Nature of the beast? Complex drivers of prey choice, competition and resilience in Pleistocene wolves (Canis lupus L., 1754)
The wolf (Canis lupus L., 1754) has been a major keystone predator in the Palaearctic since the late Middle Pleistocene. Today, wolves display considerable dietary plasticity over their range, characterised by their preferential consumption of large and medium-sized wild ungulates, supplemented by s...
Published in: | Quaternary Science Reviews |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://rhul.elsevierpure.com/en/publications/fcabb0d9-bfb9-4d3b-818b-4d65bd053506 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107212 https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/ws/files/43818059/Flower_et_al_Revised_Final_comments_DCS.docx |
id |
fthollowaycris:oai:pure.royalholloway.ac.uk:publications/fcabb0d9-bfb9-4d3b-818b-4d65bd053506 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
fthollowaycris:oai:pure.royalholloway.ac.uk:publications/fcabb0d9-bfb9-4d3b-818b-4d65bd053506 2024-09-30T14:33:31+00:00 Nature of the beast? Complex drivers of prey choice, competition and resilience in Pleistocene wolves (Canis lupus L., 1754) Flower, Lucy Schreve, Danielle Lamb, Angela 2021-11-15 application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document https://rhul.elsevierpure.com/en/publications/fcabb0d9-bfb9-4d3b-818b-4d65bd053506 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107212 https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/ws/files/43818059/Flower_et_al_Revised_Final_comments_DCS.docx eng eng https://rhul.elsevierpure.com/en/publications/fcabb0d9-bfb9-4d3b-818b-4d65bd053506 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Flower , L , Schreve , D & Lamb , A 2021 , ' Nature of the beast? Complex drivers of prey choice, competition and resilience in Pleistocene wolves (Canis lupus L., 1754) ' , Quaternary Science Reviews , vol. 272 , 107212 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107212 /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action name=SDG 13 - Climate Action /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water article 2021 fthollowaycris https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107212 2024-09-04T23:32:09Z The wolf (Canis lupus L., 1754) has been a major keystone predator in the Palaearctic since the late Middle Pleistocene. Today, wolves display considerable dietary plasticity over their range, characterised by their preferential consumption of large and medium-sized wild ungulates, supplemented by smaller prey, including small mammals, fish and plant foods. However, the origins of this dietary flexibility (arguably the key to the wolf’s long persistence) are poorly understood in terms of responses to different drivers over the course of the Pleistocene, including changing climate, environment and competition from other large carnivores. Here, in the first study using direct palaeodietary measurements on British fossil wolves, carnivore competitors and potential prey species, we compare stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) evidence from three sites representing a late Middle Pleistocene interglacial (Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage [MIS] 7c-a, c.220-190ka BP), the early Devensian (last cold stage, MIS 5a, c.90-80ka BP) and the middle Devensian (MIS 3, c. 60-25ka BP). The results reveal clear patterns of changing wolf prey choice through time. Notwithstanding issues of collagen preservation obscuring some dietary choices in the oldest samples, both small and large prey (hare, horse) were taken by wolves in the MIS 7c-a interglacial, large prey only (reindeer, bison) during MIS 5a and a broader range of large prey items (horse, woolly rhinoceros, bison) during MIS 3. The results also reveal two further important aspects: (1) that where wolves and spotted hyaenas co-existed, they occupied the same dietary niche and the former was not outcompeted by the latter, and (2) that the stable isotope evidence indicates prey choices during MIS 7c-a and MIS 3 that are not in synchrony with palaeodietary reconstructions from previous studies based on wolf cranio-dental morphology. This establishes for the first time a likely lag between changing predatory behaviour and morphological response but is interestingly not seen in the wolves ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Royal Holloway, University of London research portal Quaternary Science Reviews 272 107212 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Royal Holloway, University of London research portal |
op_collection_id |
fthollowaycris |
language |
English |
topic |
