New Miocene litoptern remains from Colombia and ecological structure of American Neogene herbivore guilds Article Swipe
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· 2025
· Open Access
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· DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40850-025-00232-4
· OA: W4413337478
The new litoptern fossils provide previously unknown information on these species' morphology, but they do not resolve outstanding systematic and phylogenetic questions. Discrepancies in ecomorphological diversity between pre-GABI North and South American faunas is attributable to the presence of small, high-feeding (arboreal) taxa and hypselodont (ever-growing cheek teeth) taxa in South America, which North America lacked. Arboreal herbivores (porcupines and primates) experienced some success in North America after dispersing during the GABI. Although hypselodont xenarthrans were successful in post-GABI North America, the fact that most other hypselodont lineages went extinct during and after the GABI suggests that dental morphology may not fully capture the ecomorphological diversity in diet of North American herbivores. Future studies could examine faunas immediately before and after the GABI to uncover the precise dynamics of the interchange and why certain lineages succeeded while others failed.
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