower–middle Miocene, Burdigalian–early Langhian), outcropping in different localities of the Santa Cruz Province, Patagonian Argentina. Based on size and shape, two morphotypes were identified: coprolites assigned to morphotype I vary from ovoid to subspherical in shape, while coprolites assigned to morphotype II are cylindrical in shape. Several coprolites have bone and teeth inclusions belonging to small mammals (i.e., Octodontoidea and/or Chinchilloidea rodents). Morphometry, composition, and taphonomy of the bone remains suggest that the coprolites were produced by carnivorous mammals. According to the features of the guild of carnivorous mammals from the Santa Cruz Formation, we interpret that hathliacynids and/or small borhyaenoids (Sparassodonta) are the most probable producers. Different traces recorded in the coprolites, such as borings and putative eggs, suggest that the feces were exploited by coprophagous insects, probably dung beetles, for different purposes such as feeding and possible oviposition.

Energetics and life-history of bats in comparison to small mammals

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. I. Becker ◽  
J. A. Encarnação ◽  
M. Tschapka ◽  
E. K. V. Kalko
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
History Of

scholarly journals Multi-Taxa Neo-Taphonomic Analysis of Bone Remains from Barn Owl Pellets and Cross-Validation of Observations: A Case Study from Dominica (Lesser Antilles)

Quaternary ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Emmanuelle Stoetzel ◽  
Corentin Bochaton ◽  
Salvador Bailon ◽  
David Cochard ◽  
Monica Gala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Cross Validation ◽  
Large Range ◽  
Barn Owl ◽  
History Of ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Taphonomic Analysis ◽  
Bone Remains ◽  
Owl Pellets

Paleo- and neo-taphonomic analyses of bone assemblages rarely consider all the occurring taxa in a single study and works concerning birds of prey as accumulators of microvertebrate bone remains mostly focus on small mammals such as rodents and soricomorphs. However, raptors often hunt and consume a large range of taxa, including vertebrates such as small mammals, fishes, amphibians, squamates and birds. Bone remains of all these taxonomic groups are numerous in many paleontological and archaeological records, especially in cave deposits. To better characterize the predators at the origin of fossil and sub-fossil microvertebrate accumulations and the taphonomic history of the deposit, it is thus mandatory to conduct global and multi-taxa taphonomic approaches. The aim of this study is to provide an example of such a global approach through the investigation of a modern bone assemblage from a sample of pellets produced by the Lesser Antillean Barn Owl (Tyto insularis) in the island of Dominica. We propose a new methodology that allows us to compare different taxa (rodents, bats, squamates and birds) and to experiment with a cross-validation process using two observers for each taxonomic group to test the reliability of the taphonomic observations.

Observations on the Morphology and life history of Ascaris columnaris Leidy, a nematode parasite of the skunk

1923 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Goodey ◽  
T. W. M. Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Nematode Parasite ◽  
Helminth Parasites ◽  
History Of ◽  
Serious Injury

The breeding and raising of small mammals, such as skunk, minx and fox, for their fur, is a comparatively young industry in Britain, and one of the most serious hindrances to the successful husbandry of these animals is the occurrence, at any rate, in the skunk, of certain helminth parasites. We have been investigating the worms sent to us from a skunk farm, where the stock is very extensively infected, and where serious injury to the animals and great deterioration of the coat is attributed to these parasites.

scholarly journals Dung Beetles Help Keep Ecosystems Healthy

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Manning ◽  
Xin Rui Ong ◽  
Eleanor M. Slade
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Plant Growth ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Dung Beetles ◽  
Agricultural Ecosystems ◽  
History Of

Dung beetles are a group of insects that primarily use the dung (poop) of mammals for feeding and nesting. These beetles are important for the breakdown and recycling of dung into the soil, enabling the nutrients in the dung to cycle through the ecosystem. Dung beetles provide many benefits for the health and functioning of both natural and human-modified ecosystems, such as dispersing seeds, reducing livestock parasites, and promoting plant growth. In this article, we will explore the basic life history of dung beetles. We then dig a little deeper into the importance of dung beetles within tropical forests and agricultural ecosystems.

Bartholomew James Sulivan's discovery of fossil vertebrates in the Tertiary beds of Patagonia

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Brinkman
Keyword(s):  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Vertebrate Paleontology ◽  
Falkland Islands ◽  
South American ◽  
Conservative Estimate ◽  
Royal Navy ◽  
Santa Cruz ◽  
Fossil Mammals ◽  
History Of ◽  
Richard Owen

While commanding a Royal Navy survey of the Falkland Islands in 1845, Bartholomew James Sulivan discovered and collected fossil mammals at Rio Gallegos, Patagonia. Described the following year by Richard Owen, Sulivan's specimens comprised the first collection taken from what would later be designated the Santa Cruz beds (early-middle Miocene), the most prolific fossil mammal horizon in South America and the oldest discovered by Sulivan's time. Unfortunately, Charles Darwin's conservative estimate of the age of the fossils delayed the full appreciation of Sulivan's discovery. Sulivan was only moderately successful at attracting interest in his discovery among British naturalists. By the time that the first extensive collections of Santa Cruz fossil mammals were made by Argentine paleontologists Carlos and Florentino Ameghino, in the 1890s, Sulivan's pioneering role in the history of South American vertebrate paleontology had been overshadowed and all but forgotten. An examination of Sulivan's experience provides a general model for the process whereby some contributors to science descend from initial fame to lasting obscurity.

scholarly journals Growth and life history of Middle Miocene deer (Mammalia, Cervidae) based on bone histology

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 637-645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eli Amson ◽  
Christian Kolb ◽  
Torsten M. Scheyer ◽  
Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Bone Histology ◽  
History Of
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