Mollusks and small mammals from the Kuznetsovka locality, Pleistocene of the Oka-Don Plain

Kuznetsovka, a very rich locality of Interglacial mollusks and small mammals overlies the Donian Glacial strata of the Oka-Don Plain. Mollusks and small mammal from this locality are described in detail. The crucial stage in the development of Middle Pleistocene mollusk and mammal faunas is investigated. The data obtained allow the dating of fossiliferous deposits and reconstruction of sedimentation and environmental conditions of the fauna. The comparison of the Kuznetsovka Fauna with materials from central and western Europe permits its direct correlation with the fauna of the Cromerian stratotype in West Runton (Norfolk, England). Thus, the deposits of the Kuznetsovka section were formed during the second half of the early Middle Pleistocene.     

The paleoecology of early Pleistocene Gigantopithecus blacki inferred from isotopic analyses

This study presents isotopic analyses of Gigantopithecus blacki and contemporaneous fauna from Early Pleistocene southern China cave localities with a view to reconstructing the paleoecology of this large extinct ape. Carbon and oxygen stable isotope compositions were determined using tooth enamel carbonate of Gigantopithecus and eight other taxa from Longgudong Cave and additional Gigantopithecus specimens from Juyuandong Cave. Carbon isotopic values of Gigantopithecus fauna reflect a densely forested habitat rarely preserved in the fossil record. These values overlap with those of other ape habitats including Miocene Sivapithecus faunas in the Siwaliks of Pakistan and modern chimpanzee faunas at Kibale National Park, Uganda, and the Ituri Forest, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Despite the overlap, Gigantopithecus fauna carbon values are significantly lower than those of the Siwaliks and Kibale, likely reflecting a more continuous canopy or more humid forest. Carbon isotope values suggest the habitat consisted of vegetation similar to current subtropical monsoon forests of southern China. Ranges of carbon and oxygen isotopic values for Gigantopithecus suggest a broad diet comprising both terrestrial and canopy plants. Am J Phys Anthropol 155:571–578, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Fossil blackflies from Pleistocene interglacial deposits in Norfolk, England (Diptera: Simuliidae)

ABSTRACT. The occurrence is reported of fragmentary simuliids among Pleistocene fossil arthropod assemblages recovered from deposits in Norfolk of Ipswichian (last) interglacial age, 130 000–120 000 years BP. The condition of each of the nineteen available specimens is described, and sixteen of them are photographically illustrated. Specimens are identified as Simulium s. l. but reliable identification beyond generic level is precluded by lack of diagnostic taxonomic characters. The palaeoenviron-mental significance of simuliids in Quaternary fossil assemblages is briefly discussed; it is thought that the simuliids indicate a palaeoclimate no colder, and possibly warmer, than today.     

Late Pleistocene beetle faunas of Beringia: where east met west

Aim   To examine the issue of Beringian steppe-tundra from an entomological standpoint, using fossil beetle data collected from late Pleistocene sites.
Location   North-eastern Siberia (Western Beringia), the Bering Land Bridge (Central Beringia), and Alaska and the Yukon Territory (Eastern Beringia).
Methods   Analysis of habitat preferences of beetle species found in fossil assemblages, leading to classification of major habitat types characterized by the faunal assemblages.
Results   Fossil beetle assemblages indicative of steppe-tundra are found mainly in the interior regions of Eastern Beringia, whereas these assemblages dominate nearly all late Pleistocene fossil sites in Western Beringia. Eastern Beringian faunas contain a much larger proportion of mesic to hygrophilous species and very few arid-habitat species. In contrast to this, the habitat requirements of the Western Beringian faunas are more evenly spread across the moisture spectrum.
Main conclusions   The taxonomic patterns of the two sets of fossil assemblages are remarkably different. Eastern Beringian faunal assemblages contain substantial numbers of mesic tundra and riparian rove beetles (Staphylinidae); this element is almost entirely lacking in the Western Beringian fossil assemblages. Taphonomic bias tends to overemphasize moisture-loving species at the expense of dry, upland species in the fossil record. Both Western and Eastern Beringian landscapes undoubtedly contained mosaics of habitats ranging from dry uplands (steppe-tundra) through mesic tundra to bogs and riparian corridors.     

