Tooth Marks of Mammalian Incisors on Rocky Substrate in Brazil: Evidence of Geophagy in the Cerrado Biome

Mammal tooth traces in a ferruginous cave in southeastern Brazil and their relevance to cave legal protection

“…the traces of this morphotype are 18.4 mm long, 5.9 mm wide (both grooves), and 2.85 mm deep (Table I the shape and size of the morphotypes indicate that these traces result from teeth erosion by distinct species of small mammals on the sediments of the sampled cave. the traces are also morphologically consistent with those reported in non-cave outcrops in the United States, Brazil and russia (respectively Gobetz and hattin 2002, Martinelli et al 2013, Panichev et al 2017) and rodent tooth traces in bones of distinct mammal species (Brain 1981, Shipman and rose 1983, Fernandez-Jalvo and Andrews 2016. Biogenic structures produced by claw scratching have been reported for other South American caves, and were interpreted as excavations of extinct ground sloths and armadillos (Buchmann et al 2009, Dondas et al 2009, Bittencourt et al 2015, Frank et al 2011.…”

“…Yet, geophagy and gnawing cannot be identified based only on tooth traces. In fact, other than rocky substrates, as reported herein and by other authors (see Gobetz and hattin 2002, Martinelli et al 2013, Panichev et al 2017. traces of these behaviors are commonly reported in biological substrates, as bones and wood (Johnson 1985, haglund 1992, Mondini 2002, Stefen et al 2016.…”

“…the traces were documented by photographs and compared to tooth scrape marks produced artificially produced by imprinting the upper and lower incisors of different mammal species on soft clay, following the methodology proposed by Bednarik (1991) and also used by Martinelli et al (2013). We assessed thirty-three specimens (skulls and mandibles) of rodents, marsupials, lagomorphs, deer, peccary and carnivores (Fig.…”

“…this was necessary because additional evidence of cave dwellers, such as nests, feces or carcasses (see haglund 1992), along with clay imprinting of all potential producers were not available. We also performed additional comparisons with previously published papers about mammal traces on hard substrate (Gobetz and hattin 2002, Martinelli et al 2013, Panichev et al 2017), aiming at the identifi cation of the structures described in this paper.…”

“…As a contribution to the debate and further scrutiny of the role of vertebrates to the general aspect of cave environments, we report for the first time a distinct type of mammal trace within a cave in southeastern Brazil, which was produced by small mammals using their front teeth for active erosion of the substrate. the traces, which can be related to either geophagy or tooth-sharpening behavior, have been reported in non-cave environments and limestone caves (Bednarik 1991, Martinelli et al 2013, Panichev et al 2017, but until now their occurrence within iron formation caves has never been registered.…”