Reconstructing the paleoenvironment of Loltún Cave, Yucatán, Mexico, with Pleistocene amphibians and reptiles and their paleobiogeographic implications
Loltún cave in Yucatán peninsula is an important fossil site. The cave preserves Pleistocene fauna and lithic tools, and it is among the few sites with amphibian and reptile fossils of the Mexican Pleistocene. We used the fossil amphibians and reptiles community to reconstruct the paleoclimate and p...
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Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
2016-12-01
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| Series: | Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas |
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| Online Access: | https://rmcg.unam.mx/index.php/rmcg/article/view/441 |
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| author | José Alberto Cruz Joaquín Arroyo-Cabrales Víctor Hugo Reynoso |
| author_facet | José Alberto Cruz Joaquín Arroyo-Cabrales Víctor Hugo Reynoso |
| author_sort | José Alberto Cruz |
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| description | Loltún cave in Yucatán peninsula is an important fossil site. The cave preserves Pleistocene fauna and lithic tools, and it is among the few sites with amphibian and reptile fossils of the Mexican Pleistocene. We used the fossil amphibians and reptiles community to reconstruct the paleoclimate and paleoenvironment of Loltún cave in the Late Pleistocene. The Pleistocene amphibian and reptiles community in Loltún cave consists of one frog, three lizards, five snakes and one turtle. Applying the Habitat Weighting method to the fossil herpetofaunal assemblage, we inferred a vegetation mosaic non-analog with the present one, comprising evergreen seasonal forest, tropical deciduous forest and scrub forest, in contrast to the tropical semi-deciduous forest found nowadays around Loltún cave. Using the Mutual Climatic Range (MCR) method we inferred a mean annual temperature of 25.33 °C and a mean annual precipitation of 1183.74 mm; the temperature was 1.47 °C lower and the MAP was 85.14 mm higher than the present climate condition.
Is the first time that a paleoclimatic reconstruction using amphibians and reptiles in a tropical region is made using the MCR method. Our results are in concordance with other paleoclimatic inferences using fossil pollen as a proxy, extending the use of the MCR method to different climatic regions. We found a range shift of the iguanid Ctenosaura subgenus Loganiosaura during the Late Pleistocene, of 446.4 km north of the present distribution, surely given by the climatic and vegetation structure changes in the past. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7afd50f209ce43899f528dd2109f26ca |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1026-8774 2007-2902 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-12-01 |
| publisher | Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas |
| spelling | doaj-art-7afd50f209ce43899f528dd2109f26ca2025-08-20T02:32:44ZengUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoRevista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas1026-87742007-29022016-12-0133310.22201/cgeo.20072902e.2016.3.441Reconstructing the paleoenvironment of Loltún Cave, Yucatán, Mexico, with Pleistocene amphibians and reptiles and their paleobiogeographic implicationsJosé Alberto Cruz0Joaquín Arroyo-Cabrales1Víctor Hugo Reynoso2Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Colección Nacional de Anfibios y Reptiles, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico.Laboratorio de Arqueozoología “M. en C. Ticul Álvarez Solórzano”, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Col. Centro, Ciudad de México, 06060, Mexico.Colección Nacional de Anfibios y Reptiles, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Mexico.Loltún cave in Yucatán peninsula is an important fossil site. The cave preserves Pleistocene fauna and lithic tools, and it is among the few sites with amphibian and reptile fossils of the Mexican Pleistocene. We used the fossil amphibians and reptiles community to reconstruct the paleoclimate and paleoenvironment of Loltún cave in the Late Pleistocene. The Pleistocene amphibian and reptiles community in Loltún cave consists of one frog, three lizards, five snakes and one turtle. Applying the Habitat Weighting method to the fossil herpetofaunal assemblage, we inferred a vegetation mosaic non-analog with the present one, comprising evergreen seasonal forest, tropical deciduous forest and scrub forest, in contrast to the tropical semi-deciduous forest found nowadays around Loltún cave. Using the Mutual Climatic Range (MCR) method we inferred a mean annual temperature of 25.33 °C and a mean annual precipitation of 1183.74 mm; the temperature was 1.47 °C lower and the MAP was 85.14 mm higher than the present climate condition. Is the first time that a paleoclimatic reconstruction using amphibians and reptiles in a tropical region is made using the MCR method. Our results are in concordance with other paleoclimatic inferences using fossil pollen as a proxy, extending the use of the MCR method to different climatic regions. We found a range shift of the iguanid Ctenosaura subgenus Loganiosaura during the Late Pleistocene, of 446.4 km north of the present distribution, surely given by the climatic and vegetation structure changes in the past.https://rmcg.unam.mx/index.php/rmcg/article/view/441PaleoclimatepaleoenvironmentamphibiansreptilesPleistoceneYucatán peninsula. |
| spellingShingle | José Alberto Cruz Joaquín Arroyo-Cabrales Víctor Hugo Reynoso Reconstructing the paleoenvironment of Loltún Cave, Yucatán, Mexico, with Pleistocene amphibians and reptiles and their paleobiogeographic implications Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas Paleoclimate paleoenvironment amphibians reptiles Pleistocene Yucatán peninsula. |
| title | Reconstructing the paleoenvironment of Loltún Cave, Yucatán, Mexico, with Pleistocene amphibians and reptiles and their paleobiogeographic implications |
| title_full | Reconstructing the paleoenvironment of Loltún Cave, Yucatán, Mexico, with Pleistocene amphibians and reptiles and their paleobiogeographic implications |
| title_fullStr | Reconstructing the paleoenvironment of Loltún Cave, Yucatán, Mexico, with Pleistocene amphibians and reptiles and their paleobiogeographic implications |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reconstructing the paleoenvironment of Loltún Cave, Yucatán, Mexico, with Pleistocene amphibians and reptiles and their paleobiogeographic implications |
| title_short | Reconstructing the paleoenvironment of Loltún Cave, Yucatán, Mexico, with Pleistocene amphibians and reptiles and their paleobiogeographic implications |
| title_sort | reconstructing the paleoenvironment of loltun cave yucatan mexico with pleistocene amphibians and reptiles and their paleobiogeographic implications |
| topic | Paleoclimate paleoenvironment amphibians reptiles Pleistocene Yucatán peninsula. |
| url | https://rmcg.unam.mx/index.php/rmcg/article/view/441 |
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