Skip to main content

The Brazilian Intertropical Fauna from 60 to About 10 ka B.P.: Taxonomy, Dating, Diet, and Paleoenvironments

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Marine Isotope Stage 3 in Southern South America, 60 KA B.P.-30 KA B.P.

Part of the book series: Springer Earth System Sciences ((SPRINGEREARTH))

Abstract

This chapter reviews information about the extinct fauna that lived in the Brazilian Intertropical Region (BIR) between 64 and 10 ka B.P. Data from the available literature regarding dating (14C, ESR, U-series) and paleodiet reconstruction (δ13C) for some of taxa of the BIR are herein presented. Furthermore, paleoenvironmental reconstructions of two climatic moments are presented, one at 64 ka, and another between 27 and 10 ka B.P.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Araújo-Júnior HI de, Porpino KO de, Ximenes CL, Bergqvist LP (2013) Unveiling the taphonomy of elusive natural tank deposits: a study case in the Pleistocene of northeastern Brazil. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 378:52–74. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.04.001

    Google Scholar 

  • Asevedo L, Winck GR, Mothé D, Avilla LS (2012) Ancient diet of the Pleistocene gomphothere Notiomastodon platensis (Mammalia, Proboscidea, Gomphotheriidae) from lowland mid-latitudes of South America: stereomicrowear and tooth calculus analyses combined. Quat Int 255:42–52. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2011.08.037

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auler AS, Smart PL (2001) Late Quaternary paleoclimate in semiarid northeastern Brazil from U-series dating of travertine and water-table speleothems. Quat Res 55:159–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auler AS, Piló LB, Smart PL, Wang X, Hoffmann D, Richards DA, Edwards RL, Neves WA, Cheng H (2006) U-series dating and taphonomy of Quaternary vertebrates from Brazilian caves. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 240:508–522

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Avilla LS dos, Figueiredo AMG, Kinoshita A, Bertoni-Machado C, Mothé D, Asevedo L, Baffa O, Dominato VH (2013) Extinction of a gomphothere population from Southeastern Brazil: taphonomic, paleoecological and chronological remarks. Quat Int 305:85–90. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2012.09.015

    Google Scholar 

  • Bargo MS, Vizcaíno SF, Archuby FM, Blanco RE (2000) Limb bone proportions, strength and digging in some Lujanian (late Pleistocene—early Holocene) mylodontid ground sloths (Mammalia, Xenarthra). J Verteb Paleontol 20(3):601–610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bargo MS, De Iuliis G, Vizcaíno SF (2006a) Hypsodonty in Pleistocene ground sloths. Acta Palaeontol Polonica 51(1):53–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Bargo MS, Toledo N, Vizcaíno SF (2006b) Muzzle of South American Pleistocene ground sloths (Xenarthra, Tardigrada). J Morphol 267:248–263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barreto EAS de (2010) Reconstituição da pluviosidade da Chapada Diamantina (BA) durante o Quaternário tardio através de registros isotópicos (O e C) em estalagmites. Programa de Pós-graduação em Geoquímica e Geotectônica, Universidade de São Paulo, Dissertação de Mestrado, 133 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Behling H, Arz HW, Tzold JRP, Wefer G (2000) Late Quaternary vegetational and climate dynamics in northeastern Brazil, inferences from marine core GeoB 3104-1. Quat Sci Rev 19:981–994

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernardes C, Sicuro FL, Avilla LS, Pinheiro AEP (2013) Rostral reconstruction of South American hippidiform equids: new anatomical and ecomorphological inferences. Acta Palaeontol Polonica 58:669–678. doi:10.4202/app.2011.0107

  • Cartelle C (1991) Um novo Mylodontinae (Edentata, Xenarthra) do Pleistoceno Final da Região Intertropical brasileira. Anais da Acad Brasileira de Ciências 63:161–170

    Google Scholar 

  • Cartelle C (1992) Edentata e megamamíferos herbívoros extintos da toca dos ossos (Ourolândia, BA). Tese de Doutorado—Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 516pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Cartelle C (1999) Pleistocene mammals of the Cerrado and Caatinga of Brazil. In: Eisenberg JF, Redford KH (eds) Mammals of the neotropics. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 27–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Cartelle C, De Iuliis G (1995) Eremotherium laurillardi: the Panamerican late Pleistocene megatheriid sloth. J Vertebr Paleontol 15:830–841

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cartelle C, Langguth A (1999) Protocyon troglodytes (Lund): um canídeo Intertropical brasileiro. Anais da Acad Brasileira de Ciências 71:371–384

