Paleoecology

Diet imposes significant constraints on the biology and behaviour of animals. The fossil record suggests that key changes in diet have taken place throughout the course of human evolution. Defining these changes enables us to understand the behaviour of our extinct fossil ancestors. Several lines of evidence are available for studying the diet of early hominins, including craniodental morphology, palaeoecology, dental microwear and stable isotopes. They do, however, often provide conflicting results. Using dental macrowear analysis, this new UCL Institute of Archaeology project will provide an alternative source of information on early hominin diet. Dental macrowear has often been used to analyse diet in archaeological populations, but this will be the first time that this type of detailed study has been applied to the early hominin fossil record.

Two different morphotypes of fossil spheroidal and subcircular objects from the Pennsylvanian-Permian Remigiusberg Formation of the Saar-Nahe Basin are figured and described. These are interpreted as most likely representing branchiopod crustacean resting eggs and tetrapod egg strings, respectively. The putative presence of an arthropod egg bank indicates a stressed depositional palaeoenvironment near the excavated section and survival strategies of the producers comparable to those of extant branchiopod crustaceans. This highlights the exceptional preservation potential of the Remigiusberg Lagerstätte, hitherto mainly renowned for the occurrence of a diverse vertebrate fauna including many terrestrial taxa.

The domestic cat is the world's most popular pet and one of the most detrimental predators in terrestrial ecosystems. Effective protection of wildlife biodiversity demands detailed tracking of cat trophic ecology, and stable isotopes serve as a powerful proxy in dietary studies. However, a variable diet can make an isotopic pattern unreadable in opportunistic predators. To evaluate the usefulness of the isotopic method in cat ecology, we measured C and N isotope ratios in hundreds of archaeological cat bones. We determined trends in cat trophic paleoecology in northern Europe by exploiting population-scale patterns in animals from diverse locations. Our dataset shows a high variability of isotopic signals related to the socio-economic and/or geomorphological context. This points toward regularities in isotopic patterns across past cat populations. We provide a generalized guide to interpret the isotopic ecology of cats, emphasizing that regional isotopic baselines have a major i...

Radiocarbon dating of 56 ancient gray wolf specimens from permafrost deposits in Alaska shows a continuous Republic matched those of two ancient Beringian wolves (haplotypes PW5 and PW9). This sequence identity between ancient Old World wolves and eight of the ancient eastern-Beringian wolves reaffirms the validity of our sequences and supports the existence of a sepa-rate origin for ancient and extant North American wolves.

Exceptionally high rates of tooth fracture in large Pleistocene carnivorans imply intensified interspecific competition, given that tooth fracture rises with increased bone consumption, a behavior that likely occurs when prey are difficult to acquire. To assess the link between prey availability and dental attrition, we documented dental fracture rates over decades among three well-studied populations of extant gray wolves that differed in prey:predator ratio and levels of carcass utilization. When prey:predator ratios declined, kills were more fully consumed, and rates of tooth fracture more than doubled. This supports tooth fracture frequency as a relative measure of the difficulty of acquiring prey, and reveals a rapid response to diminished food levels in large carnivores despite risks of infection and reduced fitness due to dental injuries. More broadly, large carnivore tooth fracture frequency likely reflects energetic stress, an aspect of predator success that is challenging ...

Fossil bird remains from the Pliocene hominin-bearing locality of Kanapoi comprise >100 elements representing at least 10 avian families, including previously undescribed elements referred to the 'giant' Pliocene marabou stork Leptoptilos cf. falconeri. The taxonomic composition of the Kanapoi fossil avifauna reveals an assemblage with a substantial aquatic component, corroborating geological evidence of this locality's close proximity to a large, slow-moving body of water. Both the taxonomic composition and relative abundance of avian higher-level clades at Kanapoi stand in stark contrast to the avifauna from the slightly older (∼4.4 Ma vs. 4.2 Ma) hominin-bearing Lower Aramis Member of Ethiopia, which has been interpreted as representing a mesic woodland paleoenvironment far from water. In general, the taxonomic composition of the Kanapoi avifauna resembles that from the Miocene hominoid-bearing locality of Lothagam (though Kanapoi is more diverse), and the aquatic ...

