元谋小河村古猿上颌骨化石的初步研究

１９８７年初和１９８９年１１月,分别在云南省元谋县小河村的蝴蝶梁子和盖排梁子,发现了两件古猿上颌骨化石（ＹＭ１２和ＹＭ１５０）,原研究者将前者订名为“腊玛古猿属蝴蝶种（Ｒａｍａｐｉｔｈｅｃｕｓｈｕｄｉｅｎｅｓｉｓ）。”作者研究了这两件标本,从形态上看,两者十分相似,从尺寸上可分为大、小两个类型,它们可能是同一种的雌雄个体,：即前者大,为雄性;后者小,为雌性。它们与禄丰古猿（Ｌｕｆｅｎｇｐｉｔｈｅｃｕｓｌｕｆｅｎｇｅｎｓｉｓ）的形态非常相似,它们应归为禄丰古猿属。但这两件小河的标本,又有它们的固有特点,所以暂归之于Ｌｕｆｅｎｇｐｉｔｈｅｃｕｓｓｐ．。     

Raw material selectivity of the earliest stone toolmakers at Gona, Afar, Ethiopia

Published evidence of Oldowan stone exploitation generally supports the conclusion that patterns of raw material use were determined by local availability. This is contradicted by the results of systematic studies of raw material availability and use among the earliest known archaeological sites from Gona, Afar, Ethiopia. Artifact assemblages from six Pliocene archaeological sites were compared with six random cobble samples taken from associated conglomerates that record pene-contemporaneous raw material availability. Artifacts and cobbles were evaluated according to four variables intended to capture major elements of material quality: rock type, phenocryst percentage, average phenocryst size, and groundmass texture. Analyses of these variables provide evidence of hominid selectivity for raw material quality. These results demonstrate that raw material selectivity was a potential component of Oldowan technological organization from its earliest appearance and document a level of technological sophistication that is not always attributed to Pliocene hominids.     

A new hominin from the Basal Member of the Hadar Formation, Dikika, Ethiopia, and its geological context

In this paper we report for the first time hominin remains from the Basal Member of the Hadar Formation at Dikika, in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia, dating to greater than 3.4 Ma. The new fossil, DIK-2-1, is a fragment of a left mandible and associated dentition. The mandible is attributed to Australopithecus afarensis. However, the new fossil exhibits some metric and morphological features that have not previously been seen in the A. afarensis hypodigm, increasing the already impressive degree of variation in the mandibular sample of the species.     

Cutmarked bones from Pliocene archaeological sites at Gona, Afar, Ethiopia: implications for the function of the world's oldest stone tools

Newly recorded archaeological sites at Gona (Afar, Ethiopia) preserve both stone tools and faunal remains. These sites have also yielded the largest sample of cutmarked bones known from the time interval 2.58-2.1 million years ago (Ma). Most of the cutmarks on the Gona fauna possess obvious macroscopic (e.g., deep V-shaped cross-sections) and microscopic (e.g., internal microstriations, Herzian cones, shoulder effects) features that allow us to identify them confidently as instances of stone tool-imparted damage caused by hominid butchery. In addition, preliminary observations of the anatomical placement of cutmarks on several of the recovered bone specimens suggest that Gona hominids may have eviscerated carcasses and defleshed the fully muscled upper and intermediate limb bones of ungulates--activities that further suggest that Late Pliocene hominids may have gained early access to large mammal carcasses. These observations support the hypothesis that the earliest stone artifacts functioned primarily as butchery tools and also imply that hunting and/or aggressive scavenging of large ungulate carcasses may have been part of the behavioral repertoire of hominids by c. 2.5 Ma, although a larger sample of cutmarked bone specimens is necessary to support the latter inference.     

