Late Pleistocene small mammals from the Wannenköpfe volcanoes (Neuwied Basin, western Germany) with remarks on the stratigraphic range of Arvicola terrestris

Redeposited loess sediments from a Pleistocene crater filling in the Neuwied Basin (western Germany) yielded a small mammal fauna mainly composed of arvicoline rodents. The occurrence of rare faunal elements such as Sorex minutissimus, Sicista subtilis, and a species of Microtus (Terricola) is remarkable. Based on the evolutionary level of Arvicola terrestris, the biostratigraphic age of the fossiliferous horizon is transitional between late Eemian and early Weichselian. This conclusion is partly supported by the generalized ecological requirements of a few dominant rodent species. The fauna contributes to the knowledge of this time period, which is poorly documented in western Germany. A new character of the m1 is proposed for the discrimination of Sicista betulina and S. subtilis. To avoid further confusion in the specific assignment of transitional Arvicola specimens from the late Middle Pleistocene to early Late Pleistocene, we propose the formal taxonomic boundary between chronospecies A. mosbachensis and A. terrestris to be shifted from SDQ value 100 to SDQ value 120.     

广西崇左泊岳山巨猿洞早更新世的鼠科化石

最近在广西崇左泊岳山巨猿洞采集到大量步氏巨猿、猩猩、长臂猿等高等灵长类及伴生的属种丰富的哺乳动物化石。本文系统记述了该化石点小哺乳动物群中的优势群体——鼠科化石:似锡金小鼠(Mus cf.M.pahari)、似大林姬鼠(Apodemus cf.A.peninsulae)、细狨鼠(Hapalomys gracilis)、狭齿狨鼠(Hapalomys angustidens)、先社鼠(Niviventer preconfucianus)、安氏白腹鼠(Niviventer andersoni)、拟爱氏巨鼠(Leopoldamys edwardsioides)和似始家鼠(Rattus cf.R.pristinus)共6属8种,其中包括了5个绝灭种。研究表明,泊岳山巨猿洞鼠类主要属种的形态特征显然要比同地区的三合大洞显得原始,而较相似于重庆巫山龙骨坡的相关鼠类,因此推测其时代为早更新世早期,这与古地磁的测年结果(距今约180万年)相吻合。泊岳山巨猿洞的鼠类大部分均为东洋界成员以及树栖、半树栖及林地生活的种类,反映当时的自然景观为热带-亚热带的森林-林灌环境。泊岳山巨猿洞鼠科化石的研究丰富了我国南方早更新世巨猿-中华乳齿象动物群中小哺乳动物化石的记录,这对于探讨我国南方第四纪生物地层的划分将提供重要的信息。     

Rodents, insectivores and chiropterans (Mammalia) from the late Aragonian of Can Missert (Middle Miocene, Vallès-Penedès Basin, Spain)

In this paper, the insectivores, chiropterans and rodents from the middle Miocene site of Can Missert are described. The faunal list of this locality includes the following species: Miosorex grivensis, Desmanella sp., Talpidae indet., Vespertilionidae indet., Hispanomys daamsi, Megacricetodon minor, Megacricetodon ibericus, Fahlbuschia crusafonti, Democricetodon brevis nemoralis, Eumyarion medium, Muscardinus hispanicus, Eomuscardinus sp., Paraglirulus werenfelsi and Spermophilinus bredai. H. daamsi is a new Cricetodontine species which is characterized by complete ectolophs and relatively long third lower molars. The rodent association of Can Missert enable one to assign this locality to the late Aragonian, MN 8, being close in age to other localities in the Vallès-Penedès Basin such as Castell de Barberà. However, the proportion in which each species is represented is very different in the two cases. This evidence points to the existence climatic pulses at the end of the Aragonian Mammal-Stage.     

Long Pleistocene pollen sequences from the Velay Plateau (Massif Central,France)

In June 1988, a 50-m-deep boring was made in the lacustrine infilling of the explosion crater of Ribains (Haute-Loire). On the basis of pollen analyses the following chronology is proposed for this sequence: 0–5.10 m, Holocene and Lateglacial (hiatus); 5.70–17.48 m, last pleniglacial; 17.48–27.70 m, early glacial; 27.70–31.55 m: last interglacial, referred to as the Ribains Interglacial; 31.55–53.50 m, penultimate glaciation. The zone between 32.0 and 22.5 m, corresponding to a thick diatomite layer, provided a detailed record of the last interglacial and the early glacial vegetation succession. This enabled precise correlations with the neighbouring site of Lac du Bouchet and other long European sequences, confirming the proposed chronology. In particular, the temperate phase correlated with the St-Germain I of Grande Pile is well characterized, as at Lac du Bouchet, by the presence of an abrupt cooling corresponding to the Montaigu Event. In contrast, the last pleniglacial deposits contain great amounts of reworked pollen from earlier temperate phases, this making a comparison with Lac du Bouchet impossible. The thick sequence representing the penultimate glaciation is also affected by sediment loss during coring. However, several cold episodes are recorded that are characterized either by a total absence of vegetation or by a treeless steppe vegetation or a Pinus woodland, like the successions observed in the last pleniglacial at Lac du Bouchet.

