Received: ApAccepted: SeptemPublished: October 30, 2013Ĭopyright: © 2013 Donohue et al. PLoS ONE 8(10):Įditor: Laurent Viriot, Team ‘Evo-Devo of Vertebrate Dentition’, France ornatus), which is inconsistent with hard-object (e.g., bone) consumption, and the hypothesis that short-faced bears were bone consuming hyper-scavengers across their range.Ĭitation: Donohue SL, DeSantis LRG, Schubert BW, Ungar PS (2013) Was the Giant Short-Faced Bear a Hyper-Scavenger? A New Approach to the Dietary Study of Ursids Using Dental Microwear Textures. Arctodus simus from Rancho La Brea exhibits wear attributes most comparable to its closest living relative ( T. americanus by significantly higher and more variable anisotropy ( epLsar) values. americanus) have significantly higher and more variable complexity ( Asfc) than more herbivorous ones ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca, Tremarctos ornatus, U. Results evince significant variation among species: carnivorous and omnivorous ursids ( Ursus maritimus, U. Significant variation along the tooth row is consistent with functional differentiation, with the second molar serving as a better dietary recorder than the first. We use the resulting baseline data to evaluate the hypothesis that the Pleistocene giant short-faced bear, Arctodus simus, was a bone consumer and hyper-scavenger at Rancho La Brea, California, USA. Here, we assess correspondence of dental microwear textures of first and second lower molars with diet in extant ursids. These environmental changes likely prompted changes in food availability, and triggered dietary adaptations that served as motive forces in ursid evolution.
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