Indigenous coastal communities in the Pacific, Caribbean, Atlantic, and Patagonian regions of South America sustainably shed, harvested shell sh and other marine species, and hunted sea lions for millennia. Considerable variation exists in the types of coastal archaeological sites in these regions, ranging from small to large shell middens and shell rings to sedentary maritime villages to massive sambaqui (mortuary mounds). The authors summarize the environmental setting, chronology, and type of coastal and inland sites, and their function and meaning, extending from the western Paci c coast of Colombia to the Caribbean shores and the eastern Atlantic areas of Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina, as well as the southwest Paci c coastlines of Tierra del Fuego and Chile. They present information that early peoples exploited several of these areas by at least 8000 years ago after sea levels and shorelines stabilized, with complex social and economic institutions appearing about 5000-4000 years ago. In late Holocene and colonial times, several areas were inhabited by sedentary peoples moving around seasonally and using an array of littoral and inland habitats.

The trans-Mexican volcanic belt (TMVB), a range of volcanic mountains crossing the Mexican mainland, is an important area for studying the transition between the nearctic and neotropical regions, as well as an area of high endemism. This study aims to better understand the migration of six plant species within Mexico during the Greenlandian Age (last 11.7ka), with emphasis on movements into, out of, and across the TVMB, via ecological niche modelling. The species studied were Abies religiosa, Dahlia coccinea, Datura stramonium, Erythrina americana, Pinus hartwegii, and Q.laurina. I found that the geographical range of all species studied was either constricted or conserved under current times relative to those of the Greenlandian Age, solidifying the TMVB as both a refugia and barrier to some species. These findings highlight the complex ways in which species' geographic ranges can change in response to climatic shifts, acknowledging the need for further research in the organismal ecology and paleoecologyof these plants and others of this region.

Zeribar Lake, located in the west-central Zagros mountains, serves as a key record for understanding the environmental and climate history of West Asia. Studies beginning in the 1960s have examined the lake's sediments to explore how changes in the environment might have influenced major human developments, including the start of the Neolithic period and the formation of early societies. Early research, limited by less precise radiocarbon dating methods, suggested that environmental factors had little impact on the development of cultures. However, with improved dating techniques, a clear link has been established between environmental events and significant stages in human evolution. Analysis of pollen from Zeribar Lake has provided a detailed picture of the region's ecological past. The data shows a significant change from the sparse, cold conditions of the late Pleistocene and early Holocene to the rich oak forests that appeared in the mid-Holocene. This change, previously thought to be caused by more rain, is now understood to be the result of a considerable decrease in temperature, with glaciers once widespread in the area. Updated radiocarbon dating and new interpretations of pollen data suggest that agriculture began earlier than previously thought, around 14,000 years ago, indicating that shifts in the pollen record may reflect the beginnings of farming rather than changes in the climate. These climate changes, initially thought to be minor until 8,000 years ago and believed to involve only slight temperature variations, are now viewed from a different perspective. Despite these revelations, the debate continues among scholars regarding the extent of climate's role in shaping human progress. This article aims to weave together the multifaceted strands of Zeribar Lake's story, bridging paleoecology and archaeology to shed light on the complex dance between humanity and its environment in the Zagros region. It is an endeavor to bolster the bedrock of knowledge for future scholarly pursuits.

En este trabajo se presenta la primera compilación del registro fósil observado en relación con notorios grupos de macro y microfósiles encontrados en las facies Muschelkalk del Ladiniense (Triásico Medio), de la Cordillera Bética (SE de España). Su comparación con las asociaciones fósiles conocidas de la Codillera Ibérica (NE de España) proporciona un primer paso para el establecimiento de una bioestratigrafía común. Esto además puede permitir la correlación de las formaciones del Triásico Medio (Ladiniense), en un amplio dominio paleogeográfico que se extiende desde el sur hasta el noreste de la península ibérica. Las asociaciones de bivalvos, conodontos y foraminíferos identificados en la Cordillera Bética (B) y la Ibérica (I), son importantes para obtener datos de comparación entre las sucesiones del Ladiniense, caracterizadas por continuos cambios de facies. Así pues, se han analizado estas asociaciones a través de las zonas bioestratigráficas definidas con los ammonoideos iden...

Easter Island (Rapa Nui) deforestation has traditionally been viewed as a single event, synchronous in time and space across the island and caused by Polynesian settlers. However, recent studies have challenged this idea introducing the concept of spatio-temporal heterogeneity and suggesting a role for climate change. This paper presents a continuous paleovegetation record of the last millennium (~960 to ~1710 CE), based on palynological analysis of a peat core from Lake Kao. During this time interval, deforestation was gradual, with three main pulses at ~1070 CE, ~1410 CE and ~1600 CE, likely driven by drought, anthropogenic practices (mostly fire) or the coupling of both. Some forest regeneration trends have been documented after the first and the second deforestation pulses. Forests were totally removed by 1600 CE, coinciding with the full permanent human settlement of the Kao area. Comparison with other continuous palynological records available for the last millennium (Aroi mar...

