RT Journal Article
T1 First tracks of newborn straight‑tusked elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus)
A1 Neto de Carvalho, Carlos
A1 Toscano Grande, Antonio
A1 Gómez Gutiérrez, Paula
A1 Cáceres Puro, Luis Miguel
A1 Rodríguez Vidal, Joaquín
A1 Ruiz Muñoz, Francisco
A1 Ramírez Cruzado, Samuel
A1 Finlayson, Clive
AB Tracks and trackways of newborns, calves and juveniles attributed to straight-tusked elephants were found in the MIS 5 site (Upper Pleistocene) known as the Matalascañas Trampled Surface (MTS) at Huelva, SW Spain. Evidence of a snapshot of social behaviour, especially parental care, can be determined from the concentration of elephant tracks and trackways, and especially from apparently contemporaneous converging trackways, of small juvenile and larger, presumably young adult female tracks. The size frequency of the tracks enabled us to infer body mass and age distribution of the animals that crossed the MTS. Comparisons of the MTS demographic frequency with the morphology of the fore- and hind limbs of extant and fossil proboscideans shed light into the reproductive ecology of the straight-tusked elephant, Palaeloxodon antiquus. The interdune pond habitat appeared to have been an important water and food resource for matriarchal herds of straight-tusked elephants and likely functioned as a reproductive habitat, with only the rare presence of adult and older males in the MTS. The preservation of this track record in across a paleosol surface, although heavily trampled by different animals, including Neanderthals, over a short time frame, permitted an exceptional view into short-term intraspecific trophic interactions occurring in the Last Interglacial coastal habitat. Therefore, it is hypothesized that Neanderthals visited MTS for hunting or scavenging on weakened or dead elephants, and more likely calves.
PB Nature Research
SN 2045-2322 (electrónico)
YR 2021
FD 2021
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10272/20475
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10272/20475
LA eng
NO Neto de Carvalho, C., Belaústegui, Z., Toscano, A. et al. First tracks of newborn straight-tusked elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus). Scientific Reports 11, 17311 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-96754-1
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 1 jun 2026