Huemul heresies: Beliefs in search of supporting data. 1. Historical and zooarcheological considerations

Autores
Fluck, Werner Thomas; Smith Flueck, Jo Anne M.
Año de publicación
2012
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Patagonian huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) was eliminated from many former ranges before arrival of early explorers who already acknowledged its rareness. Considering huemul analogous to ungulates in mountains back home, huemul was called mountain deer, which is repeatedly cited without validation and remains the orthodox interpretation. Yet other species considered analogous also use lowlands, flatlands, deserts and grasslands, and the only congeneric, H. antisensis, uses habitat with high affinity to Patagonian grasslands. Recent comparative analyses of the post-cranial morphology show that huemul cannot be associated with rock-climbing species, but falls within ranges of other cervids. Interpretations of past human utilisation rely on one study of economic anatomy and bone remains, frequently concluding that huemul was unimportant to hunter-gatherers. However, considering only bone fat and omitting easily removable fat is erroneous. Total energy of deer in autumnwinter partitions into 53% as fat and hunter-gatherers elsewhere focussed on deer during the peak fat cycle, using all easily removable fat (1200% more energy than in bones) and consuming fat and marrow while butchering. Natives are likely to have influenced huemul distribution and density in winter ranges due to high incentives (fat) and easiness to kill. Sparse evidence is likely the result of surveys in Patagonia having been biased towards caves, leaving out transient movements and camps. Generalist cervids passed the Panama land-bridge filter to reach South America. Considering paleoclimate, Hippocamelus dispersed east of the Andes, pushed by glaciations even to north-eastern Brazil. Hippocamelus would reach and cross Andes only after deglaciations. As a mixed feeder, huemul utilised Patagonian steppe. Hunter-gatherers arrived after the last glaciation and influenced the local distribution of Hippocamelus, especially in northern and central Chile, after early adoption of an agricultural lifestyle. Introduction of horses converted native economies through adoption of an equestrian lifestyle and arrival of millions of introduced livestock, which thus affected early writings. Only few records indicate the presence of large groups of huemul far from forests, and substantial killings. Human-caused range contractions of northern ungulates affected mainly losses at low elevations and most species persisted in the marginal periphery, including high-elevation refuges. Paleoecology, zoogeography and land-use history in southern South America indicate that mountain huemul is a secondary relict created by impacts of post-Columbian colonisation. We caution against the rigid application of modern huemul habitats in interpreting past habitat use and huemul ecology, and simply considering the few extra-Andean accounts as abnormal outliers.
Fil: Fluck, Werner Thomas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; Argentina. Universidad de Basilea; Suiza. Universidad Atlantida Argentina; Argentina. Fundación Bariloche; Argentina
Fil: Smith Flueck, Jo Anne M.. Universidad Atlantida Argentina; Argentina
Materia
BIOGEOGRAPHY
H. ANTISENSIS
HIPPOCAMELUS BISULCUS
HISTORICAL CONDITION
HUMAN INFLUENCE
MORPHOLOGY
RANGE CONTRACTIONS.
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/198357

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network_name_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
spelling Huemul heresies: Beliefs in search of supporting data. 1. Historical and zooarcheological considerationsFluck, Werner ThomasSmith Flueck, Jo Anne M.BIOGEOGRAPHYH. ANTISENSISHIPPOCAMELUS BISULCUSHISTORICAL CONDITIONHUMAN INFLUENCEMORPHOLOGYRANGE CONTRACTIONS.https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1Patagonian huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) was eliminated from many former ranges before arrival of early explorers who already acknowledged its rareness. Considering huemul analogous to ungulates in mountains back home, huemul was called mountain deer, which is repeatedly cited without validation and remains the orthodox interpretation. Yet other species considered analogous also use lowlands, flatlands, deserts and grasslands, and the only congeneric, H. antisensis, uses habitat with high affinity to Patagonian grasslands. Recent comparative analyses of the post-cranial morphology show that huemul cannot be associated with rock-climbing species, but falls within ranges of other cervids. Interpretations of