scholarly journals Preliminary small mammal taphonomy of FLK NW level 20 (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania)

2010 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saleta Arcos ◽  
Paloma Sevilla ◽  
Yolanda Fernández-Jalvo
Keyword(s):  
Human Evolution ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Reference Site ◽  
Barn Owl ◽  
Good Evidence ◽  
Olduvai Gorge ◽  
Homo Habilis ◽  
New Information ◽  
Taphonomic Analysis

AbstractThe Bed-I series of Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) is a reference site in human evolution, having yielded the holotypes of Paranthropus boisei and Homo habilis, together with manufactured artefacts and abundant large and micro-fauna. Excavations in Olduvai Gorge have been recently resumed, with new aims and new results. This paper presents the results of the taphonomic analysis carried out on a fossil small-mammal assemblage recovered from FLK NW level 20, a layer overlying Tuff C, dated from 1.84 Ma. The analysis provides good evidence of a category 1 predator, most likely a barn owl, as the predator of the bone assemblage. Trampling and sediment compression might influence postdepositional breakage of the bones. This study is especially relevant since previous taphonomic analyses carried out at levels above and below this sample led to inconclusive results due to a low number of fossils (Fernández-Jalvo et al., 1998). The new sample provides new information to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental context in which early hominins inhabited.

On meat eating and human evolution: A taphonomic analysis of BK4b (Upper Bed II, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania), and its bearing on hominin megafaunal consumption

2014 ◽  
Vol 322-323 ◽  
pp. 129-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Domínguez-Rodrigo ◽  
H.T. Bunn ◽  
A.Z.P. Mabulla ◽  
E. Baquedano ◽  
D. Uribelarrea ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Evolution ◽  
Olduvai Gorge ◽  
Meat Eating ◽  
Taphonomic Analysis

An attempt to determine the size of the Common Barn-owl’s (Tyto alba) hunting area based on its prey composition

2021 ◽  
pp. 175815592110660
Author(s):  
Jenő J Purger ◽  
Dávid Szép
Keyword(s):  
Functional Groups ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Barn Owl ◽  
Tyto Alba ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Open Forest ◽  
Prey Composition ◽  
Small Mammal Species ◽  
Owl Pellets

The relative abundance of small mammal species detected from Common Barn-owl pellets reflects the landscape structure and habitat pattern of the owl’s hunting area, but it is also affected by the size of the collected pellet sample and the size of the supposed hunting area. The questions arise: how many pellets should be collected and analyzed as well as how large hunting area should be taken into consideration in order to reach the best correspondence between the owl’s prey composition and the distribution of habitats preferred by small mammals preyed in supposed hunting areas? For this study, we collected 1045 Common Barn-owl pellets in a village in southern Hungary. All detected small mammal species were classified into functional groups (guilds) preferring urban, open, forest and wetland habitats. The proportion of functional groups was compared to the proportion of these habitats around the pellet collection site within circles of one, two, and three km radius. Saturation curves showed that at least 300 pellets or ca. 600 mammalian remains are required for the detection of the 19 small mammal species. The share of small mammals detected in the prey and their functional groups according to their habitat preference showed an increasing consistency with the distribution of real habitats in the potential hunting area of a radius of 3 km around the owl’s breeding or resting place.

Prey selection by barn owls in relation to small-mammal community and population structure in a Sahelian agro-ecosystem

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Granjon ◽  
Mahamane Traoré
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
Prey Selection ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Tooth Wear ◽  
Barn Owl ◽  
Reproductive Period ◽  
Site Distribution ◽  
Barn Owls ◽  
Small Mammal Community ◽  
Major Shift

Barn owl pellet content was studied on seven occasions over a 2-y period during which terrestrial small-mammal populations were assessed via a capture-mark-recapture (CMR) programme in a Sahelian agro-ecosystem of the Inner Delta of Niger River in Mali. Rodents (especially Mastomys huberti representing 78.5% of the total number of prey) were the major prey of the barn owl on all but one occasion, when bats were dominant. This exception coincided with the period of lowest abundance of M. huberti at the study site. Distribution of M. huberti prey into four age classes was assessed through analysis of tooth wear in remains from the seasonal pellet samples. Comparisons with age structure of the CMR population indicate that the barn owl tended to prey on smaller-than-average (thus younger) individuals, especially when these are rare in the population (non-reproductive period between June and October). The spectrum of prey consumed is compared with data previously reported in Sahelian Africa, showing for the first time in this region a major shift in prey choice by the barn owl when its preferred prey becomes rare. At the rodent population level, the apparent choice of younger M. huberti prey at some periods is interpreted in the light of our knowledge on population dynamics of the species in this habitat.

scholarly journals Discovery of the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) on Ushant Island (Brittany, France)

Mammalia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 83 (5) ◽  
pp. 496-500
Author(s):  
Olivier Lorvelec ◽  
Pascal Rolland ◽  
Patricia Le Quilliec ◽  
François Quénot ◽  
Alain Butet
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
Bank Vole ◽  
Ecological Monitoring ◽  
Barn Owl ◽  
Myodes Glareolus ◽  
Term Basis ◽  
Suitable Habitats ◽  
Bank Vole Myodes Glareolus ◽  
Owl Pellets

Abstract Ecological monitoring of small mammal occurrence on Ushant Island (Brittany, France) revealed the presence of the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) in September 2017. This was the first report of the bank vole on the island. Evaluation of previous small mammal monitoring and analysis of several batches of barn owl pellets allowed us to conclude that the arrival on the island is recent, sometime between 1995 and 2017. Further study is necessary to determine whether the current population, still incompletely distributed into suitable habitats of the island, will be self-sustaining on a long-term basis.

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