Cervidae and Tayassuidae from the Holocene deposits of the Cuvieri Cave, State of Minas Gerais, eastern Brazil; taxonomic and paleoenvironmental considerations

ABSTRACT

Caves have been acting as natural traps for numerous groups of animals and, due to their relatively stable environmental conditions, preservation of faunal remains is usually good. In the Holocene, the nature of the depositional system of the Cuvieri Cave allowed the preservation of osteological material that was seldom altered or remobilised, resulting in an important record of environmental events and changes in faunal composition. Deer represents the most abundant family of macrovertebrates that have been found at the Cuvieri Cave, including two species: Mazama americana and Mazama cf. gouazoubira. The Tayassuidae are represented by two species Tayassu pecari and Pecari tajacu, the first occurring only in deposits attributed to the beginning of the Holocene, while P. tajacu also occurs in the Middle and Late Holocene. The presence of human groups in the region occurred in two periods, and while it was present there was the presence of Mazama americana, typical of forest environments. However, the species Pecari tajacu was recorded during the period that the region was not inhabited.

KEYWORDS:

• Quaternary
• caves
• Lagoa Santa
• Ungulates
• paleoenvironment

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the biologist G. Ferreira-Figueiredo for support. AC holds a CNPq Senior Post-doctoral scholarship (103934/2020-0) and MO holds a CNPq Productivity Scholarship (302163/2017-4) and a Fapesp Young Investigator Grant (2018/23282-5).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).