Dietary Niche Overlap: Tetonius (Primates), Xestops and Suzanniwana (Squamata) During the Early Eocene (~56-52 Ma)
Category: Research Poster
Author(s): Sami Conca
Presenter(s): Sami Conca
Mentors(s): Kimberly Nichols
Analysis of early Eocene (56-52 Ma) fossils from the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming demonstrates the presence of a rich, tropical environment inhabited by a variety of small, faunivorous vertebrates comparable to modern taxa. This ancient environment included two species of the primate genus Tetonius, analogous to modern tarsiers (Carlito, Cephalopachus, Tarsius). In addition, this environment supported the extinct lizards Xestops and Suzanniwana, which have adaptations similar to extant small terrestrial squamates with crushing dentition and arboreal iguanians, respectively, and inhabit environments alongside each other today. Specimens of Tetonius, Xestops, and Suzanniwana were identified in the CSU Primate Origins Lab Paleontology Field School fossil collection and form the basis for: (1) the examination of dietary niche overlap; and (2) possible predation between the three genera. Evidence of the relationship, and potential overlap, in dietary and feeding environments of Tetonius, Xestops, and Suzanniwana, including the possibility that Tetonius preyed upon the lizards, is supported by topological dentition analysis, paleoenvironmental modelling, and review of modern tarsier-squamate interactions. Examination of overlapping dietary niches and similar, but morphologically distinct, adaptations provides insight into prehistoric analogs for extant primate and squamate interactions and how that relationship has been maintained. This research has applications to primatology, as well as conservation efforts involving reintroduction of different, but adaptively similar, species.