Audrey’s Overhang: A Pictographic Maze in Central Montana

Abstract

Audrey’s Overhang, a small pictograph site in Montana’s Smith River Drainage, is part of a highly abstract rock art style localized in the Rocky Mountain foothills of central Montana. An abstract anthropomorph at Audrey’s Overhang is similar to those at several nearby sites. Site characteristics suggest that the pictographs of this rock art style were painted as part of a vision guest ceremony. Because the rock art of much of the surrounding area is poorly known the external relationships of this central Montana rock art style remain to be demonstrated.     

The Rock Art Of Western Montana

Abstract

Western Montana rock art comprises 29 pictograph sites scattered throughout the mountainousPacific-drained portion of the state. The sites, composed of panels of simple red, yellow or black pictographs, cluster along the major streams in the region. A variety of zoomorphic, anthropomorphic and geometric designs predominate. Traditionally Western Montana rock art has beenassumed to be related to the rock art of the Northwestern Plains, however, this study demonstrates that functionally and stylistically its closest relationships are with Columbia Plateau rock art. Two style zones, each reflecting a different cultural influence, are recognized in theregion. The majority of sites apparently served as vision quest sites for Salishan tribes that inhabited the area during the Late Prehistoric Period. A few sites in the extreme southern portion of the region are attributed to Shoshoneans, and relate most closely to the pictographsof central and southern Idaho.     

Two Mummies From The Pitchfork Rock Shelter In Northwestern Wyoming

Abstract

A protohistoric rock shelter burial from the Pitchfork Site in northwestern Wyoming produced two partially mummified skeletons of young adult male American Indians. Preserved clothing, buffalorobes, trade goods and additional cultural items were present. Equally well preserved is the twisted and braided scalp hair of one mummy, andother bodily tissues sufficiently preserved to reveal forms of cultural modification and ornamentation. Osteological analysis of the specimens reveals patterns of physical characteristics typical of Late Prehistoric and protohistoric populations of the northwestern Plains.     

Les os de la voûte crânienne des enfants de l’abri: Suard (La Chaise,Charente, France)

Bones of the skull dome of children from the Suard shelter (La Chaise, Charente, France). The attribution of the human fossils of La Chaise-de-Vouthon to a defined group has always been problematic. Bones discovered in the Suard rock shelter are attributed to young children and dated to the end of isotopic stage 6. They present archaic characters associated with Neanderthal features, and allow us to know more clearly the skull development during growth in this population. To cite this article: V. Teilhol, C. R. Palevol 2 (2003).     

What Do Current and Potential Australian Dog Owners Believe about Shelter Practices and Shelter Dogs?

ABSTRACT

Many displaced dogs are unable to find new homes in developed countries, including Australia, each year, even though demand for dogs in general remains high. Understanding community attitudes towards shelter dogs and beliefs about common shelter practices, particularly behavioral assessments conducted by shelters, may help shed light on this issue. To investigate what current and potential dog owners think about shelter dogs, we used an internet-based survey to probe the beliefs and attitudes of 1647 self-selected adult participants, using the online Public Attitudes towards Animal Welfare Shelter-Dogs (PAAWS-D) Survey. Over 80% of the sample indicated they would be likely or very likely to obtain a future pet dog from an animal shelter or rescue organization. Nonetheless, one-third of the participants believed that adult shelter dogs often have behavioral problems. Most participants were aware of routine shelter procedures, such as health and behavioral checks, and the consequences of a dog failing these. Moreover, most participants considered the assessment of shelter dog behavior, using scientific methods, for adoption suitability important. These findings may be used to inform strategies to increase the number of shelter dogs adopted, by clarifying the content of tests used to assess adoption suitability. This could be complemented by daily training and rehabilitation programs to improve shelter dog behavior, increase adoptability, and enhance public perceptions of shelter dogs.     

Microhabitat effects on bryophyte species richness and community distribution on exposed rock outcrops in Portugal

Background: Rock outcrops have been shown to provide specific conditions for bryophyte communities, but no studies have focused on the importance of microhabitats on such communities.

Aim: To analyse the distribution pattern of bryophyte species from granite and schist outcrops in three microhabitats (rock surfaces, fissures and cavities) in Portugal.

Methods: Sample plots were established in fissures, cavities and on rock surfaces of rock outcrops in north and central Portugal. Micro-scale variables, such as exposure and slope were assessed for each microhabitat.

