Overlapping paleoichnology, paleoecology and taphonomy: Analysis of tooth traces in a Late Pleistocene-early Holocene megafaunal assemblage of Brazil and description of a new ichnotaxon in hard substrate

Tooth traces are key evidence in vertebrate taphonomy, paleoecology and paleoichnology. They are product of feeding behavior of vertebrates and can also be evaluated in biostratinomic perspective. Regarding the Quaternary fossil record of vertebrates in Brazil, the taphonomic-paleoecological information of tooth traces has been underexplored. Recently, features of this sort were identified in Quaternary mammals fossils recovered from Lajedo da Escada caves, state of Rio Grande do Norte, northeastern Brazil, consisting in an opportunity to unveil taphonomic, paleoichnological and paleoecological aspects of the Quaternary megafauna. The ichnospecies Machichnus bohemicus and M. fatimae are recorded in the Late Pleistocene-early Holocene age. The latter is a new ichnospecies of Machichnus described herein. The traces M. fatimae and M. bohemicus observed in Glyptotherium sp. were generated outside the cave by an adult individual of the large-sized canid Protocyon troglodytes during event of predation. Nonetheless, M. bohemicus recognized in Eremotherium laurillardi and Smilodon populator was generated by either a juvenile individual of P. troglodytes or an adult of the small-sized canid Cerdocyon thous, in a scavenging context, outside the cave. Probably, other tooth traces previously reported to the Quaternary of Brazil (in the states of Ceará and Minas Gerais) can be assigned to Machichnus.