Abstract Paleobiologists tend to use dietary information as an ecological indicator because diet is a fundamental link between an organism and its environment. However, the ecological information from fossilized hard tissues is often difficult to interpret, because links between environment, diet, and hard tissue biology are insufficiently studied in modern communities. To address this dilemma, we investigated dietary proxies commonly used by paleobiologists in a 4-ruminant community from the French Alps. Dental microwear textural analyses are applied to 82 specimens of roe deer, red deer, chamois, and mouflons. Intra-tooth serial enamel stable carbon and oxygen isotope analyses of the structurally bound carbonate were applied on eleven specimens, with isotope-based niche reconstructions, and inverse modeling of original seasonally variable oxygen isotope inputs. While microwear complexity largely overlaps, both inter-individual dispersion and heterogeneity of complexity together with the anisotropy track dietary differences. The red deer is likely more engaged in grazing than the two bovids, which both plot as mixed feeders. When combined, dental microwear and carbon stable isotope analyses accurately reflect known ecological separation between the chamois and the roe deer. Both stable isotopes suggest niche separation by increasing enrichment from roe deer to red deer, to chamois; mouflons appear to feed as generalists. In roe deer, which shows the highest enamel oxygen isotope range (5.7‰), variation is nevertheless constrained compared to oxygen isotope ranges observed in regional precipitation, where the mean annual range reaches 9.9‰. However, through inverse modeling we estimate seasonal input ranges that average 9.7‰, a result strikingly similar to regional values. Altogether, our data demonstrate that given appropriate sampling strategies and modeling approaches, microwear and isotopic data can be effective tools for demonstrating niche separation among multiple sympatric herbivorous taxa.

中文翻译：

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牙齿饮食代理讲述的牙齿故事：同域反刍动物的高山社区作为破译化石动物群生态的模型

摘要 古生物学家倾向于使用饮食信息作为生态指标，因为饮食是生物体与其环境之间的基本联系。然而，化石硬组织的生态信息通常难以解释，因为现代社区对环境、饮食和硬组织生物学之间的联系研究不足。为了解决这个难题，我们调查了古生物学家在法国阿尔卑斯山的一个 4 反刍动物群落中常用的饮食替代物。对 82 个狍、马鹿、羚羊和欧洲盘羊的样本进行了牙科微磨损纹理分析。对 11 个标本进行了结构结合碳酸盐的牙内连续釉质稳定碳和氧同位素分析，并进行了基于同位素的生态位重建，和原始季节性变化的氧同位素输入的逆向建模。虽然微磨损的复杂性在很大程度上重叠，但个体间的分散性和复杂性的异质性以及各向异性跟踪饮食差异。与两种牛科动物相比，马鹿可能更喜欢吃草，这两种牛科动物都作为混合饲养者。结合时，牙科微磨损和碳稳定同位素分析准确地反映了羚羊和狍之间已知的生态分离。两种稳定同位素都表明通过增加从狍到马鹿再到羚羊的富集来实现生态位分离；欧洲盘羊似乎是多面手。狍的釉质氧同位素范围最高（5.7‰），但与区域降水中观察到的氧同位素范围相比，其变化受到限制，其中年平均幅度达到9.9‰。然而，通过逆向建模，我们估计了平均 9.7‰的季节性输入范围，结果与区域值惊人地相似。总而言之，我们的数据表明，如果采用适当的采样策略和建模方法，微磨损和同位素数据可以成为证明多个同域食草类群之间生态位分离的有效工具。