Late Pleistocene climatic change in the French Jura (Gigny) recorded in the δ18O of phosphate from ungulate tooth enamel

2011 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 605-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magali Fabre ◽  
Christophe Lécuyer ◽  
Jean-Philip Brugal ◽  
Romain Amiot ◽  
François Fourel ◽  
...  

AbstractOxygen isotope compositions of phosphate in tooth enamel from large mammals (i.e. horse and red deer) were measured to quantify past mean annual air temperatures and seasonal variations between 145 ka and 33 ka in eastern France. The method is based on interdependent relationships between the δ18O of apatite phosphate, environmental waters and air temperatures. Horse (Equus caballus germanicus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) remains have δ18O values that range from 14.2‰ to 17.2‰, indicating mean air temperatures between 7°C and 13°C. Oxygen isotope time series obtained from two of the six horse teeth show a sinusoidal-like signal that could have been forced by temperature variations of seasonal origin. Intra-tooth oxygen isotope variations reveal that at 145 ka, winters were colder (− 7 ± 2°C) than at present (3 ± 1°C) while summer temperatures were similar. Winter temperatures mark a well-developed West–East thermal gradient in France of about − 9°C, much stronger than the −4°C difference recorded presently. Negative winter temperatures were likely responsible for the extent and duration of the snow cover, thus limiting the food resources available for large ungulates with repercussions for Neanderthal predators.

2004 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Navarro ◽  
Christophe Lécuyer ◽  
Sophie Montuire ◽  
Cyril Langlois ◽  
François Martineau

Oxygen isotope compositions of biogenic phosphates from mammals are widely used as proxies of the isotopic compositions of meteoric waters that are roughly linearly related to the air temperature at high- and mid-latitudes. An oxygen isotope fractionation equation was determined by using present-day European arvicoline (rodents) tooth phosphate: δ18Op = 20.98(±0.59) + 0.572(±0.065) δ18Ow. This fractionation equation was applied to the Late Pleistocene karstic sequence of Gigny, French Jura. Comparison between the oxygen isotope compositions of arvicoline tooth phosphate and Greenland ice core records suggests to reconsider the previously established hypothetical chronology of the sequence. According to the δ18O value of meteoric water–mean air temperature relationships, the δ18O value of arvicoline teeth records variations in mean air temperatures that range from 0° to 15°C.


Author(s):  
D. G. Malikov ◽  
◽  
V. V. Sizova ◽  
N. E. Berdnikova ◽  
I. M. Berdnikov ◽  
...  

The paper presents the detailed results of the archaeozoological study of the large mammals from the Shchapova 2 Upper Paleolithic site located in Irkutsk. Excavations in 2019 revealed four conditionally defined horizons with archaeological and faunal material; within the studied area subaerial sediments of deluvial origin were uncovered. Layers 3 and 4 were attributed to the Karginian period (MIS 3), layer 2 to the Early Sartanian period (MIS 2), layer 1 to the Holocene (MIS 1). The largest number of bone remains was obtained from layer 4. Altogether we recognized ten taxa: Spermophilus sp., Panthera spelaea, Mammuthus primigenius, Equus sp., Coelodonta antiquitatis, Cervus elaphus, Megaloceros giganteus, Alces alces, Rangifer tarandus, Bison priscus. The species composition of Shchapova 2 site is characteristic of the Late Pleistocene of region with a predominance of horse and steppe bison, diversity of cervids and presence of woolly mammoth and rhinoceros. Most of the bones have only slightly weathered surfaces. It indicates that the bulk of the bone remains were only exposed for a short time on the surface or in the soil prior to deeper burial. The analysis of the faunal material suggests that the accumulation of bones from layers 3 and 4 took place in the hunter camp. The subsistence strategy was based primarily on two game animals: horse and steppe bison. Horses and steppe bison were killed in the immediate vicinity of the site. Sometimes red deer and moose were hunted from remote areas. Large parts of horse and steppe bison carcasses were transported from a kill and initial butchering site to a residential and consumption site. Most likely the complete and unprocessed reindeer carcasses were brought to the camp. Reindeer skull fragments found in the layer 4 indicate that the Shchapova 2 site most likely was seasonally occupied during late autumn or winter. However, due to the small amount of bones these data are preliminary. The fauna from the Upper Paleolithic site Shchapova 2 is indicative of tundra-steppe. The presence of red deer and moose remains suggests the forest in the vicinity of the site, probably represented by floodplain forests.