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action name=SDG 13 - Climate Action /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water |
spellingShingle |
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action name=SDG 13 - Climate Action /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water Flower, Lucy Schreve, Danielle Lamb, Angela Nature of the beast? Complex drivers of prey choice, competition and resilience in Pleistocene wolves (Canis lupus L., 1754) |
topic_facet |
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action name=SDG 13 - Climate Action /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water |
description |
The wolf (Canis lupus L., 1754) has been a major keystone predator in the Palaearctic since the late Middle Pleistocene. Today, wolves display considerable dietary plasticity over their range, characterised by their preferential consumption of large and medium-sized wild ungulates, supplemented by smaller prey, including small mammals, fish and plant foods. However, the origins of this dietary flexibility (arguably the key to the wolf’s long persistence) are poorly understood in terms of responses to different drivers over the course of the Pleistocene, including changing climate, environment and competition from other large carnivores. Here, in the first study using direct palaeodietary measurements on British fossil wolves, carnivore competitors and potential prey species, we compare stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) evidence from three sites representing a late Middle Pleistocene interglacial (Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage [MIS] 7c-a, c.220-190ka BP), the early Devensian (last cold stage, MIS 5a, c.90-80ka BP) and the middle Devensian (MIS 3, c. 60-25ka BP). The results reveal clear patterns of changing wolf prey choice through time. Notwithstanding issues of collagen preservation obscuring some dietary choices in the oldest samples, both small and large prey (hare, horse) were taken by wolves in the MIS 7c-a interglacial, large prey only (reindeer, bison) during MIS 5a and a broader range of large prey items (horse, woolly rhinoceros, bison) during MIS 3. The results also reveal two further important aspects: (1) that where wolves and spotted hyaenas co-existed, they occupied the same dietary niche and the former was not outcompeted by the latter, and (2) that the stable isotope evidence indicates prey choices during MIS 7c-a and MIS 3 that are not in synchrony with palaeodietary reconstructions from previous studies based on wolf cranio-dental morphology. This establishes for the first time a likely lag between changing predatory behaviour and morphological response but is interestingly not seen in the wolves ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Flower, Lucy Schreve, Danielle Lamb, Angela |
author_facet |
Flower, Lucy Schreve, Danielle Lamb, Angela |
author_sort |
Flower, Lucy |
title |
Nature of the beast? Complex drivers of prey choice, competition and resilience in Pleistocene wolves (Canis lupus L., 1754) |
title_short |
Nature of the beast? Complex drivers of prey choice, competition and resilience in Pleistocene wolves (Canis lupus L., 1754) |
title_full |
Nature of the beast? Complex drivers of prey choice, competition and resilience in Pleistocene wolves (Canis lupus L., 1754) |
title_fullStr |
Nature of the beast? Complex drivers of prey choice, competition and resilience in Pleistocene wolves (Canis lupus L., 1754) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Nature of the beast? Complex drivers of prey choice, competition and resilience in Pleistocene wolves (Canis lupus L., 1754) |
title_sort |
nature of the beast? complex drivers of prey choice, competition and resilience in pleistocene wolves (canis lupus l., 1754) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://rhul.elsevierpure.com/en/publications/fcabb0d9-bfb9-4d3b-818b-4d65bd053506 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107212 https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/ws/files/43818059/Flower_et_al_Revised_Final_comments_DCS.docx |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
Flower , L , Schreve , D & Lamb , A 2021 , ' Nature of the beast? Complex drivers of prey choice, competition and resilience in Pleistocene wolves (Canis lupus L., 1754) ' , Quaternary Science Reviews , vol. 272 , 107212 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107212 |
op_relation |
https://rhul.elsevierpure.com/en/publications/fcabb0d9-bfb9-4d3b-818b-4d65bd053506 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107212 |
container_title |
Quaternary Science Reviews |
container_volume |
272 |
container_start_page |
107212 |
_version_ |
1811637386547822592 |