The Quaternary origins of the modern British mammal fauna

The origins of the modern British mammal fauna as a recognizable assemblage are traceable through preceding temperate woodland phases at least as far back as the early part of the Middle Pleistocene. Earlier Quaternary mammal assemblages have more in common with those of the Pliocene than those of the Middle Pleistocene, but evidence for gaps in the British Early Pleistocene sequence precludes inferences concerning the nature of this change in faunal composition.
A major difficulty in reconstructing Quaternary faunal histories is in establishing stable correlations between the fragmentary terrestrial sequences from which the fossil record has been recovered and in assembling those sequences into chronological order. Existing reconstructions of Quaternary events in Britain are of hybrid origin, a mix of palynological biostratigraphy based on assumed monocyclic floral successions for a small number of major interglacial stages, with intervening cold stages identified by characteristic glacial or periglacial lithologies and structures. While this framework has served as a useful basis for some Quaternary disciplines, some interpretations of the mammalian evidence do not fit it well.
Attention is given here to information derived from fossil mammal assemblages which may be used to help determine the number and sequence of Middle and Late Pleistocene temperate woodland phases with faunas showing close links with that of the Flandrian. While much of this information is not new, it has been largely ignored in the construction of some of the more widely known schemes for Quaternary subdivision. At present five such episodes can be identified and characterized prior to the present interglacial, though further refinement may br possible as work on a more detailed account of key sites arid their palaeontology progresses.     

Plate tectonics, seaways and climate in the historical biogeography of mammals

The marsupial and placental mammals originated at a time when the pattern of geographical barriers (oceans, shallow seas and mountains) was very different from that of today, and climates were warmer. The sequence of changes in these barriers, and their effects on the dispersal of the mammal families and on the faunas of mammals in the different continents, are reviewed. The mammal fauna of South America changed greatly in the Pliocene/Pleistocene, when the newly-complete Panama Isthmus allowed the North American fauna to enter the continent and replace most of the former South American mammal families. Marsupial, but not placental, mammals reached Australia via Antarctica before Australia became isolated, while rats and bats are the only placentals that dispersed naturally from Asia to Australia in the late Cenozoic. Little is known of the early history of the mammal fauna of India. A few mammal families reached Madagascar from Africa in the early Cenozoic over a chain of islands. Africa was isolated for much of the early Cenozoic, though some groups did succeed in entering from Europe. Before the climate cooled in the mid-Cenozoic, the mammal faunas of the Northern Hemisphere were much richer than those of today.     

Pliocene coastal palaeomorphology and ostracod faunas of the Bass Strait hinterland,southeast Australia

Early to late Pliocene sedimentary strata present across the northern Bass Strait hinterland, southeastern Australia yield extensive fossil proxy data relevant to the interpretation of high sea level coastal palaeomorphology. Within the Pliocene Whalers Bluff Formation exposed in coastal cliffs near the township of Portland, Victoria, marine microfossil faunas delineate two broad cycles of deposition. Both these sedimentary cycles are bound below by unconformity surfaces. Within the lower sedimentary cycle, a basal stress-tolerant (low diversity) marginal marine microfossil fauna devoid of ostracods and suggestive of bottom-water hypoxia, is succeeded by a diverse shallow marine ostracod fauna dominated by stenohaline species indicative of a sheltered (but open) oceanic embayment. This lower sedimentary cycle has an early Pliocene (Zanclean) age. Equivalent shallow marine (e.g. coastal embayment) deposits occur broadly across the coastal hinterland of southeastern Australia—reflecting the generally higher global sea levels of this time. The upper cycle in the cliff exposures at Portland is late Pliocene (Piacenzian) in age. Equivalent deposits across the Bass Strait hinterland are restricted to former incised river valley settings. Euryhaline estuarine/coastal lagoon Ostracoda are present throughout the upper cycle in the Portland cliffs. These are associated with a low diversity microfauna at the base of the upper cycle and a high diversity microfauna towards the top of the cycle. Early Pliocene coastal marine deposits can be distinguished from late Pliocene coastal marine deposits across the northern Bass Strait hinterland on the basis of the presence or absence of certain open marine (‘stenohaline’) ostracod species.     

