| To reconstruct the diet and habitat preference of fossil horses, we measured the carbon and oxygen isotope composition of 35 bone and tooth samples of Equus (Amerhippus) neogeus Lund, Hippidion principale (Lund), and Hippidion devillei (Gervais) from 10 different Pleistocene localities in the Pampean region (Argentina). To compare the three species by stratigraphic age, we divided the samples into three groups: lower Pleistocene, middle-late Pleistocene and latest Pleistocene. Samples of Hippidion devillei from the lower Pleistocene were more homogeneous, with δ13C values ranging between -11.73 to -9.79‰. These data indicate a diet exclusively dominated by C3 plants. In contrast, Hippidion principale and Equus (Amerhippus) neogeus from... |
