Abstract
Determining diet provides the foundation for understanding palaeoecological
dynamics, including resource partitioning, community structure, and ecological
resilience to climatic and environmental change. One method to reconstruct diet
is Dental Wear Analysis (DWA), which comprises dental microwear and dental
mesowear. Microwear analysis is a well-established technique of examining
tooth enamel for distinctive microscopic scars made by certain food groups,
which provides high-resolution insights into the organism's diet during the final
weeks before death. Mesowear analysis provides dietary signals over a longer
timescale. This project combines these methods to recreate the diet of 10
Cervidae (deer) genera, a widespread group in the Quaternary (last 2.6 million
years), a period characterised by repeated climate fluctuations and biotic
turnovers. Using DWA, this study explores their dietary flexibility across broad
temporal scales of the Quaternary down to community-level interactions. While
the primary focus is on British sites, the analysis is geographically enhanced by
including sites from Early to Late Pleistocene Italy and Late Pleistocene France.
Alongside seasonality indications (obtained from tooth eruption and occlusal
wear), robust inferences of how climate change impacted these species can be
made, including the effects of vegetation changes and climate-induced range
shifts, which may have exacerbated competition for resources.
Taking a conservation palaeobiology approach, the use of DWA is then
combined with species distribution modelling (SDM) in a novel examination of
Eld's deer (Rucervus eldii, McClelland 1842). Eld's deer once ranged across
Southeast Asia, but anthropogenic pressures have fragmented populations,
and it is now considered Endangered by the IUCN. By incorporating past
presence data into SDMs, the full species-environment relationship of Eld’s
deer under current and future climatic scenarios can be inferred, while DWA
elucidates their Late Pleistocene diet and provides fresh insights into their
dietary flexibility and ecological resilience. This project addresses the paucity of
data on Eld’s deer diet and habitat preferences, generating new information that
can be used to suggest suitable regions for their reintroduction.
dynamics, including resource partitioning, community structure, and ecological
resilience to climatic and environmental change. One method to reconstruct diet
is Dental Wear Analysis (DWA), which comprises dental microwear and dental
mesowear. Microwear analysis is a well-established technique of examining
tooth enamel for distinctive microscopic scars made by certain food groups,
which provides high-resolution insights into the organism's diet during the final
weeks before death. Mesowear analysis provides dietary signals over a longer
timescale. This project combines these methods to recreate the diet of 10
Cervidae (deer) genera, a widespread group in the Quaternary (last 2.6 million
years), a period characterised by repeated climate fluctuations and biotic
turnovers. Using DWA, this study explores their dietary flexibility across broad
temporal scales of the Quaternary down to community-level interactions. While
the primary focus is on British sites, the analysis is geographically enhanced by
including sites from Early to Late Pleistocene Italy and Late Pleistocene France.
Alongside seasonality indications (obtained from tooth eruption and occlusal
wear), robust inferences of how climate change impacted these species can be
made, including the effects of vegetation changes and climate-induced range
shifts, which may have exacerbated competition for resources.
Taking a conservation palaeobiology approach, the use of DWA is then
combined with species distribution modelling (SDM) in a novel examination of
Eld's deer (Rucervus eldii, McClelland 1842). Eld's deer once ranged across
Southeast Asia, but anthropogenic pressures have fragmented populations,
and it is now considered Endangered by the IUCN. By incorporating past
presence data into SDMs, the full species-environment relationship of Eld’s
deer under current and future climatic scenarios can be inferred, while DWA
elucidates their Late Pleistocene diet and provides fresh insights into their
dietary flexibility and ecological resilience. This project addresses the paucity of
data on Eld’s deer diet and habitat preferences, generating new information that
can be used to suggest suitable regions for their reintroduction.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Qualification | Ph.D. |
| Awarding Institution |
|
| Supervisors/Advisors |
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| Award date | 1 Jun 2025 |
| Publication status | Unpublished - 2025 |
Keywords
- Quaternary
- Quaternary environments
- Deer
- Fossils
- Dental Wear Analysis
- Microwear
- Palaeoecology