Contemporaneous Trace and Body Fossils from a Late Pleistocene Lakebed in Victoria,Australia, Allow Assessment of Bias in the Fossil Record

The co-occurrence of vertebrate trace and body fossils within a single geological formation is rare and the probability of these parallel records being contemporaneous (i.e. on or near the same bedding plane) is extremely low. We report here a late Pleistocene locality from the Victorian Volcanic Plains in south-eastern Australia in which demonstrably contemporaneous, but independently accumulated vertebrate trace and body fossils occur. Bite marks from a variety of taxa are also present on the bones. This site provides a unique opportunity to examine the biases of these divergent fossil records (skeletal, footprints and bite marks) that sampled a single fauna. The skeletal record produced the most complete fauna, with the footprint record indicating a markedly different faunal composition with less diversity and the feeding traces suggesting the presence, amongst others, of a predator not represented by either the skeletal or footprint records. We found that the large extinct marsupial predator Thylacoleo was the only taxon apparently represented by all three records, suggesting that the behavioral characteristics of large carnivores may increase the likelihood of their presence being detected within a fossil fauna. In contrast, Diprotodon (the largest-ever marsupial) was represented only by trace fossils at this site and was absent from the site''s skeletal record, despite its being a common and easily detected presence in late Pleistocene skeletal fossil faunas elsewhere in Australia. Small mammals absent from the footprint record for the site were represented by skeletal fossils and bite marks on bones.     

Cenozoic environmental change in South America as indicated by mammalian body size distributions (cenograms)

A cenogram is a rank‐ordered body size distribution of non‐predatory terrestrial mammal species within a community. Studies of cenograms for modern faunas have shown that certain quantifiable attributes of cenograms are correlated with environmental variables such as rainfall and vegetation structure. Based on these correlations, cenograms of fossil communities have been used to infer palaeoenvironments and palaeoenvironmental variables. The present study uses cenogram statistics to interpret palaeoenvironmental conditions for eight Cenozoic South American mammal faunas, ranging from Eocene to Pleistocene in age. Body sizes for fossil taxa were taken either from the literature or were estimated using regressions of body size on molar length (or femoral bicondylar width) for modern mammals. Cenogram statistics are calculated for the eight fossil faunas and compared to similar statistics calculated for 16 modern South American mammal faunas, allowing palaeoenvironmental interpretations to be made. The palaeoenvironmental interpretations based on cenogram analyses sometimes support and sometimes contradict interpretations based on herbivore craniodental morphology (e.g. levels of hypsodonty). Simulations of expected errors in body size estimates for fossil taxa suggest that the discrepancies do not result primarily from erroneous body size estimates. It is possible that some of the incongruity in interpretations results from certain non‐analogue attributes of South American faunas during much of the Cenozoic (e.g. the relatively depauperate mammalian predator diversity prior to the Great American Biotic Interchange).     

Plio-Pleistocene Carnivora of northwestern Africa: A short review

The fossil record of northwestern African carnivores is very patchy. The richest assemblage is that of the Late Pliocene of Ahl al Oughlam, with more than 20 species belonging to the main modern families. Some additions to its study are made here. The rather poor Early Pleistocene faunas are mainly marked by the arrival of a large Canis. A fauna of modern type, with example, the duo Hyaena–Crocuta, settles in the Earliest Pleistocene site of Tighenif, where some older elements linger on (Homotherium), beside some taxa of doubtful affinities, like a large Panthera, and a strange canid close to Nyctereutes, dominant at this site as well as at the slightly younger ones of Thomas and Oulad Hamida Quarries in Casablanca. All these faunas consist mostly of African taxa, together with a Palaearctic component whose importance increases towards the end of the Pleistocene.     

Foraminiferida from Neogene sediments,Vestfold Hills,Antarctica

Sediment samples from several locations in the southern part of the Vestfold Hills have been examined for their foraminiferid content. Those from Early Pliocene sediments of Marine Plain immediately east of Burton Lake contain little foraminiferid evidence of marine deposition. Those from mid-late Holocene sections in and near the lakes contain good open marine faunas of species now known to be living on the continental shelf west of Cape Darnley.Foraminiferid faunas characterized by calcareous forms are most common, the most prevalent dominated by Globocassidulina crassa.The faunas examined contrast markedly with those in the present Prydz Bay which is characterized by agglutinated forms.The results, in relation to planktonic faunas, conflict with an earlier record of a diverse fauna.     

