The use of paleoclimatic simulations to refine the environmental and chronological context of archaeological/paleontological sites

Abstract. To reconstruct the paleoenvironmental and chronological context of archaeological/paleontological sites is a key step to understand the evolutionary history of past organisms. Commonly used method to infer paleoenvironments rely on varied proxies such as faunal assemblages and isotopes. However, those proxies often show some inconsistencies. Regarding estimated ages of stratigraphic layers, they can vary depending on the dating method used. In this paper, we tested the potential of paleoclimate simulations to address this issue and contribute to the description of the environmental and chronological context of archaeological/paleontological sites. We produced a set of paleoclimate simulations corresponding to the stratigraphy of a Late-Pleistocene Holocene site, El Harhoura 2 (Morocco), and compared the climatic sequence described by these simulations to environmental inferences made from isotopes and faunal assemblages. Our results showed that in the studied site combined US-ESR ages were much more congruent with paleoenvironmental inferences than OSL ages. In addition, climatic variations were found to be more consistent with isotopic studies than faunal assemblages, allowing us to discuss unresolved discrepancies to date. This study illustrates the strong potential of our approach to refine the paleoenvironmental and chronological context of archaeological and paleontological sites.

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Evolutionary history of the Pectoral Sparrow Arremon taciturnus : evidence for diversification during the Late Pleistocene

Ibis ◽

10.1111/ibi.12813 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 162 (4) ◽

pp. 1198-1210

Author(s):

Carina Carneiro de Melo Moura ◽

Alexandre M. Fernandes ◽

Alexandre Aleixo ◽

Helder Farias Pereira de Araújo ◽

Erich de Freitas Mariano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Late Pleistocene ◽

Evolutionary History ◽

History Of

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The Paleolithic in the Nihewan Basin, China: Evolutionary history of an Early to Late Pleistocene record in Eastern Asia

Evolutionary Anthropology Issues News and Reviews ◽

10.1002/evan.21813 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (3) ◽

pp. 125-142 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Shi‐Xia Yang ◽

Cheng‐Long Deng ◽

Ri‐Xiang Zhu ◽

Michael D. Petraglia

Keyword(s):

Late Pleistocene ◽

Evolutionary History ◽

Eastern Asia ◽

Nihewan Basin ◽

History Of

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Ancient DNA Clarifies the Evolutionary History of American Late Pleistocene Equids

Journal of Molecular Evolution ◽

10.1007/s00239-008-9100-x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 66 (5) ◽

pp. 533-538 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Ludovic Orlando ◽

Dean Male ◽

Maria Teresa Alberdi ◽

Jose Luis Prado ◽

Alfredo Prieto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Late Pleistocene ◽

Ancient Dna ◽

Evolutionary History ◽

History Of

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Geochronological, geochemical, and Nd-Hf isotopic studies of the Qinling Complex, central China: Implications for the evolutionary history of the North Qinling Orogenic Belt

Geoscience Frontiers ◽

10.1016/j.gsf.2014.04.001 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 499-513 ◽

Cited By ~ 52

Author(s):

Chunrong Diwu ◽

Yong Sun ◽

Yan Zhao ◽

BingXiang Liu ◽

Shaocong Lai

Keyword(s):

Evolutionary History ◽

Orogenic Belt ◽

Central China ◽

Qinling Orogenic Belt ◽

The North ◽

Isotopic Studies ◽

History Of ◽

North Qinling

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Light and shadows in the evolution of South European stenonoid horses

Fossil Imprint ◽

10.2478/if-2017-0006 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 73 (1-2) ◽

pp. 115-140 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Maria Rita Palombo ◽

Maria Teresa Alberdi

Keyword(s):

Evolutionary History ◽

Common Element ◽

Middle Pleistocene ◽

Quaternary Period ◽

Large Mammal ◽

Faunal Assemblages ◽

Key Species ◽

History Of ◽

Phylogenetic Hypotheses ◽

South Europe

Abstract The appearance of monodactyl equids in Eurasia and their dispersal towards South Europe is a significant event that marks the beginning of the Quaternary period. During the Pleistocene, horses were a common element in most European large mammal faunal assemblages, providing important palaeoecological clues, but their taxonomy, nomenclature and phylogeny, as well as their actual biochronological significance have been widely debated by scholars. The evolutionary history of horses here regarded as “stenonoid” (Equus livenzovensis, Equus stenonis, Equus ex gr. E. senezensis, Equus altidens, Equus hydruntinus, the large-sized horses Equus major and Equus suessenbornensis, sometimes referred to as the so-called “Equus bressanus-Equus suessenbornensis group”), is one of the most intriguing. This study, mainly focusing on the South European representatives of this group, aims to highlight and discuss the major debated issues, re-examining the taxonomy of some Early and early Middle Pleistocene horses. Alternative phylogenetic hypotheses will also be discussed with the aim of providing new clues on the chronology and palaeoecology of some key species/samples.