Results: The microhabitats most different in species composition were surfaces versus cavities and surfaces versus fissures, both on granite and schist. Short-lived shuttle species tended to be associated with surfaces, and perennial species were more frequent in cavities and fissures. Both on granite and schist, the number of species found in each microhabitat was highest in cavities, followed by fissures and rock surfaces. The most relevant predictors of bryophyte richness were microhabitat type, exposure and rock type.

Conclusions: This investigation confirmed that rock microhabitats play an important role in bryophyte diversity by promoting habitat heterogeneity. In addition, our results clearly suggest local explanations for variation in bryophyte species richness and communities.     

Shelter availability and human attitudes as drivers of rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) expansion along a rural–urban gradient

While anthropogenic land‐use changes threaten wildlife globally, some species take advantage of such changes and disperse into urban areas. The wildlife in urban areas often promotes conflicts with humans, notably when the animals are associated with the spread of zoonotic diseases. In Israel, current urban invasion of rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis) draws public attention, since the species is a reservoir host of cutaneous leishmaniasis, a serious skin disease. The rock hyrax, however, has seldom been studied in densely populated areas, and the drivers for its urban expansion, as well as its abilities to live and spread in core urban areas, are relatively unknown. Here, we explore the rock hyrax expansion to urban areas process by examining the availability, characteristics and use of shelter along an urban gradient. Our findings suggest that a series of factors determines shelter availability and quality for the rock hyrax, which facilitates its dispersion across the urban gradient. We found that rock hyraxes from the Judean Desert expand to the peri‐urban region of Jerusalem by colonizing new rocky shelters formed as by‐products of urban development. With their populations reaching extreme densities in this area and saturating the available shelters, there is some spill over to the adjacent core urban areas where they colonize littered sites, which are made available due to the local socio‐economic conditions and cultural norms of waste disposal and illegal placement of temporary structures. Our work emphasizes the significance of the urban gradient approach for studying the mechanisms promoting wildlife expansion to cities. Our findings suggest that changes in shelter availability and quality due to urban development, and cultural norms promote shifts of the hyrax population by pushing from the already established areas and pulling into new environment across the urban gradient.     

Mate recognition and pairing in the big‐clawed snapping shrimp,Alpheus heterochelis

Most studied snapping shrimp are found in male‐female pairs, cohabiting a common shelter. Studying Alpheus heterochelis in the laboratory, we determined that both sexes discriminate a former mate, from which they have been separated for 24 h, from a stranger. Strangers are more aggressive towards each other and show significantly lower frequencies of non‐agonistic (stroking and touching) behaviours than do former mates. We also established that the probability of re‐pairing between former mates and the pairing latency are strongly dependent on which sex remained in the home tank. If the female remains resident, she is equally likely to pair with a stranger and with her former mate (when tested separately), and there is no difference in pairing latency. If the male remains resident, the frequency of pairing between former mates is significantly higher than between strangers, and the pairing latency is significantly shorter. From these differences, we infer that the social bond may be adapted to absence from the shelter by the female, but not by the male.     

Cryosphere: ice on Niwot Ridge and in the Green Lakes Valley,Colorado Front Range

Background: Subsurface ice preserved as ice lenses and within rock glaciers as well as glacial and lake ice provides sensitive indicators of climate change and serve as a late-season source of meltwater.

Aims: We synthesise the results of geomorphological, geophysical and geochemical studies during the period of 1995–2014, building on a long history of earlier work focused on ice and permafrost studies on Niwot Ridge and the adjacent Green Lakes Valley (GLV), which is part of the Niwot Ridge Long Term Ecological Research Site.

Methods: These studies are discussed in the context of how bodies of ice and rock glaciers reflect changing local climate. We review recent results from geophysical investigations (resistivity, seismic refraction and ground-penetrating radar) of the shallow subsurface, ongoing monitoring of the Arikaree Glacier, three rock glaciers and lake ice in the GLV, and interpretations of how subsurface ice melt regulates the flow and chemistry of alpine surface water after seasonal snowfields melt.

Results and conclusions: Permafrost conditions reported from Niwot Ridge in the 1970s are generally absent today, but ice lenses form and melt seasonally. Ice is present permanently within the Green Lakes 5 rock glacier and at nearby favourable sites. The Arikaree Glacier has shown a marked decline in cumulative mass balance during the past 12 years after a 30-year period when net mass balance was ca. 0. Duration of seasonal lake ice increases with elevation in GLV, but duration has decreased at all seven lakes that have been monitored during the last three decades. This decrease has been most marked at the lowest elevation where it amounted to a reduction of about 1 d year^?1 and least at Green Lake 5 where the loss has been at a rate of 0.5 d year^?1. Surface temperature measurements from rock glaciers have not shown strong trends during the past 15 years. It has been suggested that almost all of the 2.5-mm year^?1 increase in stream discharge from the upper GLV in September and October has been derived from melting of subsurface ice.     