The Messinian event: What happened to the peri-Mediterranean mammalian communities and local climate?

What truly happened in the terrestrial ecosystems in response to the famous Messinian salinity crisis is still the matter of extensive discussions. Did mammals record any faunal and/or a climatic or environmental fluctuation is a question that still remains open. Our objective is to investigate mammalian faunas before, during and after the crisis within different terrestrial basins surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. We therefore apply here two methods, the cenogram method and a transfer function based on murine (rodents) species richness to better understand if our proxies can record any qualitative or quantitative climatic or environmental change. The results indicate that mammal faunas do not record any particular shift in climate or environment at the scale of the whole peri-Mediterranean area. The trend is different at the regional scale of terrestrial basins as temperatures increase (Calatayud-Daroca-Teruel Basin) or decrease (Languedoc-Roussillon region) punctually occurs just after the crisis; stable conditions in different areas (e.g. Greece) contradict these trends. Biases in the fossil record or in the methodologies could produce such discrepancies.     

Correlates and catalysts of hominin evolution in Africa

Hominin evolution in the African Pliocene and Pleistocene was accompanied and mediated by changes in the abiotic and biotic spheres. It has been hypothesized that such environmental changes were catalysts of hominin morphological evolution and speciations. Whereas there is little doubt that ecological changes were relevant to shaping the trajectories of mammalian evolution, testing specific hypotheses with data from the fossil record has yielded ambiguous results regarding environmental disruption as a primary catalyst. Proposed mechanisms for abiotic and biotic causes of evolution are not always consistent with the timing and trends exhibited by the African fossil record of hominins and other mammals. Analyses of fossil and genetic data suggest that much of hominin evolution, and by extension mammalian evolution, was autocatalytic, driven by feedback loops within a species or lineage, irrespective of changes in the external environment.     

PLEISTOCENE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH VERTEBRATE FAUNA