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Résumé En juin 1988 un sondage de 50 m a été réalisé dans les dépôts lacustres qui comblent le cratère d'explosion de Ribains (Haute-Loire). Les analyses polliniques conduisent à proposer pour cette séquence la chronologie suivante: 0–5,10 m, Holocène et Tardiglaciaire (hiatus); 5,70–17,48 m, dernier Pleniglaciaire; 17,48–27,70 m, glaciaire précoce; 27,70–31,55 m, dernier Interglaciaire, nommé Interglaciaire de Ribains; 31,55–53,50 m, penultième glaciation. Entre 32,0 et 22,5 m, l'enregistrement des successions de végétation du dernier interglaciaire et du glaciaire précoce est excellent car cet intervalle correspond à un épais dépôt de diatomites. Ceci permet d'établir des corrélations précises avec le site voisin du Lac du Bouchet et avec d'autres longues séquences européennes, qui justifient la chronologie adoptée. En particulier, la phase tempérée corrélée avec St-Germain I de la Grande Pile est bien caractérisée, comme au Lac du Bouchet, par la présence d'un court refroidissement abrupt correspondant à l'événement de Montaigu. Au contraire, les dépôts du dernier pléniglaciaire contiennent des quantités importantes de pollen secondaire remanié à partir des phases tempérées antérieures, rendant impossible toute comparaison avec le Lac du Bouchet. De même la très épaisse séquence correspondant au pénultième glaciaire est perturbée par de nombreuses pertes au sondage. Cependant sont individualisés plusieurs épisodes froids sans végétation, à végétation steppique non arborée ou avec boisement en Pinus qui évoquent les successions observées dans le dernier pléniglaciaire au Lac du Bouchet.

     

The paleoclimate of the Eastern Mediterranean during the transition from early to mid Pleistocene (900 to 700 ka) based on marine and non-marine records: An integrated overview

Climate change is frequently considered an important driver of hominin evolution and dispersal patterns. The role of climate change in the last phase (900-700 ka) of the Middle Pleistocene Transition (MPT) in the Levant and northeast Africa was examined, using marine and non-marine records. During the MPT the global climate system shifted from a linear 41 k.yr. into a highly non-linear 100 k.yr. system, considerably changing its global modulation. Northeast Africa aridity further intensified around 950 ka, as indicated by a sharp increase in dust flux, and a jump to overall higher levels thereafter, coinciding with a lack of sapropels in the deep eastern Mediterranean (930-690 ka). The increased dust flux centering at ∼800 ka corresponds to the minima in 400 k.yr. eccentricity, a minima in 65 °N solar forcing and in the weakest African monsoon precession periodicity. This resulted in expansion of hyper-arid conditions across North Africa, the lowest lake levels in eastern Africa and the lowest rainfall in the Nile River headwaters. In the eastern Mediterranean an increasing continental signature is seen in glacial stages 22 (∼880 ka) and 20 (∼800 ka). Lower arboreal pollen values also indicate arid conditions during these glacial stages. The southern and eastern parts of the Negev Desert, unlike its northern part, were hyper-arid during the MPT, making them highly unsustainable. The fluctuations in the stands of Lake Amora follow global climate variability but were more moderate than those of its last glacial Lake Lisan successor. In the northern Jordan-Valley Hula Lake, frequent fluctuations in lake level coincide with both global climate changes and minor changes in water salinity varying from fresh to oligohaline. It appears therefore that the most pronounced and widespread deterioration in climate occurred in northeast Africa from 900 to 700 ka, whereas in the Levant the corresponding climatic changes were more moderate.     

Deer fauna from Pleistocene and Holocene localities of Ecuador (South America)

Late Pleistocene and Holocene deer remains from Ecuadorian sites have been analysed. Most of the material belongs to Odocoileus virginianus ustus, which is documented in latest Pleistocene deposits, in the Interandean Depression. Coastal sediments referred to the Holocene bear remains of Odocoileus salinae. O. v. ustus and O. salinae differ in size and in the morphology of the antlers and of the dentitions. In the present work, O. salinae is postulated to have derived from O. v. ustus during an arid climatic phase in the latest Pleistocene.     

