abstract

• The aim of this study is to determine the feeding habits and home range of fossil horses (Equus conversidens and E. mexicanus) from La Presita Blanca, San Luis Potosí, central México. For this purpose, we used carbon, oxygen, and strontium isotope ratios. We compared 87Sr/86Sr from horses with strontium ratios of La Presita Blanca plants and soils to identify if these animals were local or came from elsewhere. The δ13C values indicate that E. conversidens specimen consumed C4 plants and E. mexicanus was a mixed feeder. In this case, carbon isotopic values reflect only the animal’s feeding preferences and not the type of vegetation that existed in La Presita Blanca during the Pleistocene. Furthermore, δ18O values and strontium isotopic ratios show that E. conversidens was an animal that could be local to the Campo Volcánico de San Luis Potosí whereas E. mexicanus came from another region. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor %26 Francis Group.

authors

• Pérez-Crespo V.A.
• Schaaf P.
• Solís-Pichardo G.
• Torres Hernández José Ramón

publication date

• 2022-01-01

funding provided via

• Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM: 102719, 104017  Grant

published in

• Historical Biology  Journal

keywords

• 87Sr/86Sr; diet; fossil horses; mobility; San Luis Potosí; stable isotopes beetle; diet; feeding behavior; fossil; horse; mobility; paleontology; stable isotope; Mexico [North America]; San Luis Potosi

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1080/08912963.2021.1909008

PubMed ID

start page

• 216

end page

• 225

volume

• 34

issue

• 2