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Taxonomic, biogeographic, and biological implications of mammoth teeth from a dynamic Pleistocene landscape in Alberta, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 January 2025

Christina I. Barrón-Ortiz Open the ORCID record for Christina I. Barrón-Ortiz [Opens in a new window] ,
Christopher N. Jass  and
Tasha S. Cammidge
Christina I. Barrón-Ortiz*
Affiliation:
Royal Alberta Museum, 9810 103a Avenue NW, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 0G2, Canada
Christopher N. Jass
Affiliation:
Royal Alberta Museum, 9810 103a Avenue NW, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 0G2, Canada Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, SD, PO Box 692, Hot Springs, South Dakota, 57747, USA
Tasha S. Cammidge
Affiliation:
University of Calgary, Department of Biological Sciences, 2500 University Drive, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, California, 91125, USA
*
Corresponding author: Christina I. Barrón-Ortiz; Email: Christina.Barron-Ortiz@gov.ab.ca
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Abstract

Continental-scale patterns of morphological and biological change represent broad time- and spatially averaged interpretations. Conversely, regionally focused studies of morphological variability offer an opportunity to consider patterns of biological change at more refined spatial scales, where nuanced histories may be identified. That approach is particularly applicable for areas known to have dynamic biogeographic and glacial landscapes (e.g., western Canada). We studied proboscideans from Alberta, Canada, an area thought to represent a zone of sympatry between extinct forms of mammoth (i.e., Mammuthus columbi, Mammuthus primigenius) in order to test existing taxonomic hypotheses and chronologically contextualize the regional record of mammoths through the Late Pleistocene. Morphometric analysis of sixth molars of mammoths from Alberta (n = 17) support identification of three distinct morphologies that we assign to M. columbi, M. primigenius, and intermediates of those taxa. The presence of intermediate forms is perhaps unsurprising, given both the recognition of hybridization in M. columbi and M. primigenius and the previously documented occurrence of both taxa in Alberta. Some records of M. columbi may document a broader northern geographic incursion for that taxon than previously recognized, but could also represent a much deeper time component to the history of Mammuthus in Alberta (i.e., Mammuthus trogontherii).

Keywords

ProboscideanElephantidaeMammuthusbiological turnoverteethbiogeographymorphometricsmegafauna
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , First View , pp. 1 - 18
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Quaternary Research Center

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