• 1 This review covers the Pleistocene history of British non-marine Pisces, Amphibia, Reptilia and especially Mammalia, which alone have a good fossil record. Aves are also briefly discussed.
• 2 The fossil material available is often inadequate for purposes of taxonomy and identification. Further problems arise because many groups of Mammalia have undergone rapid evolution during the Pleistocene.
• 3 In this paper the fossil record is related to the currently accepted stratigraphic table of the British Pleistocene (Shotton & West, 1969). Wherever possible, fossil records have been assigned to pollen assemblage zones. Throughout, emphasis is placed on the relationship between faunal history and vegetational history, as determined from fossil pollen and macroscopic plant remains.
• 4 Although fossils are relatively scarce in the fluviatile and lacustrine deposits of open sites, compared with the often rich cave assemblages, the stratigraphy of the former is usually much clearer and the sediments commonly contain pollen. It is difficult to correlate cave sequences with those of open sites.
• 5 It is important to take into account possible bias in a fossil assemblage according to its mode of accumulation, e.g. assemblages from occupation sites may represent only those animals which were hunted by man.
• 6 Lower Pleistocene vertebrates are rather poorly-known. The majority of fossils are from the marine Crags of East Anglia (Pre-Ludhamian to Pastonian) and a single cave assemblage of this age is known (Dove Holes). Few records can be related to particular stages, but a few finds from Easton Bavents are assigned to Antian and Baventian stages.
• 7 Early Middle Pleistocene vertebrates are represented mainly by the rich assemblages from the marine and fresh-water Weybourne Crag and Cromer Forest Bed Series (Baventian to Early Anglian) of Norfolk and Suffolk. The East Runton fauna appears to be of pre-Cromerian (?Pastonian) age. A good fauna is known from the type Cromerian deposits at West Runton (zone Cr 11). A few records are available for zone ?Cr III and one for the Early Anglian. The assemblages from other localities appear to represent more than one stage at each site, e.g. the so-called ‘Bacton Forest Bed’ fauna is composite, including both Cromerian and ?Pastonian taxa. Outside East Anglia one open site (Sugworth) and one cave fauna (Westbury) of probable Cromerian age are known.
• 8 Many of the fossils found in lacustrine and river-terrace deposits of the Middle and Upper Pleistocene glacial-interglacial succession (Anglian to present day) can be assigned to particular stages, zones or even subzones. Cave assemblages rarely predate the Ipswichian. No pre-Devensian records are available for either Scotland or Ireland. The Anglian fauna is very poorly known. The Hoxnian is represented principally by the Clacton (zone Ho IIb) and Swanscombe faunas. The Baker's Hole deposit, the basal gravels of the Summertown-Radley Terrace and the Glutton and Bear Strata in Tornewton Cave have yielded faunas of probable Wolstonian age. The early Ipswichian is poorly represented (Selsey), many fossils are known from zone Ip Iib (e.g. Trafalgar square, Swanton Morley, Aveley), there are a few records from early zone Ip III (Aveley, Swanton Morley) and fairly good faunas from zone Ip III/IV (Histon Road, Stutton). Several open and cave-site faunas resemble those of zones Ip II and Ip III and the assemblages from Ilford, Brundon, etc., appear to date from the end of this interglacial. The Early Devensian is represented by the Wretton fauna and probably by some cave faunas. Middle Devensian faunas are fairly well known (e.g. Upton Warren) and there are a number of records for the Late-Devensian (Ballybetagh, High Furlong, Nazeing). Many cave faunas date from the Middle or Late Devensian. Good faunas are available from the early Flandrian, zone F1 I (e.g. Star Carr). The present-day native fauna (zone F1 111) is also discussed.
• 9 The main faunal characteristics for each subdivision of the Pleistocene are summarized in the Conclusions. There is a major faunal change between the predominantly Tertiary fauna of the Red Crag Nodule Bed (Probably Pre-Ludhamian and older) and that of the Red Crag (Pre-Ludhamian and Ludhamian). There appears to have been comparatively little change in fauna through the rest of the Lower Pleistocene but the more intense climatic fluctuations of the Middle and Upper Pleistocene were accompanied by rapid faunal change and the appearance of characteristic ‘steppe-tundra’ faunas in the Wolstonian and Devensian cold stages. The Late-Devensian and Flandrian faunas are impoverished in comparison to earlier stages. This may be partly due to the activities of man as well as climatic and vegetational changes.
• 10 There is usually good agreement between fauna and vegetational conditions when these can be compared, but a few taxa (e.g. Cricetus cricetus, Equus) have clearly changed their ecological requirements during the Pleistocene. Changes of fauna in response to vegetational changes within interglacials are known from the Hoxnian and especially the Ipswichian. The ‘steppe-tundra’ vegetation of cold stages was accompanied by a mixture of animals nowadays extinct or living in either steppe or tundra.

     

Body size structure in north-western Mediterranean Plio-Pleistocene mammalian faunas

Aim We investigated the patterns of body‐size changes of the north‐western Mediterranean Plio‐Pleistocene large mammal faunas (excluding rodents, bats, lagomorphs and insectivores) in order to identify the tempo and mode of the major shifts in body size distribution, and to put them in the context of Plio‐Pleistocene environmental changes and the development of the Mediterranean climate. Location We analysed fossil faunas of Spain, France and Italy. A set of recent regional faunas from several macroclimatic regions was selected to serve as elements for comparison of the size distribution of past faunas, consisting of: Spain, France and Italy together, Florida, California, Central Chile, Indochina, India, Korea‐Manchuria, Malawi, The Cape, North Africa, Turkey and Australia. Methods Mammal species were grouped into five body size categories for carnivores and four categories for noncarnivore species. The number of species in each size category was computed and the resulting matrix of body weight classes × regions and time intervals was used as an input matrix in a Correspondence Analysis. Results Recent and fossil faunas strongly differ in body size structure. The distribution of recent faunas within the CA seems to reflect both ecological and historic factors, intertwined in a complex fashion. No clear relationship has been observed between body size structure and environmental factors. During the late Pliocene to early Pleistocene there were only minor changes in the pattern of size distribution, although plant communities were in a transition process from subtropical forests to Mediterranean woodlands and steppes. The major change in body size structure of the north‐western Mediterranean fauna occurred at the Galerian, around 1 Ma ago. This marked the beginning of the modern fauna, and a general trend towards a larger body size, reduction in the number of medium sized herbivores, and an increase of large herbivores and megaherbivores. Main conclusions The Plio‐Pleistocene faunas lack modern analogues. The body size structure of mammalian regional faunas appears to be strongly dependent on historical factors. The only major shift in body size distribution occurred during the Plio‐Pleistocene, in the late Villafranchian‐Galerian transition, coincident with the onset of the Pleistocene high intensity glacial cycles.     

