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Diet of Andean leaf-eared mice (Phyllotis) living at extreme elevations on Atacama volcanoes: insights from metagenomics, DNA metabarcoding, and stable isotopes
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  • Claudio Quezada-Romegiall,
  • Marcial Quiroga-Carmona,
  • Guillermo D'Elia,
  • Chris Harrod,
  • Jay F. Storz
Claudio Quezada-Romegiall
Universidad de Tarapaca
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Marcial Quiroga-Carmona
Universidad Austral de Chile
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Guillermo D'Elia
Universidad Austral de Chile
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Chris Harrod
Universidad de Antofagasta
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Jay F. Storz
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

On the flanks of >6000 m Andean volcanoes that tower over the Atacama Desert, leaf-eared mice (Phyllotis vaccarum) live at extreme elevations that surpass known vegetation limits. What the mice eat in these barren, hyperarid environments has been the subject of much speculation. According to the arthropod fallout hypothesis, sustenance is provided by windblown insects that accumulate in snowdrifts (‘aolian deposits’). It is also possible that mice feed on saxicolous lichen or forms of cryptic vegetation that have yet to be discovered at such high elevations. We tested hypotheses about the diet of mice living at extreme elevations on Atacama volcanoes by combining metagenomic and DNA metabarcoding analyses of gut contents with stable-isotope analyses of mouse tissues. Genomic analyses of contents of the gastrointestinal tract of a live-captured mouse from the 6739 m summit of Volcán Llullaillaco revealed evidence for an opportunistic but purely herbivorous diet, including lichens. Although we found no evidence of animal DNA in gut contents of the summit mouse, stable isotope data for a larger sample of mice indicate that mice native to elevations at or near vegetation limits (~5100 m) include a larger fraction of animal prey in their diet than mice from lower elevations. Some plants detected in the gut contents of the summit mouse are known to exist at lower elevations at the base of the volcano and in the surrounding Altiplano, suggesting that such species may occur at higher elevations beneath the snowpack or in other cryptic microhabitats.
05 Sep 2024Submitted to Ecology and Evolution
06 Sep 2024Submission Checks Completed
06 Sep 2024Assigned to Editor
09 Sep 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
16 Sep 2024Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
29 Oct 20241st Revision Received
30 Oct 2024Submission Checks Completed
30 Oct 2024Assigned to Editor
30 Oct 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
04 Nov 2024Editorial Decision: Accept