Carcass damage and digested bone from mountain lions (Felis concolor): Implications for carcass persistence on landscapes as a function of prey age

Journal of Archaeological Science

Volumn 39, Issue 4, 2012, Pages 896-907

  Stiner, Mary C ^a   Munro, Natalie D ^b   Sanz, Montserrat ^c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF BARCELONA   (Spain)

Author keywords

Actualistic research; Prey mortality patterns; Puma; Scatological bone; Taphonomy; Zooarchaeology

Indexed keywords

AGE DETERMINATION; ARCHAEOLOGY; BODY SIZE; BONE; FELID; LANDSCAPE; MORTALITY; PREDATOR-PREY INTERACTION; PREY PREFERENCE; PREY SIZE; RESEARCH WORK; SCAVENGING (FEEDING); SKELETAL REMAINS; TAPHONOMY; TOOTH;

NEW MEXICO; TEXAS; UNITED STATES;

CERVIDAE; PUMA CONCOLOR;

EID: 84856384706     PISSN: 03054403     EISSN: 10959238     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2011.10.020     Document Type: Article

References (77)

1. Andrews P. Owls, Caves and Fossils 1990, Natural History Museum and University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.
2. Andrews P., Nesbit E.M. Small mammal bone accumulations produced by mammalian carnivores. Paleobiology 1983, 9(3):289-307.
3. Behrensmeyer A.K. Taphonomic and ecologic information from bone weathering. Paleobiology 1978, 4:150-162.
4. Binford L.R. Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology 1978, Academic Press, New York.
5. Binford L.R. Bones: Ancient Men and Modern Myths 1981, Academic Press, Orlando, FL.
6. Binford L.R., Bertram J.B. Bone frequencies and attritional processes. For Theory Building in Archaeology 1977, 77-153. Academic Press, New York. L.R. Binford (Ed.).
7. Blasco R., Rosell J. Who was the first? An experimental application of carnivore and hominid overlapping marks at the Pleistocene archaeological sites. C.R. Palevol. 2009, 8:579-592.
8. Blumenschine R.J. Early Hominid Scavenging Opportunities; Implications of Carcass Availabilty in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Ecosystems 1986, BAR International Series 283, Oxford.
9. Blumenschine R.J. Characteristics of an early hominid scavenging niche. Curr. Anthropol. 1987, 28(4):383-407.
10. Blumenschine R.J. An experimental model of timing of hominid and carnivore influence on archaeological bone assemblages. J. Archaeol. Sci. 1988, 15:483-502.
11. Blumenschine R.J. Prey size and age models of prehistoric hominid scavenging: test cases from the Serengeti. Human Predators and Prey Mortality 1991, 121-147. Westview Press, Boulder, CO. M.C. Stiner (Ed.).
12. Borrero L.A., Martin F.M., Vargas J. Tafonomia de la interaccion entre pumas y guanacos en el Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, Chile. Magallania 2005, 33(1):95-114.
13. Brain C.K. The contribution of Namib Desert Hottentots to an understanding of Australopithecine bone accumulations. Scientific Papers Namib Desert Res. Station 1969, 39:13-22.
14. Brain C.K. The Hunters or the Hunted? An Introduction to African Cave Taphonomy 1981, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
15. Brugal J.-P., Jaubert J. Les gisements paleontologiques pleistocenes a indices de frequentation humaine: un nouveau type de comportement de predation?. Paléo 1991, 3:15-41.
16. Bunn H.T. Comparative analysis of modern bone assemblages from a San Hunter-gatherer camp in the Kalahari Desert, Botswana, and from a spotted Hyaena Den near Nairobi, Kenya. Animals and Archaeology: 1. Hunters and Their Prey 1983, 143-148. BAR International Series, Oxford. J. Clutton-Brock, C. Grigson (Eds.).
17. Cashman J.L., Peirce M., Krausman P.R. Diets of mountain lions in southwestern Arizona. Southwest. Nat. 1992, 37(3):324-326.
18. Cavallo J., Blumenschine R.J. Tree-stored leopard kills: expanding the hominid scavenging niche. J. Hum. Evol. 1989, 18(4):393-399.
19. Cruz-Uribe K. Distinguishing hyena from hominid bone accumulations. J. Field Archaeol. 1991, 18(4):467-486.
20. Currey J. The Mechanical Adaptations of Bones 1984, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
21. Domínguez-Rodrigo M. Flesh availability and bone modifications in carcasses consumed by lions: palaeoecological relevance in hominid foraging patterns. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 1999, 149:373-388.
22. Egeland C.P., Domínguez-Rodrigo M. Taphonomic perspectives on hominid site use and foraging strategies during Bed II times at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. J. Hum. Evol. 2008, 55:1031-1052.
23. Esteban-Nadal M., Cáceres I., Fosse P. Characterization of a current coprogenic sample originated by Canis lupus as a tool for identifying a taphonomic agent. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2010, 37:2959-2970.
24. Fisher J.W. Bone surface modifications in zooarchaeology. J. Archaeol. Meth. Theor. 1995, 2:7-68.
