DIETARY TRAITS OF LATE MIOCENE HIPPARIONS FROM MARAGHEH REVEALED THROUGH DENTAL WEAR

Identifier:  imarina:9325989

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina9325989

Authors:  Niknahad, M; Vaziri, MR; Arab, AL; Rivals, F

Abstract:
Maragheh has yielded one of the richest mammal faunas of the late Miocene in the so-called Greco-Iranian Biogeographical Province in western Asia. This study investigates the paleoecology of fossil perissodactyls (equids) from the late Miocene of Maragheh, northwestern Iran. We used dental micro- and mesowear techniques to draw robust inferences about fossil equid dietary habits. Mesowear and microwear analyses were applied to the upper second molars of an hipparionine horse, aff. Hippotherium brachypus. For this purpose, we investigated samples from three fossiliferous localities: Ruhanioon, Azim Dareh, and Sizdaheaban. Six fossil specimens were analyzed for enamel meso- and microwear and results were compared to an extensive database of extant ungulates. Results indicated overlap of the Maragheh hipparions with the dietary signal of extant grazers and grass-dominated mixed feeders. This is consistent with the supposed vegetational habitat proposed by previous mesowear studies. The aff. Hippotherium brachypus hipparions from Maragheh were consuming a mixture of plants but with a preference for grasses. These results are consistent with paleoenvironmental reconstructions of the late Miocene dominated by open grassland areas among more wooded settings.