The emblematic Eurasian Villafranchian antelope Gazellospira (Mammalia: Bovidae): New insights from the Lower Pleistocene Dafnero fossil sites (Northern Greece)

A new sample of 65 specimens representing a minimum number of 15 individuals of the Eurasian antelope Gazellospira torticornis is described from the Lower Pleistocene fossil sites of Dafnero (DFN, N. Greece). The intrapopulation comparisons highlight that several cranial (frontal sinuses, inter-frontal sutures, longitudinal grooves, degree of the horn-cores torsion, and development of anterior keel) and postcranial features are likely subject to sexual dimorphism, suggesting a mixed-herd DFN population of both males and females with a social distribution estimated at a ∼1:2 ratio (seven females and three presumed males). The analysis also reveals that both cranial and postcranial elements of G. torticornis are subjected to a strong temporal linear regression during the Villafranchian; this trend appears more evident in western than eastern European territories. Furthermore, for contemporaneous samples, the metapodials of G. torticornis show higher dimensions in northern (above ca. 42.5° of latitude) than in meridional latitudes. A preliminary ecomorphological study suggests that open landscapes with plains and quite homogeneous substrates was the preferred habitat of Gazellospira from Dafnero. A revision of Eurasian specimens and taxa referred to several genera and species of heteronymous spiral horned antelopes spanning from the Late Pliocene to the Early Pleistocene, allows us to propose synonymizing Gazellospira gromovae with Antilospira? zdanskyi, and to recognize Parastrepsiceros sokolovi as an early eastern subspecies of G. torticornis. Our morphological analysis does not support recent results about close phylogenetic relationships of Gazellospira with either Antilospira or Spirocerus. A biogeographic scenario is proposed, in which Gazellospira originates in the peri-Black Sea region with a radiation westwards and eastwards during the early Villafranchian.     

Faunal and taphonomic analyses of a Late Pleistocene bird-bone assemblage from a cave deposit in north-west Hungary

The paper presents a faunal and taphonomic discussion of the Late Pleistocene bird-bone assemblages excavated in Kálvária Cave n^o 4 near the city of Tatabánya in north-west Hungary. A total of 1150 complete and fragmentary avian remains were recovered from two locations on two separate occasions. Of these, 873 bones could be identified on the species-, family- or order-level. Fifteen of the identified 19 bird taxa could be determined on the species level and they indicate a habitat typical of forest margins. Several species yielded juvenile or subadult specimens, which in view of the breeding period means that these birds died during the summer, most probably between July and September.Each of the two assemblages had distinct characteristics. The high number of kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) long bones in Assemblage I generally included complete skeletal parts from subadult birds, suggesting a colony which bred in the cave, whose chicks died of natural causes. Even though the bones were exposed to a certain degree of water transport and soil corrosion, they were generally well preserved in the cave sediment. Size-characteristic analyses demonstrated that, in spite of the undeveloped morphological features, the sizes of limb bones usually corresponded to those of adult birds.The greater part of the material in Assemblage II originated from a stratified deposit and was dominated by small and fragmented remains of various taxa. The taxa which could be identified and the taphonomic features of the remains suggest that owl pellets formed the core of this bone assemblage.     

Late Celtic and early Roman plant remains from the oppidum of Bibracte, Mont Beuvray (Burgundy, France)

Two single assemblages of cereals and chaff from the oppidum Bibracte, (Burgundy, France), give evidence of cereal trade, food supply and crop processing in late Celtic and early Roman times. The first deposit consists mainly of Triticum dicoccon chaff which was buried in a wooden box near the sanctuary of La Terrasse. The second assemblage was a store of different wheats and barley excavated in a Roman cellar at the Pature du Couvent. The analyses of these finds are presented, and recent archaeobotanical research at Mont Beuvray is summarized.     

Paleoreconstruction of Pleistocene environments of human habitats in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene near the Charyshskii Naves cave, Central Altai, Russia

The results of the study of the small mammal fauna from the Charyshskii Naves cave (Central Altai, Russia) in the 2003 field season are provided. The dynamics of fossil small mammals was studied and the natural habitats of the ancient man were reconstructed on this basis. Two stages of sedimentation, corresponding to the domination of different biotopes, were recognized.     

