Dung analysis of the East Milford mastodons: dietary and environmental reconstructions from central Nova Scotia at ∼75 ka years BP

To reconstruct a mastodon diet and provide a snapshot view of environmental conditions in eastern Canada prior to the onset of the Wisconsinan glaciation, we analysed the faunal and floral components of dung associated with juvenile mastodon remains from East Milford, Nova Scotia, dated to 74.9 ± 5.0 ka cal BP. The diverse assemblage of pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, plant macrofossils, and macroinvertebrate remains in the dung suggests that …