Proboscidea as palaeoenvironmental indicators in Southeast Asia

The carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotope compositions of living and fossilized animal skeletal tissues have been widely used as a proxy of faunal palaeodiet and terrestrial palaeoenvironment. Despite having a remarkable record of the Late Neogene to Quaternary and as evolutionary hotspot of fossil fauna diversity, stable isotope approach has rarely been applied to the fossil assemblages in Southeast Asia. This area is important for a comprehensive biogeographic setting, due to the availability of mainland, continental islands and oceanic islands in one region. In this study, stable carbon and oxygen isotope composition analysis was applied on proboscidean tooth enamel samples from various fossil-bearing sites in the mainland and islands in Southeast Asia, also Siwalik and Linxia Basin, ranging in age from the Middle Miocene to present. The aim of this research was to reconstruct the interactions between past environmental changes and the evolution of the fossilized and living proboscidean taxa in mainland and island Southeast Asia. ..