Tooth microwear analysis of Mammuthus (Archidiskodon) meridionalis gromovi (Alexeeva and Garutt, 1965) from Montopoli (Lower Valdarno, Tuscany, Italy): A methodological approach

The alimentary habits of large mammals can be deduced from the microwear tracks on tooth enamel examined under the Scanning Electronic Microscope. The data obtained from a preliminary analysis of the last upper molars of a Mammuthus meridionalis gromovi (Alexeeva & Garutt, 1965) specimen from Montopoli (Lower Valdarno, Tuscany; Montopoli faunal unit, Middle Villafranchion Mammal Age) are consistent with the hypothesis of a predominantly browser type of diet. During the deposition of the fossiliferous level, the paleoenvironment at Montopoli was likely to have been quite open, as shown by paleovegetation data; browsing in elephants may be explained by the increase in browse eaten during the dry period, when grass tended to wither, as reported for most extant savanna elephants.