In the Footprints of Our Ancestors: An Overview of the Hominid Track Record

Hominid footprints are particularly appealing and evocative of the living activity of our ancestors. The most famous and oldest (Late Pliocene, ca. 3.7 Ma) hominid footprints, from Laetoli in East Africa, have been attributed, with some uncertainly, to genus Homo or Australopithecus. The African track record also yields Early Pleistocene (～1.5 Ma) tracks attributable to Homo erectus. The only well-documented Middle Pleistocene tracks (age ～325,000-385,000 yrs) are reported from Italy and presumably represent a pre-Homo sapiens species.

The oldest Late Pleistocene tracks (～117,000 yrs), from southern Africa, may represent modern humans. However, the majority of Late Pleistocene sites are European, associated with caves in Romania, Greece, France and elsewhere, where hominid track preservation is often of high quality. Dates range from ～10,000 to ～62,000 BP Cavesite mammal tracks are almost exclusively those of carnivores, thus representing a distinctive underground ecology. Late Pleistocene open air sites are reported from widely scattered locations in Africa, Turkey, Tibet, Korea, Australia and even in the New World (Chile, Argentina and Mexico).

Early to Middle Holocene sites (> ～4,000 yrs BP) mainly occupy riparian, lacustrine, estuarine and littoral settings where the ichnofaunas are dominated by ungulates and shorebirds. Among these sites from England, Nicaragua, Argentina and Mexico and the United States, a few have been described in some detail. Younger Holocene sites are frequently associated with specified cultural periods (e.g., Neolithic, Bronze Age) or specific indigenous cultures, where supplemental archeological evidence may be directly associated with the footprint evidence.

At most surficial and some subterranean hominid tracksites, mammal and/or bird tracks are quite common and of use in creating a paleoecological picture of local faunas. The global distribution of human and hominid tracks is consistent with body fossil evidence and the record of archeological, cultural artifacts. However, in a few cases tracks suggest colonization of certain regions (Tibetan Plateau and the New World) earlier than previously thought. Tracks also give clues to behavior, age and health status of the trackmakers.     

Pleistocene Calabrian and Sicilian bioprovinces

During the Pleistocene, southern Calabria was the area through which several mammalian taxa dispersed into the Sicilian island via the Straits of Messina. The rich fossil record of Sicily allowed for the construction of a fairly detailed bio-chronological frame that is dated by correlation of vertebrate bearing deposits with marine deposits. At present five Faunal Complexes (F.C.), characterised by the occurrence of different taxa, have been recognised. The two older Faunal Complexes (Monte Pellegrino F.C.'xes Elephas falconeri F.C.) include taxa with differently marked endemic features denoting the occurrence of an insular system made up of geographically isolated small islands, with very difficult and sporadic connections with the mainland. The Lower Pleistocene physiographic evidence fits closely with data coming from palaeontologic evidence. In the younger F.C.'xes (E. mnaidriensis F.C., Pianetti S. Teodoro F.C. and Castello F.C.), faunal composition is becoming more similar to that of the southern Italian peninsula, endemisation is more moderate becoming absent in the youngest assemblages. This behaviour denotes that temporary connections with southern Italy occurred more frequently and extensively during Late Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene. Possibly a sort of filtering barrier affected the dispersals that gave rise to the former phase of population of the E. mnaidriensis F.C. preventing small mammals from the mainland from entering the island. The vertebrate fossil record of southern Calabria is rather poor and no mammal deposit is apparently older than the Late Middle Pleistocene. The occurrence at Bovetto of a continental fallow deer (Dama dama cf. tiberina), closely related to the endemic Sicilian species D. carburangelensis of the E. mnaidriensis F.C., may document the first Pleistocene connection of southern Calabria to the Italian peninsula and the dispersal of the forerunners of mammals of the E. mnaidriensis F.C. in Sicily. The well-diversified continental faunas coming from Archi and from Iannì di S. Calogero, both containing remains of Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, may document a post-Tyrrhenian dispersal event through the Catanzaro isthmus. Data are still lacking for the correlation of these faunal assemblages with the scarcely endemic faunas of the Late Pleistocene Contrada Pianetti–San Teodoro F.C. of Sicily. No record of the mammal assemblages that gave origin to the fauna of the Castello F.C. has been recovered so far in southern Calabria.     

