TY - JOUR
T1 - A year in the life of a giant ground sloth during the Last Glacial Maximum in Belize
AU - Larmon, Jean T.
AU - McDonald, H. Gregory
AU - Ambrose, Stanley
AU - DeSantis, Larisa R.G.
AU - Lucero, Lisa J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2019/2/1
Y1 - 2019/2/1
N2 - Stable isotope analysis of the first fossilized Eremotherium laurillardi remains from Belize offers valuable insights into the conditions within which this individual lived and its ability to adapt to the increasing aridity of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Cathodoluminescence (CL) microscopy was used to identify chemical alteration of the tooth during fossilization. Results demonstrate that the inner orthodentin resists diagenesis, yielding potentially unaltered values. Using an intensive "vacuum milling" technique, the inner orthodentin produced an accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) date of 26,975 ± 120 calibrated years before the present. The stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis of this layer shows that the tooth recorded two wet seasons separated by one longer dry season and that this sloth was able to adapt its diet to the marked seasonality of the LGM. This study offers new insights into obtaining reliable isotope data from fossilized remains and suggests that this individual adapted to climate shifts, contributing to the conversation surrounding megafauna extinction.
AB - Stable isotope analysis of the first fossilized Eremotherium laurillardi remains from Belize offers valuable insights into the conditions within which this individual lived and its ability to adapt to the increasing aridity of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Cathodoluminescence (CL) microscopy was used to identify chemical alteration of the tooth during fossilization. Results demonstrate that the inner orthodentin resists diagenesis, yielding potentially unaltered values. Using an intensive "vacuum milling" technique, the inner orthodentin produced an accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) date of 26,975 ± 120 calibrated years before the present. The stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis of this layer shows that the tooth recorded two wet seasons separated by one longer dry season and that this sloth was able to adapt its diet to the marked seasonality of the LGM. This study offers new insights into obtaining reliable isotope data from fossilized remains and suggests that this individual adapted to climate shifts, contributing to the conversation surrounding megafauna extinction.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85069876119&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85069876119&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.aau1200
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.aau1200
M3 - Article
C2 - 30820449
SN - 0019-5596
VL - 5
JO - Indian Journal of Pure and Applied Physics
JF - Indian Journal of Pure and Applied Physics
IS - 2
M1 - eaau1200
ER -