An unexpected Late Pleistocene macaque remain from Grotta degli Orsi Volanti (Rapino, Chieti, central Italy)

An explosion set off in a limestone quarry located in the surroundings of Rapino (Chieti, central Italy), in the National Park of the Maiella Massif, exposed a small cave containing a Late Pleistocene fauna and Mousterian tools. Amongst the specimens is a fairly well preserved dorsal portion of a left mandibular corpus with associated M₁ and M₂ attributable to Macaca. The Grotta degli Orsi Volanti specimen is the very first macaque ever found in Abruzzo, but it also is one of the most recent, and the southern and easternmost known from Italy.     

河南许昌灵井遗址的晚更新世鹿科化石新种类

记述了在近几年从河南省许昌市灵井旧石器遗址出土的1个鹿科化石新亚种: 灵井山西轴鹿新亚种(Axis shansius lingjingensis sub sp.nov.)和1个属、种未定的潜在新种。前者角冠的主枝呈琴弓状, 并有一定程度的螺旋状, 目前是轴鹿属在晚更新世的唯一代表;后者的角冠在角环上方同一位置向不同的方向伸出3个分枝, 与鹿亚科其他成员的角冠在角环上方只有主枝和眉枝(或第一枝)的情况完全不同,而介于晚中新世的皇冠鹿(Stephanocemas)和中、晚更新世的大角鹿(Megaloceros)之间。     

Parachoerus carlesi (Mammalia,Tayassuidae) in the Late Pleistocene (northern Argentina,South America): paleoecological and palaeobiogeographic considerations

Abstract

The Tayassuidae is one of the first families of North American immigrant mammals that arrived into South America during the ‘Great American Biotic Interchange’. They have been found associated with Late Cenozoic deposits mainly in Argentina and Brazil, but also in Uruguay, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. Theirs records within Argentina come from the Pampean Region, Mesopotamia and north-central region. Here, we report the first record of P. carlesi with precise stratigraphic (26.630 ± 370 14C years BP, Late Pleistocene) data in Argentina, precisely from the Chacoan region. This specimen represents the most complete fossil material of this extinct species, increasing its morphological and morphometrical knowledge, and it provides relevant ecological and climatic information. From a palaeoenvironmental point of view, the fauna registered in this paleontological site, includes taxa mainly adapted to open or semi-open and arid or semi-arid environments. The bearing sediments and the peculiarities of the faunal assemblages, as well as the chronological data, allow confirming that arid and semiarid conditions, with scarce or absent vegetation cover were developed in this area of Argentina during the last part of MIS 3 and beginning of MIS 2. These environmental conditions favored the settlement of megamammals adapted to open environments.     

Early Pleistocene human mandible from Sima del Elefante (TE) cave site in Sierra de Atapuerca (Spain): a comparative morphological study

We present a detailed morphological comparative study of the hominin mandible ATE9-1 recovered in 2007 from the Sima del Elefante cave site in Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, northern Spain. Paleomagnetic analyses, biostratigraphical studies, and quantitative data obtained through nuclide cosmogenic methods, place this specimen in the Early Pleistocene (1.2-1.3 Ma). This finding, together with archaeological evidence from different European sites, suggests that Western Europe was colonised shortly after the first hominin expansion out of Africa around the Olduvai subchron. Our analysis of the ATE9-1 mandible includes a geometric morphometric analysis of the lower second premolar (LP₄), a combined and detailed external and internal assessment of ATE9-1 roots through CT and microCT techniques, as well as a comparative study of mandibular and other dental features. This analysis reveals some primitive Homo traits on the external aspect of the symphysis and the dentition shared with early African Homo and the Dmanisi hominins. In contrast, other mandibular traits on the internal aspect of the symphysis are derived with regard to African early Homo, indicating unexpectedly large departures from patterns observed in Africa. Reaching the most occidental part of the Eurasian continent implies that the first African emigrants had to cross narrow corridors and to overcome geographic barriers favouring genetic drift, long isolation periods, and adaptation to new climatic and seasonal conditions. Given these conditions and that we are dealing with a long time period, it is possible that one or more speciation events could have occurred in this extreme part of Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene, originating in the lineages represented by the Sima del Elefante-TE9 hominins and possibly by the Gran Dolina-TD6 hominins. In the absence of any additional evidence, we prefer not include the specimen ATE9-1 in any named taxon and refer to it as Homo sp.     

