Diet of Andean Leaf-Eared Mice (Phyllotis) Living atExtreme Elevations on Atacama Volcanoes: Insights FromMetagenomics, DNA Metabarcoding, and Stable Isotopes

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dc.contributor.authorClaudio Quezada Romegialli
dc.contributor.authorMarcial Quiroga Carmona
dc.contributor.authorGuillermo D'Elía
dc.contributor.authorChris Harrod
dc.contributor.authorJay F. Storz
dc.date.accessioned2026-05-06T15:02:19Z
dc.date.available2026-05-06T15:02:19Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.abstractOn 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. The diet of these mice in these barren, hyperarid environments has been the subject of much speculation. According to the arthropod fallout hypothesis, sustenance is provided by windblown in-sects that accumulate in snowdrifts (“aolian deposits”). Mice may also 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 summit of VolcánLlullaillaco (6739 m) revealed 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 indicate that mice from elevations at or near vegetation limits (~5100 m) include a larger fraction of animal prey in their diet than mice from lower elevations. Some plant species 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 they may occur at higher elevations beneath the snowpack or in other cryptic microhabitats.
dc.description.sponsorshipUnited States Department of Health & Human Services, National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA R01 HL159061 National Science Foundation (NSF) OIA-1736249, IOS-2114465 National Geographic Society NGS-68495R-20 Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT) CONICYT FONDECYT 1221115
dc.identifier.doi10.1002/ece3.70591
dc.identifier.issn20457758
dc.identifier.urihttps://repositorioabierto.uantof.cl/handle/uantof/704
dc.language.isoen
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.sourceEcology and Evolution
dc.titleDiet of Andean Leaf-Eared Mice (Phyllotis) Living atExtreme Elevations on Atacama Volcanoes: Insights FromMetagenomics, DNA Metabarcoding, and Stable Isotopes
dc.typeArticle
oaire.citation.volume14
organization.identifier.rorUniversidad de Antofagasta
uantof.identificator.instituteInstituto de Ciencias Naturales Alexander von Humboldt
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