Tropical forests and the genus Homo

Tropical forests constitute some of the most diverse and complex terrestrial ecosystems on the planet. From the Miocene onward, they have acted as a backdrop to the ongoing evolution of our closest living relatives, the great apes, and provided the cradle for the emergence of early hominins, who retained arboreal physiological adaptations at least into the Late Pliocene. There also now exists growing evidence, from the Late Pleistocene onward, for tool‐assisted intensification of tropical forest occupation and resource extraction by our own species, Homo sapiens. However, between the Late Pliocene and Late Pleistocene there is an apparent gap in clear and convincing evidence for the use of tropical forests by hominins, including early members of our own genus. In discussions of Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene hominin evolution, including the emergence and later expansion of Homo species across the globe, tropical forest adaptations tend to be eclipsed by open, savanna environments. Thus far, it is not clear whether this Early‐Middle Pleistocene lacuna in Homo‐rainforest interaction is real and representative of an adaptive shift with the emergence of our species or if it is simply reflective of preservation bias.     

Les faunes terrestres quaternaires des Îles du Japon

This paper explains a brief history of research on Quaternary terrestrial mammals in Japan and fossil occurrence of taxa at major localities of each time period at first. Based on these data, then, the changing history of Quaternary terrestrial mammals in Japan is reviewed, especially on such points as (1) importance of strait in western Japan as coming over route, (2) changing history of Plio-Pleistocene terrestrial mammals in Japan, (3) two faunas during the Late Pleistocene, (4) dates of extinctions of large mammals near the end of the Late Pleistocene. Formation process of Quaternary terrestrial mammal fauna in Japan must have been affected by condition of land connection with Asian continent at seaway west to Japan and changing history of climate and vegetation in East Asia, and it should be considered by different time period, e.g. before and after ca. 1.7 Ma. The time period after 1.7 Ma is one affected by glacial sea level fluctuations. Although a new fauna came over from the west to Japan when sea level was low, this time period is basically the age of insularization, and it is presumed that the fauna was becoming endemic during this time period. During the late Late Pleistocene, there were two faunas existed in Japan, e.g. one with Palaeoloxodon naumanni having come over from the west and another with Mammuthus primigenius having come over from the north. The former dwelled mainly in deciduous broad-leaved forest and mixed forest with conifers in temperate climate, while the latter dwelled in steppe and coniferous forest in subboreal climate. Both faunas changed their ranges to north and south repeatedly as climate changed, and the extinction of large mammals of the fauna with Palaeoloxodon naumanni occurred at the same time of the beginning of the LGM (ca. 25–16 ka). On the other hand, large mammals of the fauna with Mammuthus primigenius became extinct or moved to north as climate became warm quickly after the LGM. Thus, it is suggested that the extinction of large mammals at the late Late Pleistocene occurred by “two pulses.” The extinction process of large mammals in Japan seems likely that they went extinct finally near the end of the Pleistocene going through the reduction of habitat and fragmentation of populations caused by the repeated temperature change during the late Late Pleistocene, rather than a single drastic event.     