25. Fosse P. La grotte n° 1 de Lunel-Viel (Hérault, France): repaire d'hyènes du Pléistocène moyen. Etude taphonomique du matériel osseux. Paléo 1996, 8:47-74.
26. Gamble C. Caves and Faunas from Last Glacial Europe. Animals and Archaeology: 1. Hunters and Their Prey 1983, 163-172. BAR International Series 163, Oxford. J. Clutton-Brock, C. Grigson (Eds.).
27. Genoways H.H., Baker R.J., Cornely J.E. Mammals of the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas 1975, Mammalogy Papers: University of Nebraska State Museum, pp. 271-332.
28. Haynes G. Prey bones and predators: potential ecologic information from analysis of bone sites. Ossa 1980, 7:75-97.
29. Haynes G. Utilization and skeletal disturbances of North American prey carcasses. Arctic 1982, 35:266-281.
30. Haynes G. Aguide for differentiating mammalian carnivore taxa responsible for gnaw damage in herbivore limb bones. Paleobiology 1983, 9:164-172.
31. Haynes G. On watering holes, mineral licks, death, and predation. Environments and Extinction: Man in Late Glacial North America 1985, 53-71. Center for the Study of Early Man, Orono, ME. J. Mead, D. Meltzer (Eds.).
32. Heinen, R.A., Canon, S.K., 1997. Food Habits of Mountain Lions in the Trans-pecos Region of Texas. Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center for Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Proceedings, University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
33. Hill, A.P., 1980. A Modern Hyaena Den in Ambroseli National Park, Kenya. Proceedings of the 8th Panafrican Congress of Prehistory and Quaternary Studies, Nairobi, Kenya, pp. 137-138.
34. Hornocker M.G. An analysis of mountain lion predation upon mule deer and elk in the Idaho Primitive area. Wildlife Monogr. 1970, no. 21.
35. Horwitz L.K., Smith P. The effects of striped hyaena activity on human remains. J. Archaeol. Sci. 1988, 15:471-481.
36. Huguet R., Díez C., Rosell J., Cáceres I., Moreno V., Ibáñez N., Saladié P. Le gisement de Galería (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Espagne): un modèle archéozoologique de gestion du territoire au Pléistocène. L'Anthropologie 2001, 105:237-257.
37. Iriarte J.A., Franklin W.L., Johnson W.E., Redford K.H. Biogeographic variation of food habits and body size of the America puma. Oecologia 1990, 85:185-190.
38. Koehler G.M., Hornocker M.G. Seasonal resource use among mountain lions, bobcats and coyotes. J. Mammal. 1991, 72(2):391-396.
39. Kreutzer L.A. Bison and deer bone mineral densities: comparisons and implications for the interpretation of archaeological faunas. J. Archaeol. Sci. 1992, 19:271-294.
40. Kruuk H. The Spotted Hyaena 1972, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
41. Lam Y.M., Chen X., Pearson O.M. Intertaxonomic variability in patterns of bone density and the differential representation of bovid, cervid, and equid elements in the archaeological record. Am. Antiq. 1999, 64:343-362.
42. Leopold B.D., Krausman P.R. Diets of 3 predators in Big Bend National Park, Texas. J. Wildlife Manage 1986, 50(2):290-295.
43. Leyhausen P. Cat Behavior, The Predatory and Social Behavior of Domestic and Wild Cats 1979, (translated by B.A. Tonkin), Garland STPM Press, New York.
44. Lloveras L., Morena-García M., Nadal J. Taphonomic analysis of leporid remains obtained from modern Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) scats. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2008, 35(1):1-13.
45. Lyman R.L. Bone density and differential survivorship for fossil classes. J. Anthropol. Arch. 1984, 3:259-299.
46. Marean C.W., Spencer L.M. Impact of carnivore ravaging on zooarchaeological measures of element abundance. Am. Antiq. 1991, 56(4):645-658.
47. Martin F.M., Borrero L.A. Apuma lair in southern Patagonia: implications for the archaeological record. Curr. Anthropol. 1997, 38(3):453-461.
48. Mills M.G.L. The comparative behavioral ecology of hyenas: the important of diet and food dispersion. Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution 1989, 125-142. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY. J.L. Gittleman (Ed.).
49. Mills M.G.L., Mills M.E.J. An analysis of bones collected at hyaena breeding dens in the Gemsbok National Parks. Ann. Transvaal Mus. 1977, 30:145-156.
50. Mondini M. Tafonomía de abrigos rocosos de la Puna. Formación de conjuntos escatológicos por zorros y sus implicaciones arqueológicas. Archeofauna 2000, 9:151-164.
51. Mondini M. Accumulation of small and large vertebrates by carnivores in Andean South America. Petits Animaux et Sociétés Humaines. Du Complément Alimentaire aux Ressources Utilitaires. Actes des XXIVèmes Rencontres Internationales d'Archéologie et d'Histoire d'Antibes 2004, 513-517. éditions APDCA, Antibes. J.-P. Brugal, J. Desse (Eds.).
52. Mondini M., Sebastián Muñoz A. Pumas as taphonomic agents: a comparative analysis of actualistic studies in the Neotropics. Quatern. Int. 2007, 180:52-62.
