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Dental microwear textures and dietary preferences of extant rhinoceroses (Perissodactyla, Mammalia)

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Abstract

Rhinoceroses were conspicuous elements in Cenozoic ecosystems, and studying the ecological behavior of extant species might unravel the ecology of their fossil kin. Microwear as a short-term recorder may detect subtle variations in the diet. Dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) is extensively used to infer paleodiets. Yet, regarding ungulates, most microwear studies have been conducted on artiodactyls, and more particularly on ruminants (i.e., foregut fermenters), which may not be good models for hindgut fermenters, such as rhinoceroses. Moreover, rhinoceroses display a specific enamel ultrastructure with vertical Hunter–Schreger bands and a peculiar mastication cycle likely to impact tooth response to wear. Here, we studied the DMTA of the five extant rhinoceros species (17 specimens of Ceratotherium simum, four of Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, 21 of Diceros bicornis, 14 of Rhinoceros sondaicus, and 5 of Rhinoceros unicornis) and built up the present dataset. In parallel, we also compiled a taxon-based dataset of consumed plants for each rhinoceros species. Accordingly, we propose to reclassify the Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) from mixed-feeder to variable grazer. Significant discrepancies were found between grinding and shearing facets on molars and between species on a given facet. Plotting the percentage of anisotropic specimens against that of complex specimens for each species discriminated well the different diets on both facets. This unprecedented dataset on rhinoceros texture microwear confronted to detailed diets appears critical for future diet reconstruction of fossil rhinocerotoids.

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to the curators of all the visited institutions for granting access to the collections they are in charge of: S. Jiquel, B. Marandat and A.-L. Charruault (University of Montpellier), D. Berthet and F. Vigouroux (Musée des Confluences de Lyon), F. Zachos and A. Bibl (Natuhistorisches Museum Wien), J. Lesur and V. Bouetel (Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris), M. Lowe (University Museum of Zoology of Cambrige), and E. Gilissen (Musée Royal d’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren). We thank R. Araújo, the advice of whom greatly improved the statistics. We are grateful to E. Berlioz, C. Robinet, and A. Ramdarshan for fruitful discussions. We thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their relevant remarks that helped in clarifying a previous version of the manuscript. This study was partly funded by the Project ANR TRIDENT (ANR-13-JSV7-0008-01, PI: G. Merceron).This is ISEM article 2019-043.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution, UMR5554, CNRS, IRD, Université Montpellier, EPHE, Place Eugène Bataillon, CC064, 34095, Montpellier, France

    Manon Hullot & Pierre-Olivier Antoine

  2. 7 Via Antico Filatoio, Collegno, Italy

    Manuel Ballatore

  3. Palevoprim UMR 7262, CNRS, Université de Poitiers, 86073, Poitiers, France

    Gildas Merceron

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  1. Manon Hullot
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  2. Pierre-Olivier Antoine
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  3. Manuel Ballatore
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  4. Gildas Merceron
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Contributions

MB and MH molded the specimens of the database; MH did the review of plant consumption by the living rhinoceroses, and POA and GM revised it; MH and GM analyzed the microwear data; and MH led the writing of the manuscript. All authors contributed critically to the drafts and gave final approval for publication.

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Correspondence to Manon Hullot.

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Communicated by: Rafał Kowalczyk

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Hullot, M., Antoine, PO., Ballatore, M. et al. Dental microwear textures and dietary preferences of extant rhinoceroses (Perissodactyla, Mammalia). Mamm Res 64, 397–409 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-019-00427-4

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