Did the giant extinct shark Carcharocles megalodon target small prey? Bite marks on marine mammal remains from the late Miocene of Peru
We report on bite marks incising fossil mammal bones collected from upper Miocene deposits of the Pisco Formation exposed at Aguada de Lomas (southern Peru) and attributed to the giant megatooth shark Carcharocles megalodon. The bitten material includes skull remains referred to small-sized baleen w...
Published in: | Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/11581/394800 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.001 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018216305417?via=ihub |
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ftuncamerinoiris:oai:pubblicazioni.unicam.it:11581/394800 2024-04-14T08:09:33+00:00 Did the giant extinct shark Carcharocles megalodon target small prey? Bite marks on marine mammal remains from the late Miocene of Peru Collareta, Alberto Lambert, Olivier Landini, Walter DI CELMA, Claudio Nicola Malinverno, Elisa Varas Malca, Rafael Urbina, Mario Bianucci, Giovanni Collareta, Alberto Lambert, Olivier Landini, Walter DI CELMA, Claudio Nicola Malinverno, Elisa Varas Malca, Rafael Urbina, Mario Bianucci, Giovanni 2017 STAMPA http://hdl.handle.net/11581/394800 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.001 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018216305417?via=ihub eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000395956800007 volume:469 firstpage:84 lastpage:91 numberofpages:8 journal:PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY http://hdl.handle.net/11581/394800 doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.001 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-85011854136 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018216305417?via=ihub info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2017 ftuncamerinoiris https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.001 2024-03-21T20:37:23Z We report on bite marks incising fossil mammal bones collected from upper Miocene deposits of the Pisco Formation exposed at Aguada de Lomas (southern Peru) and attributed to the giant megatooth shark Carcharocles megalodon. The bitten material includes skull remains referred to small-sized baleen whales as well as fragmentary cetacean and pinniped postcrania. These occurrences, the first in their kind from the Southern Hemisphere, significantly expand the still scarce record of bite marks for C. megalodon; moreover, for the first time a prey (or scavenging item) of C. megalodon is identified at the species level (as Piscobalaena nana, a diminutive member of the extinct mysticete family Cetotheriidae). Due to the fragmentary nature of the studied material, the exact origin of the detected marks (i.e., by scavenging or by active predation) cannot be ascertained. Nevertheless, relying on actualistic observations and size-based considerations, we propose that diminutive mysticetes (e.g., cetotheriids) were some of the target prey of adult C. megalodon, at least along the coast of present-day Peru. C. megalodon is thus here interpreted as an apex predator whose trophic spectrum was focused on relatively small-sized prey. Lastly, we propose a link between the recent collapse of various lineages of diminutive mysticetes (observed around 3 Ma) and the extinction of C. megalodon (occurring around the end of the Pliocene). Article in Journal/Newspaper baleen whales CAMPUS Pubblicazioni Scientifiche Unicam (Università di Camerino) Pisco ENVELOPE(-62.450,-62.450,-62.950,-62.950) Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 469 84 91 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
CAMPUS Pubblicazioni Scientifiche Unicam (Università di Camerino) |
op_collection_id |
ftuncamerinoiris |
language |
English |
description |
We report on bite marks incising fossil mammal bones collected from upper Miocene deposits of the Pisco Formation exposed at Aguada de Lomas (southern Peru) and attributed to the giant megatooth shark Carcharocles megalodon. The bitten material includes skull remains referred to small-sized baleen whales as well as fragmentary cetacean and pinniped postcrania. These occurrences, the first in their kind from the Southern Hemisphere, significantly expand the still scarce record of bite marks for C. megalodon; moreover, for the first time a prey (or scavenging item) of C. megalodon is identified at the species level (as Piscobalaena nana, a diminutive member of the extinct mysticete family Cetotheriidae). Due to the fragmentary nature of the studied material, the exact origin of the detected marks (i.e., by scavenging or by active predation) cannot be ascertained. Nevertheless, relying on actualistic observations and size-based considerations, we propose that diminutive mysticetes (e.g., cetotheriids) were some of the target prey of adult C. megalodon, at least along the coast of present-day Peru. C. megalodon is thus here interpreted as an apex predator whose trophic spectrum was focused on relatively small-sized prey. Lastly, we propose a link between the recent collapse of various lineages of diminutive mysticetes (observed around 3 Ma) and the extinction of C. megalodon (occurring around the end of the Pliocene). |
author2 |
Collareta, Alberto Lambert, Olivier Landini, Walter DI CELMA, Claudio Nicola Malinverno, Elisa Varas Malca, Rafael Urbina, Mario Bianucci, Giovanni |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Collareta, Alberto Lambert, Olivier Landini, Walter DI CELMA, Claudio Nicola Malinverno, Elisa Varas Malca, Rafael Urbina, Mario Bianucci, Giovanni |
spellingShingle |
Collareta, Alberto Lambert, Olivier Landini, Walter DI CELMA, Claudio Nicola Malinverno, Elisa Varas Malca, Rafael Urbina, Mario Bianucci, Giovanni Did the giant extinct shark Carcharocles megalodon target small prey? Bite marks on marine mammal remains from the late Miocene of Peru |
author_facet |
Collareta, Alberto Lambert, Olivier Landini, Walter DI CELMA, Claudio Nicola Malinverno, Elisa Varas Malca, Rafael Urbina, Mario Bianucci, Giovanni |
author_sort |
Collareta, Alberto |
title |
Did the giant extinct shark Carcharocles megalodon target small prey? Bite marks on marine mammal remains from the late Miocene of Peru |
title_short |
Did the giant extinct shark Carcharocles megalodon target small prey? Bite marks on marine mammal remains from the late Miocene of Peru |
title_full |
Did the giant extinct shark Carcharocles megalodon target small prey? Bite marks on marine mammal remains from the late Miocene of Peru |
title_fullStr |
Did the giant extinct shark Carcharocles megalodon target small prey? Bite marks on marine mammal remains from the late Miocene of Peru |
title_full_unstemmed |
Did the giant extinct shark Carcharocles megalodon target small prey? Bite marks on marine mammal remains from the late Miocene of Peru |
title_sort |
did the giant extinct shark carcharocles megalodon target small prey? bite marks on marine mammal remains from the late miocene of peru |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11581/394800 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.001 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018216305417?via=ihub |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-62.450,-62.450,-62.950,-62.950) |
geographic |
Pisco |
geographic_facet |
Pisco |
genre |
baleen whales |
genre_facet |
baleen whales |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000395956800007 volume:469 firstpage:84 lastpage:91 numberofpages:8 journal:PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY http://hdl.handle.net/11581/394800 doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.001 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-85011854136 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018216305417?via=ihub |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.001 |
container_title |
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |
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469 |
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84 |
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