past human utilisation rely on one study of economic anatomy and bone remains, frequently concluding that huemul was unimportant to hunter-gatherers. However, considering only bone fat and omitting easily removable fat is erroneous. Total energy of deer in autumnwinter partitions into 53% as fat and hunter-gatherers elsewhere focussed on deer during the peak fat cycle, using all easily removable fat (1200% more energy than in bones) and consuming fat and marrow while butchering. Natives are likely to have influenced huemul distribution and density in winter ranges due to high incentives (fat) and easiness to kill. Sparse evidence is likely the result of surveys in Patagonia having been biased towards caves, leaving out transient movements and camps. Generalist cervids passed the Panama land-bridge filter to reach South America. Considering paleoclimate, Hippocamelus dispersed east of the Andes, pushed by glaciations even to north-eastern Brazil. Hippocamelus would reach and cross Andes only after deglaciations. As a mixed feeder, huemul utilised Patagonian steppe. Hunter-gatherers arrived after the last glaciation and influenced the local distribution of Hippocamelus, especially in northern and central Chile, after early adoption of an agricultural lifestyle. Introduction of horses converted native economies through adoption of an equestrian lifestyle and arrival of millions of introduced livestock, which thus affected early writings. Only few records indicate the presence of large groups of huemul far from forests, and substantial killings. Human-caused range contractions of northern ungulates affected mainly losses at low elevations and most species persisted in the marginal periphery, including high-elevation refuges. Paleoecology, zoogeography and land-use history in southern South America indicate that mountain huemul is a secondary relict created by impacts of post-Columbian colonisation. We caution against the rigid application of modern huemul habitats in interpreting past habitat use and huemul ecology, and simply considering the few extra-Andean accounts as abnormal outliers.Fil: Fluck, Werner Thomas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; Argentina. Universidad de Basilea; Suiza. Universidad Atlantida Argentina; Argentina. Fundación Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: Smith Flueck, Jo Anne M.. Universidad Atlantida Argentina; ArgentinaCsiro Publishing2012-07info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/198357Fluck, Werner Thomas; Smith Flueck, Jo Anne M.; Huemul heresies: Beliefs in search of supporting data. 1. Historical and zooarcheological considerations; Csiro Publishing; Animal Production Science; 52; 8; 7-2012; 685-6931836-5787CONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=AN11344info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1071/AN11344info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2026-08-25T14:33:42Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/198357instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982026-08-25 14:33:42.884CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Huemul heresies: Beliefs in search of supporting data. 1. Historical and zooarcheological considerations
title Huemul heresies: Beliefs in search of supporting data. 1. Historical and zooarcheological considerations
spellingShingle Huemul heresies: Beliefs in search of supporting data. 1. Historical and zooarcheological considerations
Fluck, Werner Thomas
BIOGEOGRAPHY
H. ANTISENSIS
HIPPOCAMELUS BISULCUS
HISTORICAL CONDITION
HUMAN INFLUENCE
MORPHOLOGY
RANGE CONTRACTIONS.
title_short Huemul heresies: Beliefs in search of supporting data. 1. Historical and zooarcheological considerations
title_full Huemul heresies: Beliefs in search of supporting data. 1. Historical and zooarcheological considerations
title_fullStr Huemul heresies: Beliefs in search of supporting data. 1. Historical and zooarcheological considerations
title_full_unstemmed Huemul heresies: Beliefs in search of supporting data. 1. Historical and zooarcheological considerations
title_sort Huemul heresies: Beliefs in search of supporting data. 1. Historical and zooarcheological considerations
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Fluck, Werner Thomas
Smith Flueck, Jo Anne M.
author Fluck, Werner Thomas
author_facet Fluck, Werner Thomas
Smith Flueck, Jo Anne M.
author_role author
author2 Smith Flueck, Jo Anne M.
author2_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv BIOGEOGRAPHY
H. ANTISENSIS
HIPPOCAMELUS BISULCUS
HISTORICAL CONDITION
HUMAN INFLUENCE
MORPHOLOGY
RANGE CONTRACTIONS.
topic BIOGEOGRAPHY
H. ANTISENSIS
HIPPOCAMELUS BISULCUS
HISTORICAL CONDITION
HUMAN INFLUENCE
MORPHOLOGY
RANGE CONTRACTIONS.
