In Pursuit of Mobile Prey: Martu Hunting Strategies and Archaeofaunal Interpretation

2009 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas W. Bird ◽  
Rebecca Bliege Bird ◽  
Brian F. Codding
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Western Desert ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Dynamic Interactions ◽  
Resource Sustainability ◽  
Hunting Strategies ◽  
Proxy Measure ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Prey Mobility

By integrating foraging models developed in behavioral ecology with measures of variability in faunal remains, zooarchaeological studies have made important contributions toward understanding prehistoric resource use and the dynamic interactions between humans and their prey. However, where archaeological studies are unable to quantify the costs and benefits associated with prey acquisition, they often rely on proxy measures such as prey body size, assuming it to be positively correlated with return rate. To examine this hypothesis, we analyze the results of 1,347 adult foraging bouts and 649 focal follows of contemporary Martu foragers in Australia's Western Desert. The data show that prey mobility is highly correlated with prey body size and is inversely related to pursuit success—meaning that prey body size is often an inappropriate proxy measure of prey rank. This has broad implications for future studies that rely on taxonomic measures of prey abundance to examine prehistoric human ecology, including but not limited to economic intensification, socioeconomic complexity, resource sustainability, and overexploitation.

scholarly journals Fish and other faunal remains from a Late Iron Age site on the Letaba River, Kruger National Park

Koedoe ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ina Plug ◽  
Paul Skelton
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
National Park ◽  
Fish Population ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Hunting Strategies ◽  
The People ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Fish Remains ◽  
Insight Into

Fish remains from Late Iron Age sites in the Transvaal are relatively scarce. It seems as if the people did not utilize the riverine resources extensively. Therefore the unique assemblage of large numbers of fish bones on a Late Iron Age site, provides some insight into the fish population of a section of the Letaba River a few hundred years ago. The presence of other faunal remains provides some information on prehistoric utilization of the environment in general. Hunting strategies and aspects of herding can also be deduced from the faunal remains.

scholarly journals GPS mobility as a digital biomarker of negative symptoms in schizophrenia: a case control study

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin A. Depp ◽  
Jesse Bashem ◽  
Raeanne C. Moore ◽  
Jason L. Holden ◽  
Tanya Mikhael ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Case Control Study ◽  
Average Distance ◽  
Symptom Clusters ◽  
Proxy Measure ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Momentary Assessment ◽  
Control Study

Abstract Mobility is an important correlate of physical, cognitive, and mental health in chronic illness, and can be measured passively with mobile phone global positional satellite (GPS) sensors. To date, GPS data have been reported in a few studies of schizophrenia, yet it is unclear whether these data correlate with concurrent momentary reports of location, vary by people with schizophrenia and healthy comparison subjects, or associate with symptom clusters in schizophrenia. A total of 142 participants with schizophrenia (n = 86) or healthy comparison subjects (n = 56) completed 7 days of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) reports of location and behavior, and simultaneous GPS locations were tracked every five minutes. We found that GPS-derived indicators of average distance travelled overall and distance from home, as well as percent of GPS samples at home were highly correlated with EMA reports of location at the day- and week-averaged level. GPS-based mobility indicators were lower in schizophrenia with medium to large effect sizes. Less GPS mobility was related to greater negative symptom severity, particularly diminished motivation, whereas greater GPS mobility was weakly associated with more community functioning. Neurocognition, depression, and positive symptoms were not associated with mobility indicators. Therefore, passive GPS sensing could provide a low-burden proxy measure of important outcomes in schizophrenia, including negative symptoms and possibly of functioning. As such, passive GPS sensing could be used for monitoring and timely interventions for negative symptoms in young persons at high risk for schizophrenia.

scholarly journals Crocodylian Head Width Allometry and Phylogenetic Prediction of Body Size in Extinct Crocodyliforms

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haley D O’Brien ◽  
Leigha M Lynch ◽  
Kent A Vliet ◽  
John Brueggen ◽  
Gregory M Erickson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Mature Male ◽  
Head Width ◽  
Hard Tissue ◽  
Broad Array ◽  
Phylogenetic Model ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Sexually Mature ◽  
Size Estimates

