Diet and environment of a mid-Pliocene fauna from southwestern Himalaya: Paleo-elevation implications

CORC > 古脊椎动物与古人类研究所 > 中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所 > 古哺乳动物研究室

	Diet and environment of a mid-Pliocene fauna from southwestern Himalaya: Paleo-elevation implications
	Wang, Yang 1,2; Xu, Yingfeng 1,2; Khawaja, Sofia 1,2; Passey, Benjamin H.3; Zhang, Chunfu 1,2,8; Wang, Xiaoming 4,5; Li, Qiang 5; Tseng, Zhijie J.4; Takeuchi, Gary T.6; Deng, Tao5
刊名	EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
	2013-08-15
卷号	376 页码:43-53
关键词	Stable Isotopes Paleo-diet Paleo-temperature Paleo-elevation Himalaya Tibetan Plateau
文献子类	Article
英文摘要	A mid-Pliocene fauna (4.2-3.1 Ma) was recently uncovered in the Zanda (Zhada) Basin in the southwestern Himalaya, at an elevation of about 4200 m above sea level. These fossil materials provide a unique window for examining the linkage among tectonic, climatic and biotic changes. Here we report the results from isotopic analyses of this fauna and of modern herbivores and waters as well as paleo-temperature estimates from the Zanda Basin. The delta C-13 values of enamel samples from modern wild Tibetan asses, and domesticated horses, cows and goats in the area are -9.4 +/- 1.8 parts per thousand, which indicate a diet comprising predominantly of C-3 plants and are consistent with the current dominance of C-3 vegetation in the region. The enamel-delta C-13 values of the fossil horses, rhinos, deer, and bovids are -9.6 +/- 0.8 parts per thousand, indicating that these ancient mammals, like modern herbivores in the area, also fed primarily on C-3 vegetation and lived in an environment dominated by C-3 plants. The lack of significant C-4 plants in the basin suggests that the area had reached high elevations (>2.5 km) by at least the mid-Pliocene. Taking into account the changes in the delta C-13 of atmospheric CO2 in the past, the enamel-delta C-13 values suggest that the average modern-equivalent delta C-13 value of C-3 vegetation in the Zanda Basin in the mid-Pliocene was similar to 1-2 parts per thousand lower than that of the C-3 biomass in the basin today. This would imply a reduction in annual precipitation by about 200-400 mm in the area since then (assuming that the modern C-3 delta C-13-precipitation relationship applied to the past). Consistent with this inference from the delta C-13 data, the enamel-delta O-18 data show a significant shift to higher values after the mid-Pliocene, which also suggests a shift in climate to much drier conditions after similar to 4-3 Ma.
WOS关键词	ISOTOPE-BASED PALEOALTIMETRY ; EOCENE-OLIGOCENE TRANSITION ; TIBETAN PLATEAU ; CLUMPED-ISOTOPE ; LATE MIOCENE ; STABLE-ISOTOPES ; SOUTHERN TIBET ; PALEOELEVATION RECONSTRUCTIONS ; CENOZOIC CLIMATE ; BONE PHOSPHATE
WOS研究方向	Geochemistry & Geophysics
语种	英语
WOS记录号	WOS:000324967900005
内容类型	期刊论文
源URL	[http://124.16.247.212/handle/311034/7322]
专题	古脊椎动物与古人类研究所_古哺乳动物研究室
作者单位	1.Florida State Univ, Dept Earth Ocean & Atmospher Sci, Tallahassee, FL 32306 USA 2.Natl High Magnet Field Lab, Tallahassee, FL 32306 USA 3.Johns Hopkins Univ, Dept Earth & Planetary Sci, Baltimore, MD 21218 USA 4.Nat Hist Museum Los Angeles Cty, Dept Vertebrate Paleontol, Los Angeles, CA 90007 USA 5.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Vertebrate Paleontol & Paleoanthropol, Beijing, Peoples R China 6.George C Page Museum La Brea Discoveries, Los Angeles, CA 90036 USA 7.Gansu Prov Museum, Lanzhou 730050, Peoples R China 8.Ft Hays State Univ, Dept Geosci, Hays, KS 67601 USA
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Wang, Yang,Xu, Yingfeng,Khawaja, Sofia,et al. Diet and environment of a mid-Pliocene fauna from southwestern Himalaya: Paleo-elevation implications[J]. EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS,2013,376:43-53.
APA	Wang, Yang.,Xu, Yingfeng.,Khawaja, Sofia.,Passey, Benjamin H..,Zhang, Chunfu.,...&Xie, Guangpu.(2013).Diet and environment of a mid-Pliocene fauna from southwestern Himalaya: Paleo-elevation implications.EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS,376,43-53.
MLA	Wang, Yang,et al."Diet and environment of a mid-Pliocene fauna from southwestern Himalaya: Paleo-elevation implications".EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS 376(2013):43-53.