The subfossil occurrence and paleoecological implications of Macrotarsomys petteri (Rodentia: Nesomyidae) in extreme southeastern Madagascar

Remains of a large-bodied species of endemic nesomyid rodent, Macrotarsomys petteri Goodman and Soarimalala, 2005, were identified from subfossil deposits recovered from Andrahomana Cave in extreme southeastern Madagascar. This recently described extant species was previously only known from a single specimen collected at a site about 450 km northwest of Andrahomana and with distinctly different forest habitat than currently found in the vicinity of the cave. Radiocarbon dating of remains of M. petteri from the cave site indicates that it persisted in the region subsequent to human settlement. Previous reports of a large member of Macrotarsomys from other Quaternary sites in southern Madagascar are almost certainly of M. petteri. It is proposed that this species once had a broad distribution across the southern portion of the island during a more mesic period and subsequent aridification of the region has led to its local extirpation across most of its former range. To cite this article: S.M. Goodman et al., C. R. Palevol 5 (2006).     

Faunes et paléoenvironnements des principaux sites archéologiques plio-pléistocènes de la formation de Nachukui (Ouest-Turkana, Kenya)

Faunas and paleoenvironments from main archaeological Plio-Pleistocene sites of the Nachukui Formation (West Turkana, Kenya). The Nachukui Formation is currently under archaeological investigation, especially within the Kalochoro (2.35 – 1.9 Myr) and Kaitio (1.9 – 1.65 Myr) Members. Six main archaeological sites have been excavated from this time period, which yield rich vertebrate faunas collected in situ or in close vicinity to the site. Paleontological studies help to precise the specific diversity for each site and increase our documentation for each Member with the discovery of new taxa. They allow to provide new informations about the biotope diversities exploited by Hominids and show a climatic tendency towards more humid environment between the Members. To cite this article: J.-P. Brugal et al., C.R. Palevol 2 (2003).     

Indications for a humid climate in the Western Desert of Egypt 11–10 Myr ago: evidence from Galagidae (Primates, Mammalia)

The timing of desertification of the Sahara Desert is poorly understood, with recent estimates indicating an onset of hyper-aridity during the Latest Miocene. Field work in Egypt in 2005 has led to the discovery of evidence that indicates that 11–10 Ma the Western Desert was covered in woodland. Fossiliferous cave breccia at Sheikh Abdallah, Western Desert, Egypt, has yielded a Late Miocene (11–10 Ma) microvertebrate fauna, which contains Galagidae, Microchiroptera, Macroscelididae, Soricidae, Erinaceidae, and Rodentia. The locality also yielded the remains of frogs, snakes, lizards, and birds. The fauna indicates a mean annual rainfall in excess of 500 mm and perhaps as much as 1,200 mm. This palaeoclimatic information is important because it reveals that the Sahara Desert, which is today the largest in the world, was either considerably smaller during the Late Miocene than it is today, or that it did not yet exist as a continuous hyper-arid belt right across the continent. This data accords with estimates of a Latest Miocene (8–7 Ma) increase in aridity in the Sahara. To cite this article: M. Pickford et al., C. R. Palevol 5 (2006).     

The southernmost sirenian record in the eastern Pacific Ocean, from the Late Miocene of Chile

A tooth of a sirenian from the Late Miocene sediments of the Bahia Inglesa Formation (Chile) is described and referred to the Dugongidae. The fossil represents the first sirenian record from Chile and the southernmost record of the Sirenia in the eastern Pacific Ocean (latitude 27° S). The Chilean record extends the already wide geographical distribution of fossil sirenians along the Eastern Pacific coast. The presence of a sirenian during the Miocene on the Chilean coast is related to a globally warmer climatic condition and a still limited northern extension of the cold Humboldt Current. To cite this article: G. Bianucci, C. R. Palevol 5 (2006).     

New Catarrhine fossils from Moroto II, Early Middle Miocene (ca 17.5 Ma) Uganda

During the 1998–2003 field seasons of the Uganda Palaeontology Expedition, dental remains of three catarrhine species were recovered from Moroto II, Uganda. Micromammals from the locality indicate a late Early Miocene to basal Middle Miocene (ca 17.5–17 Ma) age, younger than Rusinga (17.8 Ma), but similar in age to Buluk (17.2 Ma) and Kalodirr (17.2 Ma). This paper describes and interprets new catarrhines from the site, one of which is a victoriapithecid monkey, the second a new genus and species of small-bodied ape, and the third a large hominoid. A fourth species collected in the 1960's is attibuted to Afropithecus turkanensis. To cite this article: M. Pickford et al., C. R. Palevol 2 (2003).     

Hyaenictitherium minimum, a new ictithere (Mammalia, Carnivora, Hyaenidae) from the Late Miocene of Toros-Menalla, Chad

A new species of Hyaenidae, Hyaenictitherium minimum, is described in the carnivore fauna of the Late Miocene layers of Toros-Menalla (Chad). Its size is similar to that of a jackal and it had probably a similar ecological niche. It is found in several fossil-bearing localities of this area. The genus Hyaenictitherium is known from the early Late Miocene in Eurasia from China to Spain; the Chadian material is, perhaps with some specimens from Sahabi and Lothagam, the earliest occurrence of the genus in Africa. It results certainly from Eurasian migration, which will have to be taken into account for the analysis of the bulk of the fauna. To cite this article: L. de Bonis et al., C. R. Palevol 4 (2005).     

