Niche structure and evolutionin creodont (Mammalia) faunas of the European and North American Eocene
1999; Elsevier BV; Volume: 32; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/s0016-6995(99)80043-6
ISSN1777-5728
Autores Tópico(s)Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies
ResumoAbstract For the first time, comparative information is given for paleobiological patterns of creodonts. Three European (MP11–13 of the Geiseltal, MP13?–14 of Egerkingen, MP16–17b of Quercy) and three North American (Wa-1 to 3, Wa-4 to 6, Br-1) Eocene creodont faunas represented by totally 60 species are included in this study. The ecological niche of each species is defined for this study by the combination of body mass, diet, and locomotor pattern. Classes were built for each of these parameters by using described qualitative and semi-quantitative methods developed mainly for carnivorans which makes necessary some adjustments. Due to the newly found correlation between mean length of lower molars and estimated body mass, body weights could also be estimated for species from which postcranial remains are missing. Most creodonts are terrestrial to scansorial middle-sized animals with a large amount of meat in their diet. Not a single fully-arboreal, semiaquatic or hypocarnivorous species could be identified. With the exception of the Geiseltal, in each fauna at least one ossiphagous taxon was present. In North America, cursorial hypercarnivores were lacking, while such species were present in the European faunas. Remarkable different was the ecological role of proviverrines between the continents. While they showed a large diversity especially in size in Europe, they were restricted to weights lower than 10 kg in North America. Because higher taxa like limnocyonines or oxyaenids were not present in the investigated European faunas, proviverrines used niches here that are occupied by these groups in North America, e.g. the niche of a semifossorial large hypercarnivore. Moreover, the carnivoran families Miacidae and Viverravidae are much more diverse in North America, which, by comparison, opens European proviverrines additional autecological possibilities.
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