53. Montalvo C.I., Tallade P.O. Taphonomy of the accumulations produced by Caracara plancus (Falconidae); analysis of prey remains and pellets. J. Taphon. 2009, 7(2-3):235-248.
54. Montalvo C.I., Pessino M.E.M., González V.H. Taphonomic analysis of remains of mammals eaten by pumas (Puma concolor, Carnivora, Felidae) in central Argentina. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2007, 34:2151-2160.
55. Munson P.J. Age-correlated differential destruction of bones and its effect on archaeological mortality profiles of domestic sheep and goats. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2000, 27:391-407.
56. Munson P.J., Garniewicz R.C. Age-mediated survivorship of ungulate mandibles and teeth in canid-ravaged faunal assemblages. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2003, 30:405-416.
57. Pacheco L.F., Lucero A., Villca M. Dieta del puma (Puma concolor) en el Parque Nacional Sajama, Bolivia y su conflicto con la ganadería. Ecología en Bolivia 2004, 39(1):75-83.
58. Payne S., Munson P.J. Ruby and how many squirrels? The destruction of bones by dogs. Paleaeobiological Investigations 1985, 31-48. BAR International Series, 266, Oxford. N.R. Fieller, D.D. Gilbertson, N.G. Ralph (Eds.).
59. Pickering T.R., Domínguez-Rodrigo M., Egeland C.P., Brain C.K. Beyond leopards: tooth marks and the contribution of multiple carnivore taxa to the accumulation of the Swartkrans Member 3 fossil assemblage. J. Hum. Evol. 2004, 46:595-604.
60. San Roman M., Morello F., Prieto A. Cueva de los Chingues (parque nacional Pali Aike), Magallanes, Chile. Historia natural y cultural I. Anales Instituto Patagonia. Ser. Cienc. Hum. (Chile) 2000, 28:125-146.
61. Schaller G.B. The Serengeti Lion: a Study of Predator-Prey Relations 1972, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
62. Schmitt D.N., Juell K.E. Toward the identification of coyote scatological faunal accumulations in archaeological contexts. J. Archaeol. Sci. 1994, 21:249-262.
63. Sebastian Muñoz A., Mondini M., Durán V., Gasco A. Pumas (Puma concolor) as taphonomic agents. Actualistic analysis of a kill site in the Andes of Mendoza, Argentina. Geobios 2008, 41:123-131.
64. Selvaggio M.M. Carnivore tooth marks and stone tool butchery marks on scavenged bones: archaeological implications. J. Hum. Evol. 1994, 27:215-228.
65. Silva M., Downing J.A. CRC Handbook of Mammalian Body Masses 1995, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.
66. Skinner J.D., van Aarde R.J. Bone collecting by brown hyaenas Hyaena brunnea in the central Namib Desert, Namibia. J. Archaeol. Sci. 1991, 18:513-523.
67. Skinner J.D., Davis S., Llani G. Bone collecting by striped hyaenas, Hyaena hyaena, in Israel. Paleontology in Africa 1980, 23:99-104.
68. Skinner J.D., Henschel J.R., van Jaarsveld A.S. Bone-collecting habits of spotted hyaenas Crocuta crocuta in the Kruger National Park. S. Afr. J. Zool. 1986, 21:303-308.
69. Smith T.E., Duke R.R., Kutilek M.J. The ecology of the mountain lion in the Guadalupe mountains of Texas and New Mexico. Proceedings of the Second Mountain Lion Workshop 1984, 174-175. Utah Division of Wildlife Research and Utah Coop, Wildlife Research Unit, Zion National Park. J. Roberson, F. Lindzey (Eds.).
70. Smith, T.E., Duke, R.R., Kutilek, M.J., Harvey, H.T. 1986. Mountain Lions (Felis concolor) in the vicinity of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico, and Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas. Final Report, Prepared by Harvey and Stanley Associates, Inc. for USDI, National Park Service, Alviso, CA, 137 pp.
71. Stallibrass S. The distinction between the effects of small carnivores and humans on post-glacial faunal assemblages. Animals and Archaeology, Vol. IV: Husbandry in Europe 1984, 259-269. BAR International Series 227, Oxford. C. Grigson, J. Clutton-Brock (Eds.).
72. Stiner M.C. Ataphonomic perspective on the origins of the faunal remains of Grotta Guattari (Latium, Italy). Curr. Anthropol. 1991, 32:103-117.
73. Stiner M.C. Honor among Thieves: a Zooarchaeological Study of Neandertal Ecology 1994, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
74. Stiner M.C. The Faunas of Hayonim Cave (Israel): a 200.000-year Record of Paleolithic Diet, Demography and Society 2005, American School of Prehistoric Research, Bulletin 48, Peabody Museum Press, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
75. Straus L.G. Carnivores and cave sites in Cantabrian Spain. J. Anthropol. Res. 1982, 38:75-96.
76. Sutcliffe A. Spotted hyaena: crusher, gnawer, digestor, and collector of bones. Nature (London) 1970, 227:1110-1113.
77. Wainwright S.A., Briggs W.D., Currey J.D., Gosline J.M. Mechanical Design in Organisms 1976, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.