The first chromosome‐level genome for a marine mammal as a resource to study ecology and evolution

Marine mammals are important models for studying convergent evolution and aquatic adaption, and thus reference genomes of marine mammals can provide evolutionary insights. Here, we present the first chromosome‐level marine mammal genome assembly based on the data generated by the BGISEQ‐500 platform, for a stranded female sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). Using this reference genome, we performed chromosome evolution analysis of the sperm whale, including constructing ancestral chromosomes, identifying chromosome rearrangement events and comparing with cattle chromosomes, which provides a resource for exploring marine mammal adaptation and speciation. We detected a high proportion of long interspersed nuclear elements and expanded gene families, and contraction of major histocompatibility complex region genes which were specific to sperm whale. Using comparisons with sheep and cattle, we analysed positively selected genes to identify gene pathways that may be related to adaptation to the marine environment. Further, we identified possible convergent evolution in aquatic mammals by testing for positively selected genes across three orders of marine mammals. In addition, we used publicly available resequencing data to confirm a rapid decline in global population size in the Pliocene to Pleistocene transition. This study sheds light on the chromosome evolution and genetic mechanisms underpinning sperm whale adaptations, providing valuable resources for future comparative genomics.     

Sinistral snail shells in the sea: developmental causes and consequences

The paucity of sinistral (left-coiling) relative to dextral (right-coiling) species of gastropods in the marine realm is an enigma. In Conus , one of the most diverse marine animal genera, sinistral shell coiling has evolved as a species-wide character only once. Fossils of this species, Conus adversarius , are found in Upper Pliocene and lowermost Pleistocene deposits in the southeastern USA. Conus adversarius had nonplanktonic larval development; this may have been a critical factor for the early establishment of the species, as well as sinistral marine species in other clades. Notably, most specimens of aberrantly sinistral modern Conus are derived from typically dextral species that have nonplanktonic development. If C. adversarius was reproductively isolated from dextral conspecifics, then this species may provide an example of nearly instantaneous sympatric speciation in the fossil record. Furthermore, the common and widespread – while geologically short-lived – fossil shells of C. adversarius show large amounts of variability in form and this variation may be related, at least in part, to a pleiotropic effect associated with the reversed coiling direction of this species.     

泥河湾盆地新发现的梅氏犀及裴氏板齿犀化石

在河北省阳原县大黑沟中更新世和岑家湾附近石沟早更新世地层中分别发现了犀牛的下颌骨和股骨化石。其下颌联合部窄长、无下门齿、牙齿釉质层平滑而无褶皱、牙齿表面无垩质充填,股骨较披毛犀的长,故将其归入梅氏犀(Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis)。泥河湾盆地的化石是我国早期梅氏犀化石中材料最可靠,地点层位最明确的记录。山神庙咀和大黑沟出土的板齿犀牙齿及前脚骨化石,是泥河湾盆地发现的最好材料,尤其是大黑沟出土的板齿犀牙齿化石,是迄今在泥河湾盆地首次发现的完整材料;依据冠面结构和测量数据,该批材料可归入裴氏板齿犀(Elasmotherium peii);裴氏板齿犀特征鲜明,是有效名称,我国早更新世的板齿犀均应归入该种。我国第四纪的板齿犀与高加索板齿犀之间存在显著差异,表现在釉质层厚度较大但褶皱不够强烈、下颊齿的下后尖发育、颊齿冠面的前后径多数大于颊舌径、M3比M2小、M3后附尖欠发育,后脊与外脊已完全融合、上颊齿的齿脊更厚。此外,我国的板齿犀与西伯利亚板齿犀也有差异,后者的牙齿齿冠更高、无齿根、釉质层薄且褶皱强烈、上颊齿无后窝。最新地层研究表明,我国含板齿犀属的地层时代不晚于早更新世,且集中出现于下更新统。在晚新生代期间,犀牛在泥河湾盆地十分常见,先后出现过如下属种:大唇犀(Chilotherium sp.)(上新世)、裴氏板齿犀(Elasmotherium peii)(早更新世)、泥河湾披毛犀(Coelodonta nihowanensis)(早更新世)、梅氏犀Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis(早-中更新世)和真披毛犀(Coelodonta antiquitatis)(中-晚更新世)。     