Synopsis Body size and body-size shifts broadly impact life-history parameters of all animals, which has made accurate body-size estimates for extinct taxa an important component of understanding their paleobiology. Among extinct crocodylians and their precursors (e.g., suchians), several methods have been developed to predict body size from suites of hard-tissue proxies. Nevertheless, many have limited applications due to the disparity of some major suchian groups and biases in the fossil record. Here, we test the utility of head width (HW) as a broadly applicable body-size estimator in living and fossil suchians. We use a dataset of sexually mature male and female individuals (n = 76) from a comprehensive sample of extant suchian species encompassing nearly all known taxa (n = 22) to develop a Bayesian phylogenetic model for predicting three conventional metrics for size: body mass, snout–vent length, and total length. We then use the model to estimate size parameters for a select series of extinct suchians with known phylogenetic affinity (Montsechosuchus, Diplocynodon, and Sarcosuchus). We then compare our results to sizes reported in the literature to exemplify the utility of our approach for a broad array of fossil suchians. Our results show that HW is highly correlated with all other metrics (all R2≥0.85) and is commensurate with femoral dimensions for its reliably as a body-size predictor. We provide the R code in order to enable other researchers to employ the model in their own research.

Human Impacts on Nearshore Shellfish Taxa: A 7,000 Year Record from Santa Rosa Island, California

2007 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 735-756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd J. Braje ◽  
Douglas J. Kennett ◽  
Jon M. Erlandson ◽  
Brendan J. Culleton
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Sociopolitical Complexity ◽  
Intensive Exploitation ◽  
Nearshore Ecosystems ◽  
Human Predation ◽  
Santa Rosa Island

Within the broad framework of historical and behavioral ecology, we analyzed faunal remains from a large habitation site (CA-SRI-147) on Santa Rosa Island to explore a 7,000 year record of coastal subsistence, nearshore ecological dynamics, and human impacts on shellfish populations. This long, stratified sequence provides a rare opportunity to study the effects of prolonged human predation on local intertidal and nearshore habitats. During the past 7,000 years, the Island Chumash and their predecessors had significant impacts on nearshore ecosystems, caused by growing human populations and depletion of marine and terrestrial ecosystems. At CA-SRI-147, local depletion of higher ranked shellfish species stimulated dietary expansion and a heavier reliance on lower-ranked shellfish taxa and more intensive exploitation of nearshore and pelagic fishes. In the Late Holocene, as local ecosystems were increasingly depleted, the Island Chumash relied increasingly on craft specialization and trade to meet their subsistence needs. Native peoples clearly impacted Channel Island ecosystems, but data from CA-SRI-147 suggest that they adjusted their subsistence strategies toward productive fisheries that sustained the high population densities and sociopolitical complexity recorded by early Spanish chroniclers at European contact.

scholarly journals As faunas do final da Idade do Bronze no Sul de Portugal: leituras desde o Outeiro do Circo (Beja).

2020 ◽  
pp. 1041-1054
Author(s):  
Nelson J. Almeida ◽  
Íris Dias ◽  
Cleia Detry ◽  
Eduardo Porfírio ◽  
Miguel Serra
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Mixed Economy ◽  
Secondary Resources ◽  
Hunting Strategies ◽  
The Bronze Age

We present the results obtained from the analysis of unpublished faunal remains from the Bronze Age settlement of Outeiro do Circo (Beja). The materials provenance is diverse, corresponding mainly to one pit/silo from trench 3 and the areas near the defensive systems designated trench 7 and 8. Hunting strategies are complementary in the assemblage, with a predominance of sheep and goat remains, followed by cattle and swine. Kill-off patterns with the presence of young and adult individuals are suggestive of a mixed economy with the exploitation of primary and secondary resources. Although highly fragmented and affected by postdepositional processes it was possible to record several anthropization indicators related to the butchering process and thermo-alteration of remains by fire.

Comparison of fecundity-length-latitude relationships between nonanadromous (kokanee) and anadromous sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (10) ◽  
pp. 1791-1805 ◽  
Author(s):  
M D McGurk
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Sockeye Salmon ◽  
Environmental Gradients ◽  
Oncorhynchus Nerka ◽  
Latitudinal Gradients ◽  
Egg Number ◽  
Latitudinal Clines ◽  
Regression Slopes ◽  
Highly Correlated