Late Pliocene vegetation and climate of Zhangcun region,Shanxi, North China

To understand the Neogene climatic changes in eastern Asia and evaluate the intercontinental climatic differences, we have quantitatively reconstructed the vegetation successions and climatic changes in the late Pliocene Zhangcun area based on the palynological data and explored the regional climatic differences between central Europe and eastern Asia. The late Pliocene palynological assemblage of Zhangcun, Shanxi was composed of 63 palynomorphs, belonging to 50 families, covering angiosperms (90.2%), gymnosperms (9.7%), ferns (0.09%), and other elements (0.02%). Four periods of vegetation succession over time were recognized. In period 1, a needle‐ and broad‐leaved mixed forest prevailed with a cool and dry climate. Period 2 was characterized by an expansion of forest with a warmer and wetter climate. The number of conifers increased and that of herbs decreased in period 3, and the climate became cool and dry. In period 4, the forest was dominated by conifers and reflecting a cooler climate. The data of seven climatic parameters in general and four periods estimated by the Coexistence Approach suggested that (1) The late Pliocene temperatures and precipitations were higher than today. (2) The Neogene climate of both Central Europe and North China exhibited a general cooling and drying trend although the mean annual temperature dropped by ca. 1 °C in North China, vs. ca. 7 °C in Central Europe from the middle Miocene to the late Pliocene. (3) The decline of the mean maximum monthly precipitation might signal a weakening of the summer monsoon. (4) The decline of both the mean coldest monthly temperature and the mean minimum monthly precipitation might be linked to the strengthening of the winter monsoon in eastern Asia. (5) The rapid uplift of the Tibetan Plateau strengthened the climatic cooling and drying during the late Pliocene of the Zhangcun region.     

Biogeographic barriers in south‐eastern Australia drive phylogeographic divergence in the garden skink,Lampropholis guichenoti

Aim To investigate the impact of climatic oscillations and recognized biogeographic barriers on the evolutionary history of the garden skink (Lampropholis guichenoti), a common and widespread vertebrate in south‐eastern Australia. Location South‐eastern Australia. Methods Sequence data were obtained from the ND4 mitochondrial gene for 123 individuals from 64 populations across the entire distribution of the garden skink. A range of phylogenetic (maximum likelihood, Bayesian) and phylogeographic analyses (genetic diversity, Tajima’s D, Φ_ST, mismatch distribution) were conducted to examine the evolutionary history and diversification of the garden skink. Results A deep phylogeographic break (c. 14%), estimated to have occurred in the mid–late Miocene, was found between ‘northern’ and ‘southern’ populations across the Hunter Valley in northern New South Wales. Divergences among the geographically structured clades within the ‘northern’ (five clades) and ‘southern’ (seven clades) lineages occurred during the Pliocene, with the location of the major breaks corresponding to the recognized biogeographic barriers in south‐eastern Australia. Main conclusions Climatic fluctuations and the presence of several elevational and habitat barriers in south‐eastern Australia appear to be responsible for the diversification of the garden skink over the last 10 Myr. Further molecular and morphological work will be required to determine whether the two genetic lineages represent distinct species.     

Trace fossils of the bivalve panopea faujasi,pliocene, Rhodes,Greece

The large bivalve, Panopea faujasi Ménard de la Groye, 1807 is locally abundant in shallow marine sandy facies in Late Pliocene sediments of Rhodes, where it occurs in life position within its burrow. Several Panopea‐trace fossils were sectioned in a vertical plane and others in series of horizontal sections, in order to study them in detail. Morphology of the structures produced by different individuals varied greatly, and even neighbors at the same horizon were unalike in detail. All show retrusive, upward shift in accordance with sedimentary accretion, but some also show protrusive movement as a response to erosive phases. As a response to sedimentation, the bivalve dug its way upwards by moving terrigenous grains and skeletal material from above it to below. In cross section the outline is slightly oval to circular. The longest example of these retrusive structures was preserved to a length of 86 cm and had a diameter of about 15 to 20 cm. As the bivalve has a long lifespan, and burrows deeply, the structures have good preservation potential and can reveal details of depositional history. The trace fossil is named Scalichnus phiale igen. et isp. nov.