陕西蓝田地区第四纪哺乳动物群的划分

<正> 陕西蓝田地区的新生代地层保存得非常完好,各个时代的地层,几乎都有其代表,并发现了丰富的哺乳动物化石。在第四纪地层中,特别具有意义的是公王岭及陈家窝分别发现了蓝田人头盖骨及下颌骨,一些地区还发现了旧石器,更进一步证实这一地区在第四     

The Pleistocene deer hunter of Sardinia

The Pleistocene mammalian fauna of Sardinia isendemic and consists of only a few taxa, indicating island conditions at the time.A sharp faunal break in the Middle Pleistocene separates an older fauna with Nesogoral from a younger one (Middle/Upper Pleistocene) which contains mainly deer (Megaceros cazioti), and ochotonid (Prolagus sardus), a small canid (Cynotherium sardous), and Tyrrhenicola.Commonly paleoecological conditions on islands have led to the development of faunas with dwarfed species, showing a low gear locomotion due to lack of large carnivores. In this aspect the younger Pleistocene fauna of Sardinia is different. A deer with the proportion of mainland species and a small canid were found. This is suggestive of the presence of a large predator. Indeed, together with this fauna a human temporal bone, showing some distinctive characters, was found in Grotta di Corbeddu, Oliena, Sardinia.These findings gave rise to further excavations in the same cave. A paleolithic settlement was discovered and two types of bone artefact could be distinguished. ¹⁴C dating revealed an age of 13590±140 yrs. B.P.These results suggest the development of an endemichuman culture, adapted to the restricted island environment and to the monotonous prey of deer and ochotonids, different from any known culture of that age.     

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.     

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.     

Do coral-reef fish faunas have a distinctive taxonomic structure?

Do the highly diverse fish faunas that associate with coral reefs have distinguishing taxonomic and ecological characteristics, as proposed by Choat and Bellwood (1991) and Bellwood (1996)? Does a 50?my old (Eocene) fossil fish fauna from Italy represent a coral-reef fish assemblage that provides unique information about the evolution of such assemblages, as claimed by Bellwood (1996)? I compared the structure of the reef fish faunas of adjacent tropical regions rich and poor in coral reefs, in both America and Polynesia, and found that they exhibit no substantive differences in relative species richness among families of typical “coral-reef” fishes. While coral-rich regions have larger reef fish faunas, a variety of factors probably contribute to such differences. Thus coral-reef fish faunas may lack a distinctive taxonomic structure. A similar comparative approach would be useful for assessing whether assemblages of fishes on coral reefs have distinctive ecological characteristics. Based on patterns of habitat use by modern tropical shorefishes, the Italian Eocene fauna includes few definite reef fishes, and may well consist primarily of non-reef fishes preserved in a non-reef habitat. Until we know more about the environment in which those fossils were preserved, that fauna can contribute little to understanding how coral reef fish assemblages have evolved.     

A Mass Burial of Fossil Lions (Carnivora,Felidae, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Panthera</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Leo</Emphasis>) <Emphasis Type="Italic">ex gr. fossilis-spelaea</Emphasis>) from Eurasia

The vertebrate fauna from the cave deposits in Imanai Cave in the Southern Urals (53°02′ N, 56°26′E) has been studied. It contains 715 bones that belonged to at least 11 individuals of fossil lion (Panthera (Leo) ex gr. fossilis-spelaea). It has been established that this is one of the largest Eurasian burial sites of fossil lions. The bones were accumulated due to the natural death of animals inside the cave. The age and sex estimations have shown that at least six adult males and five adult females died there. According to the accompanying fauna, radiocarbon, geochemical, and mineralogical analyses and archaeological finds, the interval of the lion bone accumulation is determined as the first half to middle of Late Pleistocene (OIS 5–3).     