The multiannual dynamic of the cyst-forming and toxic marine dinoflagellate Alexandrium minutum was studied over a time scale of about 150 years by a paleoecological approach based on ancient DNA (aDNA) quantification and cyst revivification data obtained from two dated sediment cores of the Bay of Brest (Brittany, France). The first genetic traces of the species presence in the study area dated back to 1873 ± 6. Specific aDNA could be quantified by a newly-developed real-time PCR assay in the upper core layers, in which the germination of the species (in up to 17-19 year-old sediments) was also obtained. In both cores studied, our quantitative paleogenetic data showed a statistically significant increasing trend in the abundance of A. minutum ITS1 rDNA copies over time, corroborating three decades of local plankton data that have documented an increasing trend in the species cell abundance. By comparison, paleogenetic data of the dinoflagellate Scrippsiella donghaienis did not show...

Saint John the Baptist and the Lands of the Rhone: Between Sacred Iconography, Geology, and the Alps

Today, we reflect on the impact of Saint John the Baptist’s iconography in the regions of Occitania, Piedmont, Liguria, and as far as Geneva in French-speaking Switzerland, exploring a fascinating connection between faith, history, and geology.

Saint John the Baptist, the “Forerunner” of Jesus Christ, is venerated in many local communities, including Saluzzo, Chieri, Moncalieri, Turin, Giaveno, and Ventimiglia. His name, John, which evokes “grace,” seems to suggest something beyond just a historical figure; through his name and legend, he may represent a furrow left by the ice of a sea—Europe’s ancient ocean—symbolizing the geological transformations that shaped these lands.

Geologically, before the full formation of the Alps, the great Rhone Glacier, and before that, the European Ocean, connected what we now call Piedmont, Liguria, Occitania, and all of French-speaking Switzerland, particularly Geneva. However, the movements of the Jura Mountains divided these regions. The Jura, which separates and breaks the unity of the territory, can be seen as a sort of “choreography” of Judas, a geological betrayal echoing the symbolic separation between the world and the divine.

If Saint John represents the forerunner of Christ, so too does he symbolize the “forerunner” of the Alpine orogeny: the Western Alps formed first, just as John heralds the arrival of the Savior. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, represents the true Alpine orogeny, the culmination of the tectonic movement that generated the Alps. In particular, it is in Ticino (Tessin) where the first mountainous formations arose from tectonic shifts, and sacred texts, pagan stories, and even The Divine Comedy make references to Mount San Salvatore, Paradiso, and the Italian enclave of Campione d’Italia, which I personally believe reflect the Devonian period. Thus, if John symbolizes the Western Alps, Christ embodies the Central Alps, the “pontine” Alps.

This word, “pontine,” recalls several meanings that bridge the sacred and the profane: the Roman pontifex was the priest who administered religious duties for the Patricians, a term later inherited by the pontificate, the papacy. The word Patricians itself is deeply linked to patriarch, patron, and also to the living Swiss Patricians, who still control the region’s hydrogeological and mineral resources today.

The notion of the living fossil Patricians should make us reflect on the society that existed within a structure that was already European and cosmopolitan, though often considered solely Roman. These Patricians were likely expert stone carvers, diamond cutters, and gold seekers, whose main goal was to find and extract mineral resources using techniques and knowledge passed down through generations—resources that likely provided the economic foundation for the first kingdoms.

These resources and geological knowledge may have been iconographically represented in Christian and pagan stories through figurative metaphor. This figurative metaphor, which Plato frequently discussed, was a didactic method formulated to make concepts accessible to the human mind—concepts that are not visible to the human eye or easily conceived by the mind.

Finally, it is also interesting to note that the word “Alps” shares a philological connection with the word “Apostles.” Just as the Apostles were sent to spread the message of Christ, the Alps, with their majesty and grandeur, stand as natural messengers of the Earth’s creative power and the balance that faith and nature can bring.