Vegetation reconstruction on the basis of pollen in Late Pleistocene hyena coprolites from San Teodoro Cave (Sicily, Italy)

Vegetation reconstruction based on pollen from coprolites of extinct spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta spelaea, Goldfuss 1832) recovered from excavations carried out in 1998 at San Teodoro Cave (Sicily, Italy) supports previous indications of pre-Late Glacial conditions. Eight of the twelve coprolites analysed contained well-preserved pollen grains. There is a general similarity between the pollen contents from the coprolites but they show variability. They suggest a main vegetation type dominated by steppic taxa (Poaceae, Artemisia, Ephedra, Chenopodiaceae and Asteraceae) but also including arboreal taxa (Pinus and Cupressaceae). Low percentages of pollen of mesophilous woody taxa (Quercus, Betula, Abies, Alnus, Pistacia, among others) are noticeable, suggesting the existence of nearby refugia for temperate and Mediterranean vegetation. A reconstruction of the landscape, using the coprolite pollen record and other pollen records from Sicily and south Italy, shows the predominance, during the pre-Late Glacial, of a wooded steppe biome, with elements representing a variety of local environmental conditions.     

A new form of wapiti Cervus canadensis Erxleben, 1777 (Cervidae,Mammalia) from the Late Pleistocene of France

A well-preserved antlered braincase of wapiti (Cervus canadensis) from the Late Pleistocene of Saint-Hippolyte (Puy de Dôme, France) is described herein. The specific morphology of antlers suggests peculiar adaptations to the open landscapes of periglacial tundra-steppe that permitted to identify a new fossil subspecies Cervus canadensis combrayicus n. ssp. The specimen attests the occurrence of Cervus canadensis in the paleontological record of Western Europe and helps to clarify the systematical position of some disputed findings of Cervus from Western Europe. The revised systematic position of some fossil and sub-fossil cervid findings reveals the paleobiogeographic story of wapiti in Western Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum and the postglacial time. The treeless Alpine altitudes and Sweden are proposed as the glacial refugia for the last European wapiti. The medium-sized deer from Capri Island is regarded as an insular dwarfed wapiti C. canadensis tyrrhenicus closely related to the continental form C. canadensis palmidactyloceros from the alpine refugium.     

辽宁朝阳马山洞的食肉类化石

本文主要记述了辽宁省朝阳市龙城区马山洞发现的食肉类化石。堆积物的上部主要为颗粒细小的砂质黏土, 而下部主要为直径较大的角砾。2007年出土的食肉目化石有: 似浣熊貉(Nyctereutes procyonoides)、赤狐(Vulpes vulpes)、狗獾(Meles meles)、黄鼬(Mustela sibirica)、中华猫(Felis chinensis)和疑似虎(Panthera tigris)?。其中前5个种在形态上与现生种类非常接近; 而最后一个种除与现生虎比较接近外, 与现生狮子也有一定的相似性。     

A human parietal fragment from the late Early Pleistocene Gran Dolina-TD6 cave site,Sierra de Atapuerca,Spain

The TD6-2 level of the Gran Dolina cave site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain) has yielded an assemblage of about 170 human fossil remains dated to > 800 ka (probably MIS 21) and assigned to the species Homo antecessor. In this study, we describe for the first time a large portion of a parietal bone (ATD6-100/168). The morphology of the fractures on the bones is compatible with a peri-mortem trauma. The superior parietal areas are flat. There is a large parietal foramen and one smaller accessory parietal foramen. Middle meningeal vessels are not particularly developed, but they are distributed in both anterior and posterior districts, with the parietal vasculature originating from the posterior branch. The meningeal vessels show multiple minor connections with the pericranial and diploic vascular systems. The diploe is not particularly developed, and large diploic channels are not detected. The bone is thin when compared with adult fossil humans, and equivalent to juvenile values. All these characters suggest that the parietal ATD6-100/168 probably belonged to a juvenile individual, with plesiomorphic endocranial traits similar to those described for H. ergaster/erectus. The derived temporal, maxillary and dental traits in Homo antecessor and the primitive parietal morphology further point to distinct (mosaic) patterns of morphological evolution of face and braincase.     

Discovery of a second human molar and cranium fragment in the late Middle to Late Pleistocene cave of Ma U'Oi (Northern Vietnam)

In November 2002, during the second season of work by a Vietnamese-French-Japanese team, we discovered a human molar and a fragment of an occipital bone in the late Middle to Late Pleistocene cave of Ma U'Oi (Bacon et al., Geobios. 37 (2004) 305). The layer from which this material comes is the same as that in which a human lower molar was found in 2001. Both molars can be attributed to archaic Homo, and both exhibit archaic and modern traits.