Mammoths and mylodonts: Exotic species from two different continents in North American Pleistocene faunas |
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| Institution: | 1. Geologic Resources Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 25287, Denver, CO 80225, USA;2. Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0025, USA;1. Duke University, Duke Global Health Institute, Box 90519, Durham, NC 27708, USA;2. Duke University, Sanford School of Public Policy, Box 90311, Durham, NC 27708, USA;3. Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Box 19063, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa;4. Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Anzio Road, Observatory, South Africa;5. Duke University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Durham, NC 27708, USA;1. Center for Applied Isotope Studies, University of Georgia, GA, USA;2. Anthropology Department, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK, USA;3. University of Alaska, Museum of the North, Fairbanks, AK, USA;1. Alaska Stable Isotope Facility, Water and Environmental Research Center, Institute of Northern Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA;2. Department of Geosciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA;3. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA;4. The Arctic University Museum of Norway, UiT - the Arctic University of Norway, NO-9037, Tromsø, Norway;5. Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB3 0ES, UK;6. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA;7. Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA;8. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Unit Mixte de Recherche 7205, CP50, Entomologie, 45, Rue Buffon, F-75005, Paris, France;9. Alaska Quaternary Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA;10. University of Alaska, Fairbanks, University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA;11. College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA;1. Eti Mine Works, Ayval? Mah. Halil Sezai Erkut Cad., Afra Sok. No: 1/A, 06010, Etlik-Keçiören, Ankara, Turkey;2. Gazi University, Eng. Fac., Chemical Eng. Dep., Maltepe, 06570, Ankara, Turkey |
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| Abstract: | Throughout the Cenozoic, the North American mammalian fauna has been enriched by the appearance of new taxa originating on different continents. During most of the Tertiary, the primary source area of these new taxa was Eurasia with dispersal across some version of the Bering Land Bridge. In the late Pliocene (Blancan) ca. 2.5 mya, the creation of the Panamanian Land Bridge permitted the northward dispersal of species of South American origin including ground sloths. One of these sloths was “Glossotherium” chapadmalense, which in turn gave rise to the Pleistocene species Paramylodon harlani. Mammoths first appear in North America at the beginning of the Irvingtonian ca. 1.9 mya. Despite originating on two different continents, the two species are often found together in North American Pleistocene faunas and shared a common habitat. Both of these lineages are commonly interpreted as grazers, indicative of open grassland habitat, and both of these exotic species shared this habitat with North American endemic species such as horses, also interpreted as grazers. Despite their association in North American faunas, mammoths did not disperse into South America and mylodont sloths were unable to disperse into Eurasia. This suggests there were some aspects of their ecology they did not have in common and there existed a limited zone of conditions that permitted them to share common habitat. There is no evidence that the appearance of either species in North America resulted in the extinction of any native species. The question is how these different species, immigrants and endemics, were able to avoid competition, coexist, and become integrated into a single fauna, thus enriching the overall North American Pleistocene fauna. |
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