Late quaternary turnover of mammals in Borneo: the zooarchaeological record

The Quaternary has been a period of repeated, oscillating patterns of climate change. Global fluctuations in sea level affected the island status of Borneo, which was probably joined to continental Asia for more than half of the last 250,000 years. Alternating connection and isolation, coupled with the ecological barrier of a savanna corridor running from the Malay Peninsula to Java during periods of marine recession, are reflected in the present mammal fauna of Borneo. 38% of mammal species (excluding bats) are endemic, and some distinctive species or subspecies are confined to the north of the island. No known sites in Borneo match the Early and Middle Pleistocene regional sources in eastern Java. However, caves at Niah, Sireh and Jambusan, Sarawak, and Madai, Sabah, provide a zooarchaeological record covering the past 50,000 years. The Late Pleistocene mammals of Borneo included ten species also present among a Javan Middle Pleistocene savanna-adapted assemblage. Of these, four are categorised as ‘megafuana’: a giant pangolin, Javan rhinoceros, Malay tapir and tiger; the Sumatran rhinoceros can be added. In addition, there are less secure Pleistocene records of Asian elephant from Sarawak and Brunei. Holocene canid remains from Madai could either be the dhole or an early domestic dog. Palynological data combined with the mammal fauna confirm that around 45,000 years ago the vicinity of Niah was vegetated by closed forest. The continuous presence of a suite of arboreal specialists, including large primates, indicates that forest cover persisted through the terminal Pleistocene. Among local extinctions, the giant pangolin apparently disappeared early in this period, but tiger, Javan rhinoceros and tapir probably survived into the last millennium. Human predation of juveniles may account for the loss of the large ungulates, but the disappearance of tiger needs another explanation. Despite hunting pressure throughout the terminal Pleistocene and Holocene, a population of orangutan survived at Niah until perhaps the last millennium. Size diminution observed among large, medium and small mammal species is interpreted as the selective impact of environmental change. Once more is known about their ecology, changes in the bat fauna of Niah cave may provide indicators of environmental impacts affecting the wider mammal community during the later Holocene. In conclusion, it is recommended that the three nations, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Indonesia, should support the WWF sponsored ‘Heart of Borneo’ as the most hopeful project to provide sustainable management of the rare and threatened forest-adapted wild mammals of the island.     

Late Pliocene and Quaternary Eurasian locust infestations in the Canary Archipelago

Meco, J., Muhs, D.R., Fontugne, M., Ramos, A.J.G., Lomoschitz, A. & Patterson, D. 2010: Late Pliocene and Quaternary Eurasian locust infestations in the Canary Archipelago. Lethaia, Vol. 44, pp. 440–454. The Canary Archipelago has long been a sensitive location to record climate changes of the past. Interbedded with its basalt lavas are marine deposits from the principal Pleistocene interglacials, as well as aeolian sands with intercalated palaeosols. The palaeosols contain African dust and innumerable relict egg pods of a temperate‐region locust (cf. Dociostaurus maroccanus Thunberg 1815 ). New ecological and stratigraphical information reveals the geological history of locust plagues (or infestations) and their palaeoclimatic significance. Here, we show that the first arrival of the plagues to the Canary Islands from Africa took place near the end of the Pliocene, ca. 3 Ma, and reappeared with immense strength during the middle Late Pleistocene preceding MIS (marine isotope stage) 11 (ca. 420 ka), MIS 5.5 (ca. 125 ka) and probably during other warm interglacials of the late Middle Pleistocene and the Late Pleistocene. During the Early Holocene, locust plagues may have coincided with a brief cool period in the current interglacial. Climatically, locust plagues on the Canaries are a link in the chain of full‐glacial arid–cold climate (calcareous dunes), early interglacial arid–sub‐humid climate (African dust inputs and locust plagues), peak interglacial warm–humid climate (marine deposits with Senegalese fauna), transitional arid–temperate climate (pedogenic calcretes), and again full‐glacial arid–cold climate (calcareous dunes) oscillations. During the principal interglacials of the Pleistocene, the Canary Islands recorded the migrations of warm Senegalese marine faunas to the north, crossing latitudes in the Euro‐African Atlantic. However, this northward marine faunal migration was preceded in the terrestrial realm by interglacial infestations of locusts. □Locust plagues, Canary Islands, Late Pliocene, Pleistocene, Holocene, palaeoclimatology.