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A mixed-feeding Equus species from the middle pleistocene of South Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Thomas M. Kaiser  and
Tamara A. Franz-Odendaal
Thomas M. Kaiser*
Affiliation:
Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, D-17489 Greifswald, Germany
Tamara A. Franz-Odendaal
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7700, South Africa
*
*Corresponding author. Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, Johann-Sebastian-Bach Str. 11-12, D-17489 Greifswald, Germany.

E-mail addresses:kaiser@uni-greifswald.de (T.M. Kaiser), tfranzod@dal.ca(T.A. Franz-Odendaal).

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Abstract

The dietary regime of Equus capensis from the Middle Pleistocene of South Africa is investigated by mesowear analysis. Results indicate that the mesowear signature of this species resembles that of two extant mixed feeders, the Grant's Gazelle (Gazella granti) and the Thomson's Gazelle (Gazella thomsoni), suggesting a mixed feeding dietary strategy for E. capensis. The mesowear signature of a contemporaneous population of Equus mosbachensis from Europe (Arago, France) is also determined for comparative purposes and has a typical grazing signature. In general, all extant species of Equus are believed to be almost exclusively grazers. However, a considerable degree of dietary flexibility is recently reported. The dietary signal of E. capensis is considered to be the result of feeding on the unique fynbos vegetation, which was beginning to establish itself at this time in southwestern South Africa. Grasses are a minor component of this floral kingdom. Our findings thus provide further evidence for the unexpected flexibility in feeding strategies of Equus, the most widely distributed equid taxon in the Quaternary. They highlight the potential use of the attrition"abrasion wear equilibrium as a habitat indicator, by mirroring the availability of food items in mammalian herbivore ecosystems.

Keywords

EquusHorseTooth wearMesowearPalaeodietPalaeoecologyHabitat reconstruction
Type
Short Paper
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 62 , Issue 3 , November 2004 , pp. 316 - 323
Copyright
University of Washington

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Footnotes

1

Current address: Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, B3H 4J1, Canada.

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