1998 ◽  
Vol 244 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Long ◽  
N.P. Moore ◽  
T. J. Hayden

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARCO MASSETP ◽  
BRUNO ZAVA

During the nineteenth century, scientific literature and official reports recorded the occurrence of a population of red deer, Cervus elaphus, on the island of Lampedusa (Pelagian Archipelago, Italy). Osteological specimens collected by the zoologist Enrico Hillier Giglioli towards the end of the century confirmed these references. Since cervids are not found among the fossil fauna of the island, the red deer must have been introduced by man although we do not yet know precisely when. The former existence of the species on Lampedusa is discussed by comparison of literary material and bone evidence. The population's probable origins and its taxonomic relationships with other Mediterranean red deer populations are also analysed.


Reproduction ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Fisher ◽  
B. McLeod ◽  
D. Heath ◽  
S Lun ◽  
P. Hurst

Reproduction ◽  
2000 ◽  
pp. 387-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
KJ Demmers ◽  
HN Jabbour ◽  
DW Deakin ◽  
AP Flint

The role of interferon in early pregnancy in red deer was investigated by (a) measuring production of interferon by the conceptus, (b) testing the anti-luteolytic effect of recombinant interferon-tau in non-pregnant hinds, and (c) treatment of hinds with interferon after asynchronous embryo transfer. Blastocysts were collected from 34 hinds by uterine flushing 14 (n = 2), 16 (n = 2), 18 (n = 8), 20 (n = 13) or 22 (n = 9) days after synchronization of oestrus with progesterone withdrawal. Interferon anti-viral activity was detectable in uterine flushings from day 16 to day 22, and increased with duration of gestation (P < 0.01) and developmental stage (P < 0.01). When interferon-tau was administered daily between day 14 and day 20 to non-pregnant hinds to mimic natural blastocyst production, luteolysis was delayed by a dose of 0.2 mg day(-1) (27.3 +/- 1.3 days after synchronization, n = 4 versus 21 +/- 0 days in control hinds, n = 3; P < 0.05). Interferon-tau was administered to hinds after asynchronous embryo transfer to determine whether it protects the conceptus against early pregnancy loss. Embryos (n = 24) collected on day 6 from naturally mated, superovulated donors (n = 15) were transferred into synchronized recipients on day 10 or day 11. Interferon-tau treatment (0.2 mg daily from day 14 to 20) increased calving rate from 0 to 64% in all recipients (0/11 versus 7/11, P < 0.005), and from 0 to 67% in day 10 recipients (0/8 versus 6/9, P < 0.01). The increased success rate of asynchronous embryo transfer after interferon-tau treatment in cervids may be of benefit where mismatched embryo-maternal signalling leads to failure in the establishment of pregnancy.


Author(s):  
Sorin Geacu

The population of Red Deer (Cervus elaphus L., 1758) in Tulcea county (Romania) The presence of the Red Deer in the North-western parts of Tulcea County is an example of the natural expansion of a species spreading area. In North Dobrogea, this mammal first occurred only forty years ago. The first specimens were spotted on Cocoşul Hill (on the territory of Niculiţel area) in 1970. Peak numbers (68 individuals) were registered in the spring of 1987. The deer population (67 specimens in 2007) of this county extended along 10 km from West to East and 20 km from North to South over a total of 23,000 ha (55% of which was forest land) in the East of the Măcin Mountains and in the West of the Niculiţel Plateau.


2009 ◽  
Vol 54 (No. 4) ◽  
pp. 191-193
Author(s):  
K. Sedlak ◽  
T. Girma ◽  
J. Holejsovsky

372 sera of cervids from the Czech Republic were examined for antibodies to the bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) and border disease virus (BDV) by competitive-inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and for the presence of the BVDV by AgELISA. Antibodies to BVDV/BDV were found in 0.6% (two positive/305 tested) red deer (<I>Cervus elaphus</I>). BVDV/BDV antibodies were not found in four sika deer (<I>Cervus Nippon</I>) and 63 fallow deer (<I>Dama dama</I>). All serum samples were BVDV antigen negative. Our results confirmed that red deer in the Czech Republic are only rarely infected with Pestiviruses. This was the first survey of pestiviruses in farmed and wild cervids in the Czech Republic.


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