Orycteropus (Tubulidentata, Mammalia) from Langebaanweg and Baard's Quarry, Early Pliocene of South Africa

Fossil teeth and bones of aardvarks are relatively common at Langebaanweg, an Early Pliocene site in western Cape Province, South Africa. The remains are compatible in size and most details of morphology to extant Orycteropus afer, and are the earliest fossils attributed to this species. Other Late Miocene to Early Pliocene localities in Africa have yielded smaller species of aardvarks, suggesting that the extant lineage evolved in southern Africa. Morphologically the genus Orycteropus has been remarkably conservative since at least the Early Miocene but it witnessed an overall increase in size through the Neogene. The species O. afer has been morphometrically stable since the Early Pliocene. These observations indicate that the evolutionary process in aardvarks is extremely bradytelic. To cite this article: M. Pickford, C. R. Palevol 4 (2005).     

Cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) from the Peştera cu Oase (Banat, Romania): Paleobiology and taphonomy

The 2002 discovery of the earliest European modern humans in the Peştera cu Oase (Romania) has led to systematic excavations of a bone bed (two levels), containing principally the remains of cave bears (ca. 5000 bones) and dated between 50 and 40 ka cal BP. The thanatocenosis corresponds mainly to a subadult and adult male utilization of the cavity. Levels 1 and 2 are distinguishable by different conservation processes demonstrating respectively low- and high-energy hydraulic transports. The heavy component of cannibalism may indicate bone processing for trace elements and/or a more omnivorous diet than is usually ascribed to cave bears. To cite this article: J. Quilès et al., C. R. Palevol 5 (2006).     

A new species of Anthracotheriidae, Merycopotamus medioximus nov. sp. from the Late Miocene of the Potwar Plateau, Pakistan

New anthracotheriid remains, discovered by the H-GSP in well-dated localities from the Potwar plateau in the North of Pakistan, between 10.4 and 8.6 Ma, are described and attributed to Merycopotamus medioximus nov. sp. This new species displays an intermediate morphology between the older M. pusillus and the more recent M. dissimilis. These results permit to emend the Merycopotamus diagnosis. To cite this article: F. Lihoreau et al., C. R. Palevol 3 (2004).

Résumé

Une nouvelle espèce d'Anthracotheriidae, Merycopotamus medioximus nov. sp. du Miocène récent du plateau du Potwar, Pakistan. Des restes d'Anthracotheriidae, découverts par le H-GSP dans des localités bien datées du plateau du Potwar, au Nord du Pakistan, entre 10,4 et 8,6 Ma, sont décrits et attribués à Merycopotamus medioximus nov. sp. Cette nouvelle espèce possède une morphologie intermédiaire entre M. pusillus, espèce plus ancienne, et M. dissimilis, plus récente. Ces résultats permettent en outre d'émender la diagnose du genre Merycopotamus. Pour citer cet article : F. Lihoreau et al., C. R. Palevol 3 (2004).     

Le site de Tögi Ndrawa, île de Nias, Sumatra nord : les premières traces d'une occupation hoabinhienne en grotte en Indonésie

The site of Tögi Ndrawa, Island of Nias, North Sumatra: The first record of a Hoabinhian cave occupation in Indonesia. Although in Indonesia, Hoabinhian sites usually refer to large shell midden dated back from the Holocene period, the Tögi Ndrawa cave in the Island of Nias (North Sumatra) has revealed a thick shell accumulation, sealed in a cavity, and beginning with the end of the Late Pleistocene. Excavations have produced classical Hoabinhian pebble artefacts, a forest and coastal fauna, and human bones. Beyond the new chronological landmarks provided by these findings, they question the extension of the Hoabinhian phenomenon originating from continental Asia, and provide hints about human settlement and use of the environment at this period of prehistory. Pour citer cet article : H. Forestier et al., C. R. Palevol 4 (2005).     

Late Upper Pleistocene human peopling of the Far East: multivariate analysis and geographic patterns of variation

This research deals with the History of the human peopling of Far East Asia during the Late Upper Pleistocene. It brings some new answers to the question of modern human migrations in the Far East. This study is based on morphometric analysis of 45 fossil crania. The results of the multivariate analyses, combined with the recognition of geographic patterns of variation, separate the fossils into three morphological classes. These three clusters enable us to propose a likely scenario for the human peopling of the Far East from about 67 000 years ago. To cite this article: F. Demeter et al., C. R. Palevol 2 (2003).     

The ‘Giant of Ksour’, a Middle Jurassic sauropod dinosaur from Algeria

Continental strata of Early and Middle Jurassic age are seldom-exposed, and little is known of the history of sauropod dinosaurs prior to the neosauropod radiation of the end of the Middle Jurassic. Here, we report, in the Middle Jurassic of the Occidental Saharan Atlas (Algerian High Atlas), the discovery of a skeleton, including cranial material, of a new cetiosaurid sauropod. Chebsaurus algeriensis n. g., n. sp. represents the most complete Algerian sauropod available to date, only few remains were found before. To cite this article: F. Mahammed et al., C. R. Palevol 4 (2005).     

