Evidence of scavenging on remains of the gomphothere Haplomastodon waringi (Proboscidea: Mammalia) from the Pleistocene of Brazil: Taphonomic and paleoecological remarks

This study reports implications of different tooth marks left by carnivorous mammals on long bones of Haplomastodon waringi from the Quaternary of Águas de Araxá, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Analyses of gnawing damage by ursids, felids, and canids have shown that these groups produce pits on bone surfaces when the gnawing is superficial, and punctures more often when the prey is intensely consumed. Scratches or scoring marks are most often associated with gnawing by canids, which may spend a long time gnawing the bones, leading to differential tooth marking. The gomphothere bones at Águas de Araxá did not result from predation, but are a consequence of a local mass mortality in a period of low environmental humidity, with little water and a scarcity of food. Canids frequently act as opportunistic scavengers during periods when herbivores face food shortages. Previous studies of necrophagous dermestid larvae indicate that the gomphothere carcasses of Águas de Araxá were exposed for a long period of time after death. These insects are the last consumers of a carcass because they act only when the body fat is completely lost. Thus, the gomphothere carcasses at Águas de Araxá suffered canid necrophagy in the early stages of decomposition, possibly during a drought period. Thereafter, the gomphothere carcasses would have been exposed for a period about 230 days until the final burial event.

► Recovers unique information about gomphotheres post mortem before diagenesis.
► First record of a paleoecological relationship between gomphotheres and canids in South America.
► First record of canids damage on gomphothere bones associated to a scavenger feeding habit.
► Description of Cubiculum ornatus associated to a long exposition time of gomphothere carcasses.