Dietary stability inferred from dental mesowear analysis in large ungulates from Rancho La Brea and opportunistic feeding during the late Pleistocene

The Rancho La Brea locality is world famous for asphaltic deposits that trapped and preserved late Pleistocene megafauna over the last 50,000 years. This wealth of paleontological data allows detailed investigation into paleoecological changes through glacial maximum Holocene. Here, we used dental mesowear analyses to infer dietary behavior in Bison antiquus, Equus occidentalis, Camelops hesternus from five (“pits”) spanning latest Pleistocene: pits 77, 91, 13, 3, 61/67. Mesowear was compared among each taxon discriminant function posterior probability were conducted using a modern dataset predict categories at Brea. Published scores Bison, other localities included assess variability regions. did not differ pits. Posterior probabilities recovered E. occidentalis as strict grazer with B. antiquus C. mixed feeders. stability suggests average diets these herbivores significantly change contrast documented climate flora proxies southern California. However, it unclear whether are representative floral populations Equus, indicate little diet modest high Camelops. These suggest large ungulates may have been more opportunistic their feeding strategies highlights need multiple clarify