This study compared fecundity-length-latitude relationships between 25 kokanee populations (15 natural and 10 introduced) and 48 sockeye salmon populations. Significant differences confirmed the hypothesis that the two Oncorhynchus nerka variants follow different reproductive strategies: (i) fecundity is more highly correlated with length for kokanee than for sockeye salmon; (ii) kokanee have higher fecundity-length regression slopes and lower intercepts than sockeye salmon; (iii) kokanee populations share a common fecundity-length regression slope, but sockeye salmon populations do not; and (iv) average lengths and fecundities of kokanee decrease with increasing latitude, but those of sockeye salmon do not. The first three findings confirm that kokanee maintain a constant egg size while increasing egg number with increasing body size but that sockeye salmon increase both egg number and egg size with increasing body size. Kokanee egg sizes may be less variable than those of sockeye salmon because kokanee have lower and less variable energetic costs of spawning migration and tend to use spawning gravel with smaller and less variable particle sizes. Latitudinal clines in kokanee length and fecundity may reflect latitudinal gradients in temperature and duration of the growing season. Such environmental gradients may explain why kokanee populations are rarely found as far north as Alaska.

scholarly journals Specialised hunting of Iberian ibex during Neanderthal occupation at El Esquilleu Cave, northern Spain

Antiquity ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 88 (342) ◽  
pp. 1035-1049 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Yravedra Sáinz de los Terreros ◽  
Alberto Gómez-Castanedo ◽  
Julia Aramendi Picado ◽  
Javier Baena Preysler
Keyword(s):  
Mountainous Terrain ◽  
Middle Palaeolithic ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Northern Spain ◽  
Iberian Ibex ◽  
Hunting Strategies ◽  
Solitary Species

Traditional views of Neanderthal hunting strategies envisage them preying on herd species such as bison and deer, rather than the sophisticated tracking of solitary animals. Analysis of faunal remains from El Esquilleu Cave in northern Spain, however, demonstrates that during certain periods of the Middle Palaeolithic occupation, Neanderthals focused on the hunting of ibex and chamois, small solitary species that inhabited the mountainous terrain around the site. These results indicate that Neanderthal hunting practices may have had more similarity to those of their Upper Palaeolithic relatives than is usually assumed.

On Bovid Assemblages and their Consequences for the Knowledge of Subsistence Patterns in the Middle Palaeolithic

1996 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 19-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Gaudzinski
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
Middle Palaeolithic ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Distinct Mode ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
Hunting Strategies ◽  
Enormous Variation ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Age And Sex

A comparative study of four Late Pleistocene sites — Il'skaja (Russia), La Borde and Mauran (France), and Wallertheim (Germany) — was undertaken. The sites are considered to be kill and/or habitation sites, showing bovid dominated faunal assemblages which have already independently been described as resulting from hominid hunting activities. In this synthetic paper it is discussed whether these archaeological records reflect a distinct mode of procurement. Focusing on the faunal remains, similarities and differences are demonstrated between the varying bovid assemblages in terms of the body profiles, and age and sex structures, and evidence of hominid bovid carcass exploitation is examined. Physical, taphonomical, and hominid behavioural implications of the different variables compared are treated in a problem-oriented discussion. The results indicate focussed and selective hunting strategies in parts of Europe during the Middle Palaeolithic, emphasising that during the period an enormous variation of subsistence options existed, some of them quite similar to those of the Upper Palaeolithic.

scholarly journals The size and endocrine activity of the pituitary in mice selected for large or small body-size

1962 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 428-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Primary Response ◽  
Endocrine Activity ◽  
Body Weights ◽  
Mouse Pituitary ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Thyroid Secretion

Mice of two strains, N and C, were used in studies on body-size, pituitary size, and endocrine potency of the pituitary. Strain N had been selected for large (NL) and small (NS) body-size; strain C had also been selected for large body-size (CL) but had been crossed to an outbred strain segregating pituitary dwarfism.Pituitary weights and body-weights were highly correlated, the regression lines being common in NL and NS mice. Female pituitaries were considerably heavier than male pituitaries in CL mice. In relation to body-weight, CL pituitaries were consistently heavier than those of NL or NS mice.No differences were detected in the unit potency of gonadotrophins in the pituitaries of NL and NS mice as estimated by the uterine response of immature outbred mice to subcutaneous injections of pituitary tissue. The uptake of 131I into the thyroid was comparable in NL and NS mice per unit of body-weight, and the thyroid secretion rate was also similar using animals of the same body-weight. Immature mice of both lines responded by increased growth to injections of growth hormone or fresh mouse pituitary, though the response was greater in NS than in NL mice.The primary response to selection has probably been in the size of the pituitary rather than in its unit potency. The interrelationships between body-size, body components, organ size and endocrine levels are discussed.

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