A map of the Monte Arci (Sardinia Island, Western Mediterranean) obsidian primary to secondary sources. Implications for Neolithic provenance studies

Four types of obsidians from the Monte Arci volcanic complex (Sardinia) were used by Neolithic men in the North Tyrrhenian area of the western Mediterranean. A map of their occurrences from primary sources (mother rocks) to distant secondary deposits in the surrounding plains is presented. Some 1457 specimens were macroscopically characterized and in addition ~15% of them fingerprinted from their elemental compositions as determined by electron microprobe, neutron activation analysis or ion beam analysis. The results show that secondary sources, up to now largely neglected in provenance studies of ‘archaeological’ obsidians will have from now to be taken into account. To cite this article: C. Lugliè et al., C. R. Palevol 5 (2006).     

The Tortonian fish fauna of Gavdos Island (Greece)

Although the occurrence of fossil fishes is known since more than one century in the Neogene of Gavdos Island (Greece), its composition remained hitherto unknown. The present study demonstrates that, in the Tortonian of Gavdos, the most abundant species is Bregmaceros albyi (Sauvage), which constitutes two thirds of the collected material. This fish fauna is indicative of an environment of moderate depth, probably corresponding to the external edge of the neritic zone, or possibly to the upper part of the continental slope. To cite this article: J. Gaudant et al., C. R. Palevol 4 (2005).     

A new primitive hadrosauroid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia (P.R. China)

The right dentary of a new hadrosauroid dinosaur, Penelopognathus weishampeli, has been discovered in the Bayan Gobi Formation (Albian, Lower Cretaceous) of Inner Mongolia (P.R. China). This new taxon is characterised by its elongated, straight dental ramus, whose lateral side is pierced by about 20 irregularly distributed foramina. Its dentary teeth appear more primitive than those of Probactrosaurus, but more advanced than those of Altirhinus, both also from the Lower Cretaceous of the Gobi area. Non-hadrosaurid Hadrosauroidea were already well diversified in eastern Asia by Early Cretaceous time, suggesting an Asian origin for the hadrosauroid clade. To cite this article: P. Godefroit et al., C. R. Palevol 4 (2005).     

A Late Campanian sphenodontid (Reptilia, Diapsida) from northern Patagonia

The fossil record of sphenodontids in the Southern Hemisphere is much longer than in Laurasia, where they became extinct after Early Cretaceous times. Recent works demonstrated the persistence of at least eilenodontine sphenodontids until the ‘mid’-Cretaceous of Patagonia. Focused examination of the Los Alamitos Formation collections provided remains of Late Campanian sphenodontids. Although the phylogenetic position of these remains is still uncertain, they belong to a new, unrecorded species of sphenodontid perhaps related to opisthodontians or primitive, toothed sapheosaurs. To cite this article: S. Apesteguía, C. R. Palevol 4 (2005).     

Exploitation de la vesce commune (Vicia sativa L.) au Néolithique moyen dans le Sud de la France. Données carpologiques du site de Claparouse (Lagnes, Vaucluse)

Common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) exploitation during middle Neolithic times in Southern France. Archaeobotanical data from Claparouse (Lagnes, Vaucluse). Beginnings of common vetch cultivation are poorly documented. Domestication could have occurred in various places. Common vetch is recorded by rare seeds in pre-Neolithic and Neolithic sites but firm evidence of cultivation does not seem available before Roman times. The Neolithic site of Claparouse is providing evidence of utilization and probable cultivation as early as some 6000 years ago. Even if this pulse is nowadays only a fodder plant, it was more likely used as human food at that time. We do not know whether it was introduced in western Europe from the Near East or locally domesticated. To cite this article: L. Bouby, V. Léa, C. R. Palevol 5 (2006).     

Phenotypic plasticity of invasive Alternanthera philoxeroides in relation to different water availability, compared to its native congener

Phenotypic plasticity and genetic differentiation are two possible mechanisms that plants use to cope with varying environments. Although alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides) possesses very low genetic diversity, this alien weed has successfully invaded diverse habitats with considerably varying water availability (from swamps to dry lands) in China. In contrast, its native congener (Alternanthera sessilis) has a much narrower ecological breadth, and is usually found in moist habitats. To understand the mechanisms underlying the contrasting pattern, we performed a greenhouse experiment to compare the reaction norms of alligator weed with those of its native congener, in which water availability was manipulated. Our results revealed that the two congeners had similar direction of phenotypic plasticity. However, A. philoxeroides showed greater plasticity in amount than did A. sessilis in many traits examined during the switch from wet to drought treatment. Nearly all of the phenotypic variance in A. philoxeroides could be ascribed to plasticity, while A. sessilis had a much higher fraction of phenotypic variance that could be explained by genotypic variation. These interspecific differences in plastic responses to variable water availability partially explained the difference in spatial distribution of the two congeners.