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Pleistocene Extinctions and the Perceived Morphofunctional Structure of the Neotropical Felid Ensemble

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Abstract

The felid Neotropical ensemble has experienced important changes from the Pleistocene to the present, the extinction of sabertooth cats being the most significant. Assuming that the morphofunctional structure of the Neotropical felid ensemble was maximally expressed when machairodontines were present, we added specimens of Smilodon fatalis and S. populator to a morphological dataset inclusive of all extant species of Neotropical felids to explore the hypothetical effect of extinction of machairodontines on the perceived morphofunctional structure of the ensemble. We studied 321 specimens of 12 extant species of Neotropical felids plus S. populator and S. fatalis by measuring 123 skull and postcranial morphofunctional variables. We used Principal Component Analysis to find morphofunctional patterns of the skull, postcranium, and both combined (with and without correction for size) of both ensembles, past (with Smilodon) and present (with Smilodon lost to extinction). Canonical Phylogenetic Ordination was performed to assess the degree of phylogenetic influence on this morphospace. We also explored the effect of including homotherines in the Pleistocene guild by including specimens of North American Homotherium serum. Size was the principal factor structuring ensembles. Important morphological characters were associated to ecological performance of species. A pattern of bodily proportions was apparent: more stout species with larger skull, longer rostrum, stronger bite force, and longer pectoral crests, versus gracile, jumping species with opposing characters. The felid morphospace shrank after the extinction of Smilodon and Homotherium, but the configuration of the portion of space containing extant felids remained stable. This pattern is associated with deep phylogenetic roots.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Don E. Wilson, Kristofer M. Helgen, Alfred L. Gardner, Linda Gordon, Jeremy Jacobs (USNM), Lawrence Heaney, William Stanley (FMNH), Nancy Simmons, Darrin Lunde, Eileen Westwig (AMNH), David Flores, Valentina Segura (MACN), Alejandro Kramarz, Stella Maris Álvarez (MACN-PV), Martín Monteverde (CEA); Rubén Barquez, Mónica Díaz (CML); Diego Verzi, Itatí Olivares, Cecilia Morgan (MLP); Ulises Pardiñas (CNP); Enrique González, Yennifer Hernández, José González, Andrés Rinderknecht, Gustavo Lecuona (MNHN); James Aparicio, Julieta Tordoya (CBF); Ricardo Ojeda (CMI); Mauro Lucherini, Estela Luengos Vidal (CGECM); Marcelo Carrera (MC); Pablo Perovic, Jorge Samaniego (MCN-UNSa); Víctor Pacheco, Carlos Tello (MUSM); Damián Romero, Alejandro Dondas, Fernando Scaglia (MMP) and Norka Rocha (MNK) for access to the specimens under their care. Thanks to J. Chris Sagebiel (TMM) for access to references and thanks to Arcadio Rincón and Francisco Prevosti for access to photographs of Homotherium serum. Thanks to Francisco Prevosti, Christine Argot, and Marcos Ercoli for comments and references. M. M. Morales thanks the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. for a Short Term Visitor Fellowship (special thanks to Don E. Wilson and Kristofer M. Helgen). We thank Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) and PICT-2008-1798 (Argentina).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina

    Miriam Mariana Morales

  2. Centro de Estudios Territoriales Ambientales y Sociales, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Jujuy, Alberdi 47, San Salvador de Jujuy, CP 4600, Argentina

    Miriam Mariana Morales

  3. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Miguel Lillo 205, San Miguel de Tucumán, CP 4000, Argentina

    Miriam Mariana Morales & Norberto Pedro Giannini

  4. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina

    Norberto Pedro Giannini

  5. Department of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024-5192, USA

    Norberto Pedro Giannini

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  1. Miriam Mariana Morales
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Correspondence to Miriam Mariana Morales.

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Tables S1, S2, S3, PCA results of all PCA analyses; Tables S4-S21, CPO results; Tables S22, S23, summary of Neotropical and Neotropical + Smilodon + Homotherium ensembles results; Appendix S1, List of specimens used in this study; Appendix S2, particular morphofunctional interpretations (DOCX 228 kb)

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Morales, M.M., Giannini, N.P. Pleistocene Extinctions and the Perceived Morphofunctional Structure of the Neotropical Felid Ensemble. J Mammal Evol 21, 395–405 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-013-9244-3

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