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Ancient DNA of northern China Hystricidae sub-fossils reveals the evolutionary history of old world porcupines in the Late Pleistocene

BMC Evolutionary Biology ◽

10.1186/s12862-020-01656-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Guilian Sheng ◽

Jiaming Hu ◽

Haowen Tong ◽

Bastien Llamas ◽

Junxia Yuan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Late Pleistocene ◽

Ancient Dna ◽

Evolutionary History ◽

Northern China ◽

Old World ◽

History Of

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Water vole Microtus richardsoni (Mammalia, Rodentia) from the Late Pleistocene of Alberta

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences ◽

10.1139/e82-051 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 628-631 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

James A. Burns

Keyword(s):

Late Pleistocene ◽

Rocky Mountains ◽

Evolutionary History ◽

Water Vole ◽

History Of

A Late Pleistocene specimen of the water vole has been recovered from a cave in the Rocky Mountains of southwestern Alberta. Pleistocene records for this species are rare and this specimen is probably the oldest known. The evolutionary history of Microtus richardsoni, although yet uncertain, is tentatively discussed. Information is gained concerning the paleoenvironment of southwestern Alberta during late(?) mid-Wisconsinan time.

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Ancient mitochondrial genomes from Chinese cave hyenas provide insights into the evolutionary history of the genus Crocuta

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2020.2934 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 288 (1943) ◽

pp. 20202934

Author(s):

Jiaming Hu ◽

Michael V. Westbury ◽

Junxia Yuan ◽

Zhen Zhang ◽

Shungang Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Late Pleistocene ◽

Evolutionary History ◽

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Mitochondrial Genomes ◽

Effective Population ◽

Wide Range ◽

Two Samples ◽

Spotted Hyenas ◽

History Of ◽

Close Relatives

Cave hyenas (genus Crocuta ) are extinct bone-cracking carnivores from the family Hyaenidae and are generally split into two taxa that correspond to a European/Eurasian and an (East) Asian lineage. They are close relatives of the extant African spotted hyenas, the only extant member of the genus Crocuta . Cave hyenas inhabited a wide range across Eurasia during the Pleistocene, but became extinct at the end of the Late Pleistocene. Using genetic and genomic datasets, previous studies have proposed different scenarios about the evolutionary history of Crocuta. However, causes of the extinction of cave hyenas are widely speculative and samples from China are severely understudied. In this study, we assembled near-complete mitochondrial genomes from two cave hyenas from northeastern China dating to 20 240 and 20 253 calBP, representing the youngest directly dated fossils of Crocuta in Asia. Phylogenetic analyses suggest a monophyletic clade of these two samples within a deeply diverging mitochondrial haplogroup of Crocuta . Bayesian analyses suggest that the split of this Asian cave hyena mitochondrial lineage from their European and African relatives occurred approximately 1.85 Ma (95% CI 1.62–2.09 Ma), which is broadly concordant with the earliest Eurasian Crocuta fossil dating to approximately 2 Ma. Comparisons of mean genetic distance indicate that cave hyenas harboured higher genetic diversity than extant spotted hyenas, brown hyenas and aardwolves, but this is probably at least partially due to the fact that their mitochondrial lineages do not represent a monophyletic group, although this is also true for extant spotted hyenas. Moreover, the joint female effective population size of Crocuta (both cave hyenas and extant spotted hyenas) has sustained two declines during the Late Pleistocene. Combining this mitochondrial phylogeny, previous nuclear findings and fossil records, we discuss the possible relationship of fossil Crocuta in China and the extinction of cave hyenas.

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Rediscovering Lutra lutra from Grotta Romanelli (southern Italy) in the framework of the puzzling evolutionary history of Eurasian otter

PalZ ◽

10.1007/s12542-021-00553-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Beniamino Mecozzi ◽

Alessio Iannucci ◽

Fabio Bona ◽

Ilaria Mazzini ◽

Pierluigi Pieruccini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Late Pleistocene ◽

Evolutionary History ◽

Middle Pleistocene ◽

Lutra Lutra ◽

Multidisciplinary Research ◽

Historical Collections ◽

Eurasian Otter ◽

History Of ◽

Early Late ◽

Late Middle Pleistocene

AbstractA river otter hemimandible has been rediscovered during the revision of the historical collections of G.A. Blanc from Grotta Romanelli, complementing the ongoing multidisciplinary research fieldwork on the site. The specimen, recovered from the level G (“terre rosse”; early Late Pleistocene or late Middle Pleistocene), is here assigned to Lutra lutra. Indeed, morphological and morphometric comparisons with other Quaternary Lutrinae fossils from Europe allow to exclude an attribution to the relatively widespread and older Lutra simplicidens, characterized by distinctive carnassial proportions. Differences with Cyrnaonyx antiqua, which possessed a more robust, shellfish-feeding dentition, support the view of a successful niche repartition between the two species during the late Middle to Late Pleistocene of Europe. The occurrence of Lutra lutra from the “terre rosse” of Grotta Romanelli suggests deep modifications of the landscapes due to the ecological adaptation of the taxon, and indicates that the Eurasian otter spread into Europe at the Middle–Late Pleistocene transition.

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