The diet of Leptomeryx sp. from the Late Eocene Yolomécatl Formation, NW Oaxaca, Sierra Madre del Sur Morphotectonic Province, SE México and its palaeoecological significance

The diet and habitat of Leptomeryx sp. from the Late Uintan Yolomecatl Formation of NW Oaxaca, SE Mexico were inferred using dental enamel carbon and oxygen isotopic relationships, and compared with those of congeneric species from temperate North America. Results show that Leptomeryx sp. fed on C3 plants and lived in open forest or forest/savanna ecotone. The palynoflora and co-occurrence of perissodactyls and artiodactyls that live in an environment like that of Leptomeryx support this interpretation. Further, both records disclose that in NW Oaxaca (southern North America) tropical conditions prevailed at that time, unlike that of temperate North America.