WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
Using zooarchaeological information from 50 spatial-temporal contexts between the late Pleistocene and late Holocene, researchers reconstructed probabilistic predator–prey connections in Tierra del Fuego. Models assigned central roles to guanaco and coastal carrion/food subsidies as predator and human diets shifted.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
Terrestrial ecosystem function can depend on marine resource flows; reconstructed networks offer hypotheses for how coast and steppe were coupled over time.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
Archaeological sampling and reconstructed interactions are model inferences, not observed prehistoric food webs or proof of ecological stability.
SOURCE
Santiago et al. · Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (2 Nov 2026)
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