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Isotopic discrimination of resource partitioning among ungulates in C₃-dominated communities from the Miocene of Florida and California

¹ Robert S. Feranec. 3060 Valley Life Sciences Building, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720
² Bruce J. MacFadden. Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611. bmacfadd{at}flmnh.ufl.edu
³ Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Herrin Hall, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305. feranec{at}stanford.edu

Stable isotope analysis of mammalian tooth enamel is a valuable method for examining resource partitioning in modern and ancient environments where there is a mixture of C₃ and C₄ plants. However, before 7 Ma North American ecosystems were composed predominantly of C₃ plants, complicating isotopic assessment of resource partitioning. Study of modern African and North American ecosystems has shown that niche partitioning among mammals may be discerned in communities dominated by C₃ plants, suggesting that a similar approach may work for ancient C₃ ecosystems. Here, such analyses are applied to explore resource use and niche partitioning in two ancient C₃-dominated communities, one from California and one from Florida. Each locality, Black Hawk Ranch (California) and the Love Bone Bed (Florida), occurs in Miocene deposits that accumulated prior to the rapid increase in C₄ ecosystems 7 Myr ago. ¹³C and ¹⁸O values were obtained from the tooth enamel of eight species from Black Hawk Ranch, and 15 species from the Love Bone Bed. Results from the 197 bulk isotope samples showed significant differences in ¹³C among taxa at the Love Bone Bed, but no significant differences were observed among taxa at Black Hawk Ranch. At both localities, equids generally have more positive ¹³C values than co-occurring taxa, suggesting that equids occupied more open habitats, whereas antilocaprids, camelids, and proboscideans have more negative values, implying utilization of more closed communities. One result of note is the positive ¹³C values of Pediomeryx (Yumaceras) hamiltoni from the Love Bone Bed, which suggests that P. (Y.) hamiltoni incorporated abundant fiber, possibly grass, in the diet similar to the horses from this locality. The lack of significant differences among taxa at Black Hawk Ranch may indicate a relatively homogeneous flora, or presence of abundant resources permitting niche overlap, whereas the opposite is implied by the presence of significantly different isotope values among taxa at the Love Bone Bed. The results from this study highlight the utility of isotopic techniques allowing discernment of resource partitioning in C₃-dominated landscapes such as those that persisted for the millions of years before the rapid increase in C₄ ecosystems that occurred during the late Miocene.

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