古龙山动物群的时代及其对比

辽南古龙山洞穴堆积物中含有极其丰富的脊椎动物化石,计有64种,时代为晚更新世。哺乳动物群明显地反映出华北哺乳动物群和东北哺乳动物群的过渡性质,因此它对研究动物群的迁徙、对比以及辽南地区第四纪地层划分具有重要意义。     

Quantitative palaeoclimatic inference based on terrestrial mammal faunas

Aim The main goal of this paper is to propose a new tool, in the form of Quantitative Bioclimatic Models (QnBMs), for reconstructing past climates based on fossil mammal associations. As a case study, European climatic conditions during the basal early Pleistocene will be inferred using QnBMs. Location The study uses faunas throughout the world to develop a quantitative bioclimatic model, which is then applied to Quaternary faunas from Eurasia. Methods The models were constructed by applying multivariate linear regression to modern mammal faunas and climates from all over the world. The models were validated with a second group of modern faunas, which includes several from transitional zones between different climates (ecotones). To test the reliability of the method when applied to fossil associations, the results obtained for the Pleistocene have been compared with those obtained from palynology. Results Validation of the models shows that as many as 11 climatic factors can be inferred with high reliability using the regression models developed in this work. Comparisons of results in the late Pleistocene–Holocene of Barová (Czech Republic) between a palynological study and the quantitative bioclimatic analysis show a high degree of similarity. The results for the early Pleistocene show colder and drier climatic conditions for Europe than today. Main conclusions The application of the quantitative bioclimatic models to present day as well as Quaternary mammal faunas proves to be a useful tool for palaeoclimatic reconstruction during the Quaternary and probably most of the Neogene. Transfer functions are presented for a complete set of climatic factors, allowing a precise estimation of the climate in a locality from its mammal fauna.     

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.     

Fauna,environment and human presence during MIS5 in the North of Spain: The new site of Valdavara 3

Valdavara 3 is a new early late Pleistocene paleontological and archeological cave site in northwestern Iberia. Over 1400 fossils have been collected, representing about 40 species. The fauna is of interglacial aspect and is in accordance with the OSL dates from the fossiliferous layer, which indicate an age of 103–113 ka. The great taxonomical diversity indicates a varied landscape. A small collection of lithic artifacts was found associated with the fossils, demostrating presence of humans and suggesting short non-residential visits to the cave. The fossiliferous site was predominantly formed by natural processes. Many fossil localities have short or biased faunal lists, but the fossil fauna recovered from Valdavara 3 is remarkably diverse and may reflect the fauna which once lived there.     

U-series dating and taphonomy of Quaternary vertebrates from Brazilian caves

The geochronology and taphonomy of internationally important fossil bearing cave deposits were studied, both in the semi-arid Northern Bahia area and the subtropical southeastern Lagoa Santa area of Brazil. Taphonomic analysis suggests that the processes responsible for bone accumulation in the Brazilian caves vary between sites, and taphonomic bias can therefore be significant in causing differences in faunal composition. In the Toca da Boa Vista caves the presence of single articulated skeletons, and the entrance-related distribution indicate that random penetration of animals is the main mechanism of fossil accumulation, a process that biases the assemblage to smaller species, and takes place over extended time periods. In nearby Toca dos Ossos cave transport by runoff in the cave river is predominant, and biases the fauna remains to larger more robust bones and species. Deposition probably also occurred only at times of enhanced runoff giving a more contemporaneous assemblage. Similar processes were responsible for emplacement of the copious fossil remains in the more humid Lagoa Santa area, where terrigenous fossil deposits are found intercalated by massive speleothem calcite layers. In this area runoff under a drier climate probably accounts for the sediment emplacement inside caves. In both areas the mode of emplacement implies bias in the fossil record, resulting in fossil assemblages that do not mirror surface faunas, limiting palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.

