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摘要
A new assemblage of fossil beetles of Upper Pleistocene age, dated between 15,754 and 14,697 cal yr BP, is described and interpreted based on cluster analysis. In this study, we present an analysis on the taxonomic composition, and the paleoenvironmental implication of the fossil beetle assemblage in the archaeo- paleontological site of Pilauco in Osorno, south-central Chile (40 degrees 34'S-73 degrees 07' W). Around 17,370 cal yr BP at the onset of deglaciation the old Damas River abandoned its alluvial plain; afterwards wetlands grew up by deposition of peat and colluvial sediments. The fossil beetles were deposited in the PB-7 layer where human artefacts and vertebrate remains have been found in the same spatial and temporal context. The assemblage includes 13 families, documented by 285 skeletal remains of fossil beetles. Ten ecological groups were identified and related to riparian, epigean, Nothofagus sp. forests, and lotic environments such as streams and ponds. Dung and fungi beetles were also part of the fossil assemblage. Pollen and carpological investigations in the same strata point towards the presence of wetlands and evergreen North Patagonian rainforest communities in the Pilauco site during the Upper Pleistocene. However, this study reveals that the Pilauco fossil beetles do not completely conform to any of the known modern assemblages. Therefore, we interpret that the fossil beetle assemblage from Pilauco is the result of the coexistence of different small pockets of habitats in a reduced spatial setting during a period of deep environmental/anthropic changes at the end of the last glaciation. The carabids and dung beetles from these beds indicate that the wetlands may have undergone dry conditions for undetermined periods of time. Finally, we compare nearly contemporaneous beetle assemblages of the sites Pilauco and Monte Verde II to discuss differences and similarities between the sites.
- 出版日期2017-8-20
