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The diet of Leptomeryx sp. from the Late Eocene Yolomécatl Formation, NW Oaxaca, Sierra Madre del Sur Morphotectonic Province, SE México and its palaeoecological significance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2017

ISMAEL FERRUSQUÍA-VILLAFRANCA ,
VÍCTOR ADRIÁN PÉREZ-CRESPO ,
JOSÉ E. RUIZ-GONZÁLEZ ,
ENRIQUE MARTÍNEZ-HERNÁNDEZ  and
PEDRO MORALES-PUENTE
ISMAEL FERRUSQUÍA-VILLAFRANCA*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Sin Número, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, CP 04510, México
VÍCTOR ADRIÁN PÉREZ-CRESPO
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Sin Número, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, CP 04510, México
JOSÉ E. RUIZ-GONZÁLEZ
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Sin Número, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, CP 04510, México
ENRIQUE MARTÍNEZ-HERNÁNDEZ
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Sin Número, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, CP 04510, México
PEDRO MORALES-PUENTE
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Sin Número, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, CP 04510, México Laboratorio Nacional de Geoquímica y Mineralogía-LANGEM, Ciudad de México, CP 04510, México
*
†Author for correspondence: ismaelfv@unam.mx
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Abstract

The diet and habitat of Leptomeryx sp. from the Late Uintan Yolomécatl Formation of NW Oaxaca, SE Mexico were inferred using dental enamel carbon and oxygen isotopic relationships, and compared with those of congeneric species from temperate North America. Results show that Leptomeryx sp. fed on C3 plants and lived in open forest or forest/savanna ecotone. The palynoflora and co-occurrence of perissodactyls and artiodactyls that live in an environment like that of Leptomeryx support this interpretation. Further, both records disclose that in NW Oaxaca (southern North America) tropical conditions prevailed at that time, unlike that of temperate North America.

Keywords

MexicoOaxacaYolomécatl Formationstable isotopesLeptomeryx
Type
Rapid Communication
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 155 , Issue 1 , January 2018 , pp. 203 - 208
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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