Mass spectrometric U-series analysis of speleothem calcite overlaying fossil remains gives minimum ages for fossil deposition. These ages confirm the previous view that many of the deposits derive from the late glacial, but also show that much older material (some > 350,000 yr) is also present. The habitat requirements of critical fossil species such as bats and monkeys strongly suggest that they derive from much wetter periods when forest cover was present in the currently semi-arid Northern Bahia area. Taphonomy exerts a major control on the diversity and mode of emplacement of cave fossil deposits in eastern Brazil and thus detailed sedimentological and hydrological studies coupled with a sound geochronological approach are essential in quantifying the relative importance of each taphonomic processes before faunal and palaeoecological interpretations can be attempted.     

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.     

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.     

The dispersal and colonisation behaviour of the marine polychaete <Emphasis Type="Italic">Nereis diversicolor</Emphasis> (O. F. Müller) in south-east England

Recent submarine caves are inhabited by endemic faunas adapted to oligotrophism, darkness and a tranquil environment. Many of their representatives are archaic types of animals resembling fossils from very early times in evolution. This article compares fossil fauna from Jurassic neptunian dykes (originally sea bed clefts) from the Western Carpathians with the Recent cave-dwelling fauna. The ostracods Pokornyopsis feifeli are particularly important. In the Western Carpathians, these were exclusively found in the Middle/Late Jurassic fissure fillings, but in the non-Tethyan Germanic Jurassic this species was found in deep-marine claystones. They are phylogenetic forerunners of the recent genus Danielopolina inhabiting both anchialine caves and deep seas. This indicates a Jurassic migration of deep-marine fauna to cryptic habitats. Other examples of cryptic communities include the Upper Jurassic cavity-dwelling fauna dominated by serpulids and scleractinian corals. Associated suspension feeders include thecideidine brachiopods, oysters, bryozoans, sponges, crinoids and sessile foraminifers. Serpulid-dominated bioconstructions have recent analogies in the Mediterranean and Carribean seas. Different type of dyke communities represent the Late Jurassic fauna of small sized ammonites which originated from both Tethyan and Boreal paleobioprovinces. It has not been established whether these amonites were juvenile, dwarfed specimens adapted to limited cave space or size-sorted adult specimens.     

关于徐州白云洞与南京汤山第1地点的哺乳动物化石

白云洞位于江苏省徐州市九里区九里山的白云寺内,产有中国鬣狗,三门马,李氏野猪,葛氏斑鹿,肿骨鹿等9个种类,其地质时代大体上与汤山第一地点或北京人动物群同时,为中更新世晚期。     

A new large barn owl (Aves, Strigiformes, Tytonidae) from the Middle Pleistocene of Sicily, Italy, and its taphonomical significance

A new species of Tytonidae, Tyto mourerchauvireae, is described from the Sicilian cave deposits of Spinagallo, Luparello and Marasà, which have yielded a common vertebrate fossil assemblages referred to the early Middle Pleistocene. T. mourerchauvireae nov. sp. shows a pronounced increase in body size compared to other congeneric taxa. It is larger than the extant Tyto alba and the extinct Tyto balearica and Tyto sanctialbani and comparable in size among the Mediterranean taxa only with the extinct Tyto robusta, which differs in some morphological characteristics of the long bones. The insular adaptations of T. mourerchauvireae nov. sp. and the differences from the other forms of the genus Tyto which spread through the Mediterranean area during Neogene and Pleistocene are discussed. The fossil assemblages of the early Middle Pleistocene of Sicily are dominated by extinct giant Gliridae of the genus Leithia and Maltamys; these taxa are regarded as the primary prey items of T. mourerchauvireae nov. sp. The Gliridae remains were analysed microscopically to detect possible modifications of bones and teeth caused by ingestion and digestion processes. This type of analysis, together with the qualitative study of the fossil assemblages, allows to show the taphonomical importance of T. mourerchauvireae nov. sp. as agent of accumulation in such Sicilian fossil assemblages. Incidentally the taxonomic validity of T. robusta is discussed and confirmed.