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Patagonian huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) was eliminated from many former ranges before arrival of early explorers who already acknowledged its rareness. Considering huemul analogous to ungulates in mountains back home, huemul was called mountain deer, which is repeatedly cited without validation and remains the orthodox interpretation. Yet other species considered analogous also use lowlands, flatlands, deserts and grasslands, and the only congeneric, H. antisensis, uses habitat with high affinity to Patagonian grasslands. Recent comparative analyses of the post-cranial morphology show that huemul cannot be associated with rock-climbing species, but falls within ranges of other cervids. Interpretations of past human utilisation rely on one study of economic anatomy and bone remains, frequently concluding that huemul was unimportant to hunter-gatherers. However, considering only bone fat and omitting easily removable fat is erroneous. Total energy of deer in autumnwinter partitions into 53% as fat and hunter-gatherers elsewhere focussed on deer during the peak fat cycle, using all easily removable fat (1200% more energy than in bones) and consuming fat and marrow while butchering. Natives are likely to have influenced huemul distribution and density in winter ranges due to high incentives (fat) and easiness to kill. Sparse evidence is likely the result of surveys in Patagonia having been biased towards caves, leaving out transient movements and camps. Generalist cervids passed the Panama land-bridge filter to reach South America. Considering paleoclimate, Hippocamelus dispersed east of the Andes, pushed by glaciations even to north-eastern Brazil. Hippocamelus would reach and cross Andes only after deglaciations. As a mixed feeder, huemul utilised Patagonian steppe. Hunter-gatherers arrived after the last glaciation and influenced the local distribution of Hippocamelus, especially in northern and central Chile, after early adoption of an agricultural lifestyle. Introduction of horses converted native economies through adoption of an equestrian lifestyle and arrival of millions of introduced livestock, which thus affected early writings. Only few records indicate the presence of large groups of huemul far from forests, and substantial killings. Human-caused range contractions of northern ungulates affected mainly losses at low elevations and most species persisted in the marginal periphery, including high-elevation refuges. Paleoecology, zoogeography and land-use history in southern South America indicate that mountain huemul is a secondary relict created by impacts of post-Columbian colonisation. We caution against the rigid application of modern huemul habitats in interpreting past habitat use and huemul ecology, and simply considering the few extra-Andean accounts as abnormal outliers.
Fil: Fluck, Werner Thomas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; Argentina. Universidad de Basilea; Suiza. Universidad Atlantida Argentina; Argentina. Fundación Bariloche; Argentina
Fil: Smith Flueck, Jo Anne M.. Universidad Atlantida Argentina; Argentina
description Patagonian huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) was eliminated from many former ranges before arrival of early explorers who already acknowledged its rareness. Considering huemul analogous to ungulates in mountains back home, huemul was called mountain deer, which is repeatedly cited without validation and remains the orthodox interpretation. Yet other species considered analogous also use lowlands, flatlands, deserts and grasslands, and the only congeneric, H. antisensis, uses habitat with high affinity to Patagonian grasslands. Recent comparative analyses of the post-cranial morphology show that huemul cannot be associated with rock-climbing species, but falls within ranges of other cervids. Interpretations of past human utilisation rely on one study of economic anatomy and bone remains, frequently concluding that huemul was unimportant to hunter-gatherers. However, considering only bone fat and omitting easily removable fat is erroneous. Total energy of deer in autumnwinter partitions into 53% as fat and hunter-gatherers elsewhere focussed on deer during the peak fat cycle, using all easily removable fat (1200% more energy than in bones) and consuming fat and marrow while butchering. Natives are likely to have influenced huemul distribution and density in winter ranges due to high incentives (fat) and easiness to kill. Sparse evidence is likely the result of surveys in Patagonia having been biased towards caves, leaving out transient movements and camps. Generalist cervids passed the Panama land-bridge filter to reach South America. Considering paleoclimate, Hippocamelus dispersed east of the Andes, pushed by glaciations even to north-eastern Brazil. Hippocamelus would reach and cross Andes only after deglaciations. As a mixed feeder, huemul utilised Patagonian steppe. Hunter-gatherers arrived after the last glaciation and influenced the local distribution of Hippocamelus, especially in northern and central Chile, after early adoption of an agricultural lifestyle. Introduction of horses converted native economies through adoption of an equestrian lifestyle and arrival of millions of introduced livestock, which thus affected early writings. Only few records indicate the presence of large groups of huemul far from forests, and substantial killings. Human-caused range contractions of northern ungulates affected mainly losses at low elevations and most species persisted in the marginal periphery, including high-elevation refuges. Paleoecology, zoogeography and land-use history in southern South America indicate that mountain huemul is a secondary relict created by impacts of post-Columbian colonisation. We caution against the rigid application of modern huemul habitats in interpreting past habitat use and huemul ecology, and simply considering the few extra-Andean accounts as abnormal outliers.
publishDate 2012
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2012-07
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/198357
Fluck, Werner Thomas; Smith Flueck, Jo Anne M.; Huemul heresies: Beliefs in search of supporting data. 1. Historical and zooarcheological considerations; Csiro Publishing; Animal Production Science; 52; 8; 7-2012; 685-693
1836-5787
CONICET Digital
CONICET
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/198357
identifier_str_mv Fluck, Werner Thomas; Smith Flueck, Jo Anne M.; Huemul heresies: Beliefs in search of supporting data. 1. Historical and zooarcheological considerations; Csiro Publishing; Animal Production Science; 52; 8; 7-2012; 685-693
1836-5787
CONICET Digital
CONICET
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=AN11344
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1071/AN11344
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Csiro Publishing
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Csiro Publishing
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
collection CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.name.fl_str_mv CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.mail.fl_str_mv dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
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