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First bone-cracking dog coprolites provide new insight into bone consumption in Borophagus and their unique ecological niche.
Wang, Xiaoming; White, Stuart C; Balisi, Mairin; Biewer, Jacob; Sankey, Julia; Garber, Dennis; Tseng, Z Jack.
Afiliación
  • Wang X; Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, United States.
  • White SC; Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, United States.
  • Balisi M; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, United States.
  • Biewer J; School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, United States.
  • Sankey J; Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, United States.
  • Garber D; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, United States.
  • Tseng ZJ; Department of Geological Sciences, California State University, Fullerton, United States.
Elife ; 72018 05 22.
Article en En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29785931
Borophagine canids have long been hypothesized to be North American ecological 'avatars' of living hyenas in Africa and Asia, but direct fossil evidence of hyena-like bone consumption is hitherto unknown. We report rare coprolites (fossilized feces) of Borophagus parvus from the late Miocene of California and, for the first time, describe unambiguous evidence that these predatory canids ingested large amounts of bone. Surface morphology, micro-CT analyses, and contextual information reveal (1) droppings in concentrations signifying scent-marking behavior, similar to latrines used by living social carnivorans; (2) routine consumption of skeletons; (3) undissolved bones inside coprolites indicating gastrointestinal similarity to modern striped and brown hyenas; (4) B. parvus body weight of ~24 kg, reaching sizes of obligatory large-prey hunters; and (5) prey size ranging ~35-100 kg. This combination of traits suggests that bone-crushing Borophagus potentially hunted in collaborative social groups and occupied a niche no longer present in North American ecosystems.
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Texto completo: 1 Colección: 01-internacional Base de datos: MEDLINE Asunto principal: Ecosistema / Canidae / Heces / Conducta Alimentaria / Fósiles Límite: Animals País/Región como asunto: America do norte Idioma: En Revista: Elife Año: 2018 Tipo del documento: Article País de afiliación: Estados Unidos Pais de publicación: Reino Unido
Texto completo
Añadir a Mi BVS
Imprimir
XML
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Texto completo: 1 Colección: 01-internacional Base de datos: MEDLINE Asunto principal: Ecosistema / Canidae / Heces / Conducta Alimentaria / Fósiles Límite: Animals País/Región como asunto: America do norte Idioma: En Revista: Elife Año: 2018 Tipo del documento: Article País de afiliación: Estados Unidos Pais de publicación: Reino Unido