Burned Rock Midden Sites on the Southwestern Edge of the Edwards Plateau,Texas

Abstract

Data from two groups of burned rock midden sites are presented. Occupation of the sites seems to have been heaviest during Archaic times, with some Late Prehistoric and possible Paleo-Indian components also recognized. A burial is described from one site. Problems pertaining to burned rock midden sites are briefly discussed.     

Host behavior modification of Achaearanea tingo (Araneae: Theridiidae) induced by the parasitoid wasp Zatypota alborhombarta (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)

Behavioral manipulation involving Zatypota (Ichneumonidae: Pimplinae) parasitoids and their spider hosts is usually associated with an increase in web complexity at the location where the parasitoid larva builds its cocoon. A higher number of web threads at this location may improve stability and provide a physical barrier against potential predators. However, we observed that parasitized individuals of Achaearanea tingo attacked by Z. alborhombarta change the three‐dimensional structure of their webs to a very simple and strong structure composed of two cables attached to the surrounding vegetation. This structure holds the curled leaf formerly used by the spider as a shelter. The parasitoid larva remains protected within this shelter after killing the host. The architectural pattern of the cocoon webs of A. tingo indicates that host manipulation is characterized by the repetition of one specific subroutine involved in web construction. Similar alterations have been previously described for cocoon webs constructed by parasitized orb‐weavers, but not for the three‐dimensional webs of theridiids.     

Studies on high altitude saxicolous Cyanophyta IV. « Hyphomorpha borzii », sp. nov., a new alga from India

Abstract

The morphology of a new species of Hyphomorpha, Borzi, collected from 3,300 metres above sea level underneath a rock in Singalila Range along Eastern Himalayas, has been studied and named as Hyphomorpha borzii. The relationship, affinities and taxonomy of the alga have been critically discussed at the end.     

Palynology of late Pleistocene hyrax middens,southwestern Cape Province,South Africa: A preliminary report

Botanical remains, especially pollen, preserved in dung middens of rock‐dwelling hyraxes (herbivorous mammals belonging to the genus Procavia) have been studied in the Southern African winter‐rainfall area. Seven middens from a single rock shelter on the north‐eastern side of the Cederberg mountain range, Cape Province, are dated by 15 radiocarbon age determinations to between about 19,700 and 1370 yr BP. Plant remains in the middens are mainly fine, partly digested fragments. Identifiable macro‐botanical rests like seeds are scarce, therefore this preliminary investigation is focused on analysis of abundant pollen grains. The results show changes in a Southern Hemisphere equivalent of the Mediterranean macchia vegetation, viz. “fynbos”;. Although “fynbos”; prevailed at the site throughout the studied period, an altitudinal lowering of vegetation belts is indicated during the Last Glacial Maximum, while an increase in arboreal pollen types, especially Dodonea is shown during terminal Pleistocene and Holocene times.     

Social Organisation and Competition for Refuges and Nest Sites in Coryphopterus nicholsii (Gobiidae), a Temperate Protogynous Reef Fish

The ability of larger males to control resources and monopolise spawnings is thought to explain the benefits of protogyny in some animals. Here we describe the breeding and non-breeding social organisations of a temperate protogynous goby, Coryphopterus nicholsii, in the light of this prediction. Our results confirm that C. nicholsii has a stable social organisation, based on the year-round defence of a territory by both females and males. As predicted, larger individuals of both sexes were more likely to defend territories than smaller ones. These territories always included one or more shelter rocks, which were used as refuges by both sexes throughout the year, and also as nest sites by males in the breeding season. We then use experimental manipulation of shelter rock availability to examine the influence of intraspecific competition on territory establishment by smaller males. Following the removal of resident, non-nesting males, territories were quickly taken over. In addition, artificial reefs and nest sites were quickly colonised. Therefore, it appears that suitable shelter rocks are limited. Furthermore, intraspecific competition is strongly size-specific in C. nicholsii and determines which individuals gain access to shelter rocks. The presence of these social conditions is consistent with the prediction that the ability of larger males to monopolise more than one mate affects the occurrence of protogyny in some animals, and may clarify the occurrence of protogyny in C. nicholsii.     

Species Displacement Between an Introduced and A ‘vulnerable’ Crayfish: The Role of Aggressive Interactions and Shelter Competition

In eastern Hokkaidô, Japan, the native crayfish Cambaroides japonicus de Haan has been declining rapidly while the exotic crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus Dana has been expanding its range. We speculated that the observed displacement of Cambaroides by Pacifastacus is partly due to an interference interaction for shelter between the two species. We studied the impacts of Pacifastacus on Cambaroides by testing experimentally whether intensity of interference, the outcome of dominance order and shelter occupancy differed between single- and mixed-species combinations of the two species. Pacifastacus showed less defensive behaviours towards Cambaroides than to conspecifics. In contrast, Cambaroides exhibited more defensive behaviours towards Pacifastacus than to conspecifics. Pairwise comparison of agonistic behaviours in mixed species groups revealed that Pacifastacus exhibiting frequently more aggressive attacks while Camaboides showing more defensive behaviours to their respective counterparts. Dominance in aggressive encounter generally dictated shelter occupancy in mixed-species and Pacifastacus pairs but not in Cambaroides pairs. Because shelter utilization, when these are not limited in supply, was much more frequent in Cambaroides than Pacifastacus, Cambaroides suffered interference from both conspecifics and heterospecifics when they competed for a single shelter. Pacifastacus, however, did not show any change in shelter occupancy in the presence or absence of conspecics or heterospecifics. Inferiority in aggressive interactions and shelter occupancy can therefore be a critical disadvantage for Cambaroides if shelters are limited in natural situations.     

Structure and Organization of a Burned Rock Midden: The Indian Creek Site,Real County,Texas

Abstract

Excavation of a Central Texas burned rock midden was conducted to test hypotheses generated by study of a systematic surface collection. Some significant findings on social organization and function of the midden are verified by multiple typologies. The structure of the midden is attributed to successive cooking devices. The economic organization was entirely a matter of nuclear families.     

Geomicrobial Processes and Biodiversity in the Deep Terrestrial Subsurface

The concept of a deep microbial biosphere has advanced over the past several decades from a hypothesis viewed with considerable skepticism to being widely accepted. Phylogenetically diverse prokaryotes have been cultured from or detected via characterization of directly-extracted nucleic acids from a wide range of deep terrestrial environments. Recent advances have linked the metabolic potential of these microorganisms, determined directly or inferred from phylogeny, to biogeochemical reactions determined via geochemical measurements and modeling. Buried organic matter or kerogen is an important source of energy for sustaining anaerobic heterotrophic microbial communities in deep sediments and sedimentary rock although rates of respiration are among the slowest rates measured on the planet. In contrast, Subsurface Lithoautotrophic Microbial Ecosystems based on H ₂ as the primary energy source appear to dominate in many crystalline rock environments. These photosynthesis-independent ecosystems remain an enigma due to the difficulty in accessing and characterizing appropriate samples. Deep mines and dedicated rock laboratories, however, may offer unprecedented opportunities for investigating subsurface microbial communities and their interactions with the geosphere.     

Cherokee Mountain Rock Shelter

Abstract

Cherokee Mountain Rock Shelter is south of Denver, in Douglas County, Colorado, and overlooks Plum Creek near the small town of Sedalia. The shelter was formed in a sandstone conglomerate in an area of high bluffs and gently rolling hills. Three intermixed levels were excavated, with artifacts from each dating from the Late Prehistoric Period. A few sherds, suggestive of a Shoshonean occupation, were in the top two levels.     

Competition for shelter in a high-diversity system: structure use by large reef fishes

Competition among large reef fishes for shelter beneath tabular structures provides a rare opportunity to study competition in a species-rich environment. The system permits a detailed study of localised competition with major implications for coral reefs with respect to human impacts including climate change. Using underwater video cameras, this study examined competition among 30 species of large reef fishes (from nine families) for access to shelter provided by 26 tabular structures, which may be the highest reported diversity of vertebrates competing for a single resource. Mean concentrations of fishes under tabular structures were also among the highest biomass recorded on reefs (4.71 kg m⁻²). A generated dominance hierarchy for the occupation of shelter appeared to be primarily driven by the size of fishes. In contrast to previous studies, fishes higher in the hierarchy tended to exhibit the lowest levels of aggression. However, size difference between fishes was found to be strongly negatively correlated with the proportion of aggressive interactions (R ² = 0.971, P < 0.0001). The strong competition for the shade provided by these corals highlights concerns about future shifts in the structure of large reef fish communities as corals are lost. This is particularly concerning given the critical functional roles played by certain species of large reef fishes that utilise tabular structure for shelter and which occupy the lower ranks of the dominance hierarchy.