Late Quaternary population expansion in gray brocket deer [Subulo gouazoubira (G. Fisher, 1814), Cervidae, Mammalia] in Brazil

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Hubbe, Alex ; Hubbe, Mark ; Mayer, Elver Luiz ; Chim, Eliane Nunes ; Haddad-Martim, Paulo Miguel ; Auler, Augusto S. ; Pilo, Luis B. ; Pestle, William J. ; Rey-Iglesia, Alba ; dos Santos Antonio Machado, Isac ; Giannini, Paulo C. F. ; Sandoval, Eluzai Dinai Pinto ; Becerra-Valdivia, Lorena ; Oliveira, Rodrigo Elias ; Fidalgo, Daniel ; Lorenzen, Eline D. ; Duarte, Jose Mauricio Barbanti ; Gomide, Andre Vasconcelos ; Raczka, Marco ; Mullen, Damon ; Montenegro, Alvaro ; Neves, Walter A.

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE; v. N/A, p. 12-pg., 2025-06-19.

Abstract

There is little information about the changes in the abundance of mammalian species in South America during the late Quaternary, which is a key parameter to understanding past ecological and evolutionary dynamics. Here, we describe a conspicuous increase in the abundance of the gray brocket deer (Subulo gouazoubira G. Fisher, 1814; Mammalia) during the late Quaternary in Brazil based on paleontological evidence. We studied the material retrieved from pitfall deposits in Cuvieri Cave (Brazil) representing three time intervals (Late Pleistocene, Pleistocene/Holocene transition, and Holocene). The deposits in this cave were previously characterized in terms of facies composition, chronology, and overall taxa and taphonomy. We combined previous data with taxonomic identification at the species level for deer (morphological and ancient DNA analyses), quantification of the number of individuals for large mammals (>10 kg), taphonomic analyses, and stratigraphic distribution of specimens. Our results show that while in the Late Pleistocene gray brocket deer corresponded to up to 18% of 38 individuals, in the Holocene they represented at least 82% of 78 individuals. We interpret this change in frequency as a considerable increase in abundance in the surroundings of the cave, after excluding major taphonomical biases. The causes for this phenomenon are uncertain but could have involved a surplus of food availability and predation release due to the late Quaternary extinction event. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 20/04402-0 - Origins and development of subsistence strategies based on food production during the Holocene in the São Francisco River basin: a multidisciplinary approach
• Grantee: Eliane Nunes Chim
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 19/25908-1 - Late Quaternary mammals of central Brazil revisited: an archaeological approach.
• Grantee: André Menezes Strauss
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 09/03753-4 - Formation processes of a fossiliferous pitfall deposit in Gruta Cuvieri (MG): taxonomy, taphonomy and spacial distribution of mammal fossils from the Pleistocene
• Grantee: Elver Luiz Mayer
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• FAPESP's process: 04/01321-6 - Origins and microevolution of man in the Americas: a paleoanthropological approach (III)
• Grantee: Walter Alves Neves
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants