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10 - Paleoecology of the Paucituberculata and Microbiotheria (Mammalia, Marsupialia) from the late Early Miocene of Patagonia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2013

Sergio F. Vizcaíno
Affiliation:
Museo de La Plata, Argentina
Richard F. Kay
Affiliation:
Duke University, North Carolina
M. Susana Bargo
Affiliation:
Museo de La Plata, Argentina
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Summary

Abstract

This chapter presents a paleoecological analysis of non-carnivorous Santacrucian marsupials of the orders Paucituberculata and Microbiotheria. Different ecological niches are inferred from estimates of body mass, diet, and locomotor behavior. Body masses were estimated using a regression analysis based on living marsupials. Possible dietary preferences were explored by an analysis of the development of molar shearing crests. Inferences about locomotor behaviors of some species with well-preserved postcranial skeletal remains were derived from a published morphofunctional analysis. From the wide range of estimated body masses and diet several niches were inferred: small- to medium-sized insectivores, small- to medium-sized insectivore–frugivores, and medium- to large-sized frugivores. According to our results, Paucituberculata and Microbiotheria of the Santa Cruz Formation constitute an ecologically diverse assemblage that inhabited forested habitats, developed under warm temperatures and seasonal rainfall. These forested habitats could have supported several non-carnivorous marsupial niches, offering diverse resources both in the spatial dimensions and in the trophic ones.

Type
Chapter
Information
Early Miocene Paleobiology in Patagonia
High-Latitude Paleocommunities of the Santa Cruz Formation
, pp. 156 - 172
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

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