    Google Scholar 

  • Cartelle C, Lessa G (1988) Descrição de um novo gênero e espécie de Macrauchenidae (Mammalia, Litopterna) do Pleistoceno do Brasil. Paula-Coutiana 3:3–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Cartelle C, De Iuliis G, Pujos F (2008) A new species of Megalonychidae (Mammalia, Xenarthra) from the Quaternary of Poço Azul (Bahia, Brazil). C R Paleovol 7:335–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cartelle C, De Iuliis G, Ferreira RL (2009) Systematic revision of tropical brazilian Scelidotheriine sloths (Xenarthra, Mylodontoidea). J Vertebr Paleontol 29:555–566

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cerling TE (1992) Development of grasslands and savannas in East Africa during the Neogene. Palaeogeogr, Palaeoclimatol, Palaeoecol (Global and Planetary Change Section) 97:241–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cione AL, Tonni EP (1999) Biostratigraphy and chronological scale of upper-most Cenozoic in the Pampean Area, Argentina. Quat South Am and Antarctic Pen 12: 23–52 [In: Rabassa J, Salemme M (eds)]

    Google Scholar 

  • Cione AL, Tonni EP, Soibelzon L (2007) Did humans cause the late Pleistocene-early Holocene mammalian extinctions in South America in a context of shrinking open areas? In: Haynes G (ed) American megafaunal extinctions at the end of the Pleistocene. Springer, Berlin, pp 125–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Dantas MAT, Porpino KO, Bauermann SG, Prata APN, Cozzuol MA, Kinoshita A, Barbosa JHO, Baffa O (2011) Megafauna do Pleistoceno superior de Sergipe, Brasil: registros taxonômicos e cronológicos. Rev Bras Paleontol 14:311–320. doi:10.4072/rbp.2011.3.10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dantas MAT, Dutra RP, Cherkinsky A, Fortier DC, Kamino LHY, Cozzuol MA, Ribeiro AS, Vieira FS (2013a) Paleoecology and radiocarbon dates of the Pleistocene megafauna of the Brazilian Intertropical Region. Quat Res 79:61–65. doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2012.09.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dantas MAT, Xavier MCT, França LM, Cozzuol MA, Ribeiro AS, Figueiredo AMG, Kinoshita A, Baffa O (2013b) A review of the time scale and potential geographic distribution of Notiomastodon platensis (Ameghino, 1888) in the late Pleistocene of South America. Quat Int 317:73–79. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2013.06.031

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Iuliis G, Pujos F, Cartelle C (2009) A new ground sloth (Mammalia: Xenarthra) from the Quaternary of Brazil. CR Paleovol 8:705–715

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Oliveira PE, Barreto AMF, Suguio K (1999) Late Pleistocene/Holocene climatic and vegetational history of the Brazilian Caatinga: the fossil dunes of the middle São Francisco river. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 152:319–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dominato VH (2013) Estudo tafonômico dos mastodontes de Araxá, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Programa de Pós-graduação em Geologia. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Dissertação, 219p

    Google Scholar 

  • Downing KF, White RS (1995) The cingulates (Xenarthra) of the Leisey Shell Pit local fauna (Irvingtonian), Hillsborough County, Florida. Bull Florida Mus Nat Hist 37:375–396

    Google Scholar 

  • Drefahl M (2010) Implicações paleoambientais preliminares da análise de δ13C em osso de paleomastofauna procedente de Quijingue, Bahia. Boletim de Resumos, Simpósio Brasileiro de Paleobotânica e Palinologia, Salvador, ALPP, Bahia, p 239

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehleringer JR, Sage RF, Flanagan LB, Pearcy RW (1991) Climate change and the evolution of C 4 photosynthesis. Tree 6:95–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Fariña RA (1996) Trophic relationships among Lujanian mammals. Evol Theor 11:125–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Fariña RA, Vizcaíno SF, Bargo MS (1998) Body mass estimations in Lujanian (late Pleistocene-early Holocene of South America) mammal megafauna. Mastozoología Neotropical 5:87–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernicola JC, Vizcaíno SF, De Iuliis G (2009) The fossil mammals collected by Charles Darwin in South America during his travels on board the HMS beagle. Revista de la Asociación Geológica Argentina 64:147–159