Stable isotope analysis is pivotal for investigating the paleodiet and paleoecology of ancient mammals. Recently, a ∼9-Myr-old Hipparion fauna was discovered at an elevation of ∼2,200 m above sea level (a.s.l.) in the Xunhua Basin on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. These fossils can provide key evidence for the ecosystem structure and regional paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Here we present carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions of 56 bulk and 85 serial tooth enamel samples from this fauna, which includes Hipparion platyodus Selve, Chilotherium sp. and Gazella gaudryi Schlosser. The enamel−δ13°C values display a wide range of variation (−11.4 to −5.0‰), with a mean value of −8.9 ± 1.0‰, indicating that the fauna consumed mainly C3 plants. However, the heaviest δ13C value of Hipparion (−5.0‰) suggests at least some consumption of C4 plants. Combined with pollen records, we infer that the Hipparion fauna in the Xunhua Basin was living in forest-grassland setting at ∼9 Ma. The re...

The Mal Paso Formation crops out in the Chumbitaro region in the state of Michoacan. It comprises a lower and an upper member. The upper member is a calcareous deposit with Orbitolina-bearing beds containing an abundant foraminiferal association, mostly com- posed of Mesorbitolina texana (Roemer, 1849), Nezzazata isabellae Arnaud-Vanneau and Sliter 1995, Arenobulimina cf. A. chapmani Cushman, 1936, Glomospira sp. and Istriloculina sp.; moreover corals and echinoids are also present. Based on the stratigraphic range of the species Mesorbitolina texana, part of the formation is assigned an early Albian age. The orbitolinid larger foraminifera are excellent age markers for correlation of lower and mid-Cretaceous platforms. The wackestone–packstone textured limestone and the larger benthic assemblage suggest a shallow-water platform deposit. M. texana is regarded as a cosmopolitan Tethysian species.

Background The effect of past climatic changes on the distribution of organisms is a fertile field of research that has been tackled in many different ways. Because the fossil record provides direct access to the chronological and geographic dimensions of biological events occurred in the past, it can be a useful tool for assessing range contractions and expansions related to climatic changes. Results Here, we provide support for the ‘recent’ shrinkage of the range of a frigophilous anuran, the common frog, Rana temporaria Linnaeus, 1758, by analyzing the amphibian fossil assemblage coming from the Grotta di Equi, a Late Pleistocene site (about 45 ka) located in the Apuan Alps (northern Apennine chain, Massa-Carrara Province, Italy). Besides, R. temporaria, the assemblage includes cf. Salamandra salamandra Linnaeus, 1758 and Bufo bufo Linnaeus, 1758. Conclusions The presence of R. temporaria in the Apuan Alps during a cold interglacial phase at an elevation that is much lower than t...

Significant paleobiological data has emerged from the San Luis Basin (Early Cretaceous, Aptian-Albian in Central Argentina) during the last decades. Two units in this basin include lake paleo-environments with important fossil contents in an excellent state of preservation that could be considered as Konservat Lagerstätten deposits. The association of fossil leaves and pollen grains from the La Cantera Formation is one of the most ancient and complete angiosperm records in South America and the bryophyte association of the same unit constitutes one the most complete records of its type in Argentina. Insects from five different orders have been identified in this association, and three endemic species of aquatic insects from the La Cantera Formation have been described as belonging to the Notonectidae and Corixidae families, including the oldest member of the Anisopinae subfamily. The Pterodaustro guinazui association from the Lagarcito Formation is one of the few fossil associations...

The paucity of early Pleistocene hominin fossils in Eurasia hinders an in-depth discussion on their paleobiology and paleoecology. Here we report on the earliest large-bodied hominin remains from the Levantine corridor: a juvenile vertebra (UB 10749) from the early Pleistocene site of ‘Ubeidiya, Israel, discovered during a reanalysis of the faunal remains. UB 10749 is a complete lower lumbar vertebral body, with morphological characteristics consistent with Homo sp. Our analysis indicates that UB-10749 was a 6- to 12-year-old child at death, displaying delayed ossification pattern compared with modern humans. Its predicted adult size is comparable to other early Pleistocene large-bodied hominins from Africa. Paleobiological differences between UB 10749 and other early Eurasian hominins supports at least two distinct out-of-Africa dispersal events. This observation corresponds with variants of lithic traditions (Oldowan; Acheulian) as well as various ecological niches across early Pl...

The Posidonienschiefer Formation of southern Germany has yielded an array of incredible fossil vertebrates. One of the best represented clades therein is Teleosauroidea, a successful thalattosuchian crocodylomorph group that dominated the coastlines. The most abundant teleosauroid, Macrospondylus bollensis, is known