Quaternary ungulates of the Abismo Ponta de Flecha Cave, Ribeira of Iguape Valley, Southeast Brazil: Zooarchaeological and Paleoenvironmental aspects

Autor(es)

Chahud, Artur ; Costa, Paulo Ricardo de Oliveira ; Figueiredo, Gisele Ferreira ; Okumura, Mercedes

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Journal of South American Earth Sciences; v. 121, p. 12-pg., 2023-01-01.

Resumo

The Ribeira de Iguape Valley, located in the south of the state of Sa similar to o Paulo, presents a complex system of caves developed from Precambrian carbonate rocks. The presence of such karstic system favored the preservation of numerous fossilized remains of Quaternary mammals. The Abismo Ponta de Flecha Cave, located in the mu-nicipality of Iporanga, is a vertical cave divided into several lateral galleries with abundant vertebrate specimens. Among the most common are the ungulates, a clade of mammals characterized mainly by the presence of hooves, represented by the Holoarctic ungulates families Cervidae, Tayassuidae, Tapiridae, and the South American native ungulate Toxodontidae. The most common family in the deposit is Tayassuidae, with several individuals assigned to the species Tayassu pecari, Dicotyles tajacu, as well as an indeterminate large Tayassuidae. The Cervidae remains found in the cave have two species assigned to the genus Mazama; M. americana and M. gouazoubira. A specimen of the Tapiridae family, Tapirus sp., was also found. Only one species attributed to the extinct family Toxodontidae, Toxodon platensis, was recorded. Many specimens of Tayassuidae and Cervidae were subadults, and one individual of Tayassu pecari was very young. The origin of the specimens might be the result of the transport of individual bone parts, the death of accidently trapped animals as well as the disposal of such remains by human groups that inhabited the region in the past. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 18/23282-5 - Continuidade e mudança em grupos pré-históricos do Vale do Ribeira de Iguape (São Paulo e Paraná): aplicações da teoria evolutiva a bioarqueologia e estudos de cultura material
• Beneficiário: Maria Mercedes Martinez Okumura
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Jovens Pesquisadores
• Processo FAPESP: 21/05877-4 - A fauna de vertebrados pleistocênicos-holocênicos do abismo ponta flecha (Vale do Ribeira de Iguape, Iporanga, SP): o potencial papel de grupos humanos em sua formação e as mudanças ao longo do tempo em sua composição
• Beneficiário: Paulo Ricardo de Oliveira Costa
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Iniciação Científica