    Google Scholar 

  • França LM, Dantas MAT, Bocchiglieri A, Cherkinsky A, Ribeiro AS, Bocherens H (2014) Chronology and ancient feeding ecology of two upper Pleistocene megamammals from the Brazilian Intertropical Region. Quat Sci Rev 99:78–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaudin TJ (2004) Philogenetic relationships among sloths (Mammalia, Xenarthras, Tardigrada): the craniodental evidence. Zool J Linn Soc 140:255–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guérin C, Faure M (1999) Palaeolama (Hemiauchenia) niedai nov. sp., nouveau camelidae du Nordeste brésilien et sa place parmi les lamini d’Amérique du sud. Geobios 32:629–659

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guérin C, Faure M (2004) Macrauchenia patachonica Owen (Mammalia, Litopterna) de la région de São Raimundo Nonato (Piauí, Nordeste brésilien) et la diversité des Macraucheniidae pléistocènes. Geobios 37:516–535

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerra CC, Mahecha GAB (1984) Pampatherium paulacoutoi, uma nova espécie de tatu gigante da Bahia, Brasil (Edentata, Dasypodidae). Rev BrasZoologia 2(4):229–254

    Google Scholar 

  • Guimarães-Jr PR, Galetti M, Jordano P (2008) Seed dispersal anachronisms: rethinking the fruits extinct megafauna ate. PLoS ONE 3(3):1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffstetter R (1958) Xenarthra. In: Piveteau J (ed) Traité de Paléontologie, Masson, Paris, pp 535–626

    Google Scholar 

  • Hubbe A, Auler AS (2012) A large Cervidae Holocene accumulation in Eastern Brazil: an example of extreme taphonomical control in a cave environment. Int J Speleology 41:299–307. doi:10.5038/1827-806X.41.2.15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinoshita A, Franca AM, Almeida JAC, Figueiredo AM, Nicolucci P, Graef CFO, Baffa O (2005) ESR dates at K and X band of northeastern Brazilian megafauna. Appl Radiat Isot 62:225–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinoshita A, Barreto A, Alves R, Figueiredo AM, Sarkis JES, Dias ML, Baffa O (2008) ESR dates of teeth from northeastern Brazilian megafauna. Radiat Meas 43:809–812

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinoshita A, Mayer E, Casati R, Figueiredo AMG, Baffa O (2013) Electron Spin Ressonance dating of megafauna fossils from Lagoa dos Porcos site, Piauí, Brazil. Abstract book, EPR Biodose, Leiden, Netherlands

    Google Scholar 

  • MacFadden BJ (2005) Diet and habitat of toxodont megaherbivores (Mammalia, Notoungulata) from the late Quaternary of South and Central America. Quat Res 64:113–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacFadden BJ, Cerling TE, Harris JM, Prado J (1999) Ancient latitudinal gradients of C3/C4 grasses interpreted from stable isotopes of New World Pleistocene horse (Equus) teeth. Global Ecol Biogeogr 8:137–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcolino CP, Isaias RMS dos, Cozzuol MA, Cartelle C, Dantas MAT (2012). Diet of Palaeolama major (Camelidae) of Bahia, Brazil, inferred from coprolites. Quat Int 278:81–86. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2012.04.002

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald HG (2006) Sexual dimorphism in the skull of Harlan’s ground sloth. Contrib Sci 510:1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald HG, Miller WE, Morris TH (2001) Taphonomy and significance of Jefferson’s ground sloth (Xenarthra: Megalonychidae) from Utah. W N Am Nat 61:64–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Mothé D, Avilla LS, Winck GR (2010) Population structure of the gomphothere Stegomastodon waringi (Mammalia: Proboscidea: Gomphotheriidae) from the Pleistocene of Brazil. Anais da Acad Bras de Ciências 82:983–996

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mothé D, Avilla LS, Cozzuol M, Winck GR (2012) Taxonomic revision of the Quaternary gomphotheres (Mammalia: Proboscidea: Gomphotheriidae) from the South American lowlands. Quaternary International 276–277:2–7. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2011.05.018

    Google Scholar 

  • Neves WA, Piló LB (2003) Solving Lund’s dilemma: new AMS dates confirm that humans and megafauna coexisted at Lagoa Santa. Curr Res Pleistocene 20:57–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliveira EV, Porpino KO, Barreto AF (2010a) On the presence of Glyptotherium in the Late Pleistocene of Northeastern Brazil, and the status of “Glyptodon” and “Chlamydotherium”. Paleobiogeographic implications. N Jb Geol Paläont Abh 258:353–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oliveira LC, Kinoshita A, Barreto AMF, Figueiredo AM, Silva JLL, Baffa O (2010b) ESR dates of teeth from Brazilian megafauna. J Phys Conf Ser 249:012062. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/249/1/012062

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paula Couto C (1979) Tratado de Paleomastozoologia. Academia Brasileira de Ciências, Rio de Janeiro, p 590p

    Google Scholar 

  • Pereira ICS, Dantas MAT, Ferreira RL (2013) Record of the giant sloth Valgipes bucklandi (Lund, 1839) (Tardigrada, Scelidotheriinae) in Rio Grande do Norte state, Brazil, with notes on taphonomy and paleoecology. J South Am Earth Sci 43:42–45. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2012.11.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prevosti FJ, Vizcaíno SF (2006) Paleoecology of the large carnivore guild from the late Pleistocene of Argentina. Acta Palaeontolo Polonica 51:407–422

    Google Scholar 

  • Prevosti FJ, Zurita AE, Carlini AA (2005) Biostratigraphy, systematics, and paleoecology of Protocyon Giebel, 1855 (Carnivora, Canidae) in South America. J South Am Earth Sci 20:5–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ribeiro RC, Kinoshita A, Figueiredo AMG, Carvalho IS, Baffa O (2013) Electron spin resonance dating of the late Quaternary megafauna fossils from Baixa Grande, Bahia, Brazil. Quat Int 305:91–96. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2012.07.017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reis NR, Peracchi AL, Pedro WA, de Lima IP (2011) Mamíferos do Brasil, 2ª edn. Nélio R dos Reis, Londrina

    Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez B, Prado JL, Alberdi MT (2004) Feeding ecology, dispersal, and extinction of South American Pleistocene gomphotheres (Gomphotheriidae, Proboscidea). Paleobiol 30:146–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez B, Prado JL, Alberdi MT (2006) Ancient feeding, ecology and extinction of Pleistocene horses from the Pampean Region, Argentina. Ameghiniana 43

    Google Scholar 

  • Scherer CS (2009) Os Camelidae Lamini (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) do Pleistoceno da América do Sul: aspectos taxonômicos e filogenéticos. Tese de Doutorado-Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, 472pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Sifeddine A, Albuquerque ALS, Ledru MPL, Turcq B, Knoppers B, Martin L, Mello WZ, Passenau H, Dominguez JML, Cordeiro RC, Abrão JJ, Bittencourt ACSP (2003) A 21,000 cal years paleoclimatic record from Caço Lake, Northern, Brazil: evidence from sedimentary and pollen analyses. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 189:25–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soibelzon LH, Schubert BW (2011) The largest known bear, Arctotherium angustidens, from the early Pleistocene Pampean region of Argentina: with a discussion of size and diet trends in bears. J Paleontol 85:69–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soibelzon LH, Tarantini VB (2009) Estimación de la masa corporal de las especies de osos fósiles y actuales (Ursidae, Tremarctinae) de América del Sur. Rev Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales 11:243–254

    Google Scholar 

  • Trajano E, Ferrarezzi H (1994) A fóssil bear from northeastern of Brazil, with a phylogenetic analysis of the South American extinct Tremarctinae (Ursidae). J Vertebr Paleontol 14:552–561

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Viana MSS, Silva JLL da, Oliveira PV de, Julião MS da S (2011) Hábitos alimentares em herbívoros da megafauna pleistocênica do Nordeste do Brasil. Estudos Geológicos 21: 89–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Vizcaíno SF (2009) The teeth of the ‘‘toothless’’: novelties and key innovations in the evolution of xenarthrans (Mammalia, Xenarthra). Paleobiol 35:343–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vizcaíno SF, Zarate M, Bargo MS, Dondas A (2001) Pleistocene large burrows in the Mar del Plata area (Buenos Aires province, Argentina) and their probable builders. Acta Paleontol Polonica 46:157–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang X, Auler AS, Edwards RL, Cheng H, Cristalli PS, Smart PL, Richards DA, Shen CC (2004) Wet periods in northeastern Brazil over the past 210 kyr linked to distant climate anomalies. Nature 432:740–743

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

To Flavia Franchini (Memorial University of Newfoundland) for the English review of the manuscript. To the anonymous reviewers which corrections and suggestions improved the quality of this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mário André Trinidade Dantas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Dantas, M.A.T., Cozzuol, M.A. (2016). The Brazilian Intertropical Fauna from 60 to About 10 ka B.P.: Taxonomy, Dating, Diet, and Paleoenvironments. In: Gasparini, G., Rabassa, J., Deschamps, C., Tonni, E. (eds) Marine Isotope Stage 3 in Southern South America, 60 KA B.P.-30 KA B.P.. Springer Earth System Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40000-6_12

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics