Evolution of the supraorbital region in Upper Pleistocene fossil hominids from South-Central Europe

South-Central European fossil hominids dated to the Upper Pleistocene exhibit a distinct morphological and metric continuum in supraorbital form from early Neandertal (Krapina), through late Neandertals (Vindija), to early Upper Paleolithic hominids. The supraorbital morphologies pertinent to this continuum are documented, and the alterations in size and morphology are discussed ralative to the function of supraorbital superstructures and their relationship to overall craniofacial form. It is concluded that this continuum most likely reflects localized transition between Neandertals and modern man in this region of Europe.     

Two macaque fossil teeth from the Japanese Pleistocene

Two fossil teeth of the Pleistocene macaque of Japan are stated to be those ofMacaca cf.fuscata. One of them is a lower canine tooth found in the Shiriya mine in northern Japan. It has been thought that the fossil assemblage of the Shiriya mine is of the late Pleistocene. The canine concerned is not distinguishable from the lower right one of the living female Japanese monkey. The other is a lower molar taken from the Ando quarry in western Japan. The fossil assemblage from the Ando quarry or from sites neighbouring the quarry indicates that the age of the molar can be traced back to the middle Pleistocene. The molar concerned has a somewhat buccolingually depressed crown as compared with that of the living Japanese monkey (Macaca fuscata).     

The view from the Lincoln Cave: mid- to late Pleistocene fossil deposits from Sterkfontein hominid site, South Africa

The Lincoln-Fault cave system lies adjacent to the Sterkfontein Cave system in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, Gauteng Province, South Africa. Lincoln Cave contains a mid- to late Pleistocene fossiliferous deposit which has been dated using uranium series methods to between 252,600+/-35,600 and 115,300+/-7,700 years old. Although speleologists presumed that there was no connection between the Lincoln Cave and Sterkfontein Cave systems, results of excavations conducted in 1997 suggest a link between the deposits. Detailed comparisons of artifacts, fauna, hominid material, and a statistical correspondence analysis (CA) of the macromammalian fauna in the deposits strongly support this hypothesis. The recovery of Early Acheulean-type artifacts from the Lincoln Cave suggests that older artifacts eroded out of Sterkfontein Member 5 West and were redeposited into the younger Lincoln Cave deposits. The close physical proximity of these deposits, and the nature of the material recovered from them, indicates that the material was probably redeposited via a link between the two cave systems. Although faunal mixing is present, it is possible to say that large carnivorans become more scarce at Sterkfontein during the mid- to late Pleistocene, while small canids and felids appear to become more abundant, indicating that large and small carnivorans probably varied their use of the site through time. This may also reflect an increasing presence of humans in the Sterkfontein area during the mid- to late Pleistocene.     

The trace fossil Thalassinoides from the Upper Ordovician of Tuva

Traces of Thalassinoides (the tunnels of unknown burrowing organisms) are described from carbonates of the Khondelensky layers of the Upper Ordovician of Tuva. Hitherto, this fossil was unknown in the Ordovician of the USSR. They demonstrate great similarity with Thalassinoides from coeval deposits of the Great Basin, USA. The traces are assumed to have been made in terrigenous-carbonate sediments deposited on the areas of a gently sloping shelf in quiet water, below wave base. □ Upper Ordovician, terrigenous-carbonate sediments, burrows.     

A fossil hominid frontal from Velika Pećina (Croatia) and a consideration of Upper Pleistocene hominids from Yugoslavia

Fossil hominid remains dating to the Upper Pleistocene in Yugoslavia are reviewed. Particular emphasis is placed on the assessment of a hominid frontal from the site of Velika Pe?ina in northwestern Croatia. This specimen represents the earliest absolutely-dated hominid associated with the Upper Paleolithic in Europe. Also the hominid material from the site of Veternica is discussed, and data are presented on the new remains from ?andalja. It is concluded that no Neandertal remains, except for Krapina, have been found in Yugoslavia.     

Dynamic bone remodeling in later Pleistocene fossil hominids

Histomorphometric analysis of femoral and tibial diaphyseal fragments from seven Late Archaic and three Early Modern humans are compared with those of the Pecos, a pre-Columbian Native American population. The ten samples, from Broken Hill (EM-793), Shanidar 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, Tabun 1, and Skhul 3, 6, and 7, provide age-at-death results consistent with earlier estimates for most individuals. The Pleistocene groups exhibit less bone turnover and smaller osteons than Recent populations. Resorption and formation were both coupled and balanced in these Pleistocene populations, but the overall vigor of individual cells from both the osteoclast and osteoblast cell lines was less than in Recent populations. Thus the greater bone mass in Later Pleistocene members of the genus Homo is not the result of higher levels of bone turnover, at least among adults. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Middle Pleistocene fossil Cercopithecidae from Asbole, Afar Region, Ethiopia

A sample of 117 fossil cercopithecids has been collected from the Middle Pleistocene site of Asbole, Afar Region, Ethiopia. A minimum of five species is present. There are two species of Cercopithecini, here recognized as cf. Chlorocebus aff. aethiops, and cf. Chlorocebus cf. patas. There are also two species of Papionini: Papio hamadryas ssp. indet. and Theropithecus oswaldi leakeyi. Finally, there is a single species of colobine present, Colobus sp. indet. The assemblage is chronologically constrained and is derived from sediments dated to approximately 600 ka. Within this sample Colobus sp. is by far the most common species present, outnumbering the other four species combined. The cercopithecid assemblage is most consistent with a woodland habitat, corroborating an earlier interpretation based on the non-primate fauna. Taxonomic, biogeographic, and evolutionary implications of the assemblage are also discussed.     

The fauna and associated artefacts from the Lower Pleistocene site of Mansourah (Constantine, Algeria)

The site of Mansourah (Constantine, Algeria) had yielded to the early authors, and more recently to the late G. Laplace, a lithic industry associated with a fauna of large Mammals, which looks contemporaneous with that of Aïn Hanech, although it is well-distinct ecologically, and might even be slightly older. The lithic assemblage is completely devoid of any bifacial artefact or cleaver and can only be referred to the Oldowan. Thus, the Mansourah site documents a very early human occupation of North Africa, and perhaps one of the earliest. To cite this article: Y. Chaid-Saoudi et al., C. R. Palevol 5 (2006).     

Triuridaceae fossil flowers from the Upper Cretaceous of New Jersey

We report here on a series of fossil flowers exhibiting a mosaic of characters present in the extant monocot family Triuridaceae. Phylogenetic analyses of morphological data from a broad sample of extant monocots confirm the affinities of the fossils with modern Triuridaceae. The fossil flowers were collected from outcrops of the Raritan Formation (Upper Cretaceous, ～90 million years before present), New Jersey, USA. These are the oldest known unequivocal monocot flowers. Because other reports of earliest monocots are all based on equivocal character suites and/or ambiguously preserved fossil material, the Triuridaceae fossils reported here should also be considered as the oldest unequivocal fossil monocots. Flowers are minute and unisexual (only male flowers are known); the perianth is composed of six tepals, lacking stomata. The unicyclic androecium is of three stamens with dithecal, monosporangiate, extrorse anthers that open by longitudinal slits. The endothecium has U-shaped type thickenings. Pollen grains are monosulcate. The triurid fossil flowers can be separated into three distinctive species. On the basis of phylogenetic analyses of morphological characters, the fossil taxa nest within the completely saprophytic achlorophyllous Triuridaceae supporting the interpretation that the extinct plants were also achlorophyllous and saprophytic. If so, this represents the earliest known fossil occurrence of the saprophytic/mycotrophic habit in angiosperms.     

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.     

New gastropod species from the Pleistocene of the Upper Don basin

Two new species of fossil freshwater gastropods, Borysthenia intermedia sp. nov. and Tanousia krasnenkovi sp. nov., from the Tiraspol deposits of the Middle Pleistocene of the Oka-Don Plain are described. Parafossarulus priscillae (Girotti, 1972), Viviparus diluvianus (Künth, 1865), and Lithoglyphus jahni Urbasnski, 1975 are reported from Russia for the first time. The status of some problematic species of freshwater gastropods from the Middle Pleistocene of the region studied is discussed. The chronological and environmental significance of all gastropods studied is given.     

Helminth eggs in animal coprolites from a Middle Pleistocene site in Europe

This paper reports on the discovery of dicrocoelid eggs in a coprolite collected in an archeological layer dated earlier than 550,000 yr BP (before present) from the Caune de l'Arago cave (Tautavel, Pyrénées-Orientales, France). It is the first trematode egg finding in an isolated coprolite from the Middle Pleistocene context.     

Parasitic fauna of the muskrat from the Upper Ob' pine forest

The gamasid mites Laelaps multispinosus and Hirstionyssus isabellinus, flea Ceratophyllus (Megabotris) rectangulatus, trematodes Plagiorchis proximus, P. eutamiatis, P. obensis, P. multiglandularis, Quinqueserialis quinqueserialis and Opisthorchis felineus, cestodes Aprostotandria macrocephala and Alveococcus multilocularis, larvae, were found in 78 specimens of Ondatra zibethica from water bodies of the Upper Ob pine forest. The mite L. multispinosus is reported as the most abundant ectoparasite of this population of the muskrat. As to helminths most abundant and frequently encountered are Q. Quinqueserialis and A. macrocephala which at high infection intensity can cause decrease in the muskrat abundance.     

A new elephant fossil from the late Pleistocene of Alghero: The puzzling question of Sardinian dwarf elephants

Endemic elephants, variously reduced in size, have been reported from a number of Mediterranean islands. Most of these originated from the mainland species Palaeoloxodon antiquus. A few dwarf mammoth remains are recorded from Crete and Sardinia. In Sardinia, a largely incomplete skeleton and a few mammoth teeth have been reported from localities believed to range in age from the late middle to the late Pleistocene. The chronology of colonisation by the ancestral species, the actual persistence through time of Mammuthus lamarmorai on the island, and the morphological and dimensional range of the species are, however, poorly known. This research aims to describe a distal portion of a left tibia of a dwarf elephant found in the Alghero area (NW Sardinia), showing some morphological traits and dimensions consistent with those of the endemic Sardinian mammoth (Mammuthus lamarmorai). The main unanswered questions about chronology, colonisation and population dynamics of endemic Sardinian elephants are highlighted and briefly discussed.     

New European fossil hominid material from an Acheulean site near Rome (Castel di Guido)

New fossil hominid material recovered from an Acheulean Italian archeological site is reported. It consists of two portions of femora, an occipital fragment, a fragmentary right maxilla, and a portion of parietal. Each specimen is described in detail and measurements are given. On the basis of the morphology, which includes primitive traits reminiscent of Homo erectus, and of the archeological, paleontological, and stratigraphical association, these new fossils are referred to the early European group.     

Continental molluscs of the fossil site Sandelzhausen (Miocene; Upper Freshwater Molasse from Bavaria) and their value for palaeoecological assessment

The continental mollusc fauna of Sandelzhausen (Southern Germany, Early/Middle Miocene, MN5) is presented and shown to consist of 66 snail and 3 bivalve taxa. Previous ecological interpretations were partly based on poorly preserved material and are shown to be erroneous. Within a series of quantitative samples, ecologically four mollusc communities can be distinguished (two each for terrestrial and freshwater molluscs), highly indicative of ecological conditions and changes in the landscape surrounding the fossil site as well as the locality itself. Open scrub-lands with temporary waters, as indicated by forms such as Granaria and the dominance of lymnaeids, are steadily replaced with damp forests with abundant litter and rotting wood surrounding a perennial lake with small tributaries. These more favorable conditions are indicated by an overall increase of mollusc diversity, rising abundance of planorbids, and presence of restricted forms such as Drepanotrema (intolerant to droughts) as well as certain forest dwellers such as Gastrocopta and hygromiids. Molluscs are highly sensitive to environmental changes, which is reflected in the fossil record of Sandelzhausen.