Seasonal challenges of tropical bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) in temperate zones

Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) manage to survive and flourish in a large geographic range despite the variability of natural and anthropogenic conditions in this range. To examine the challenges faced by free-ranging R. aegyptiacus living at the northern edge of their distribution, we performed a retrospective analysis of ~1500 clinical cases reported by a bat rescue NGO over 25 months, from all over Israel. All cases of injured or stranded bats were evaluated and categorized according to date, place, sex, age, and etiology of the morbidity. The analysis of the data showed an increase in all types of morbidity during the wintertime, with more than twice the number of cases in comparison with the summertime, over two consecutive years. Moreover, we found that the number of abandoned pups peaks during spring till autumn when adult morbidity is minimal. We characterize two prominent types of previously undescribed morbidity in R. aegyptiacus, one in the form of bacterial illness, and the other associated with feet deformation which affects bats in addition to major anthropogenic-related threats related to synanthropic predators. We analyze the reasons driving winter morbidity and conclude that winter weather and specifically low temperature best explains this morbidity. We hypothesize that R. aegyptiacus, a fruit-bat of tropical origin is facing major seasonal difficulties near the northern edge of its distribution, probably limiting its further spread northward.

Should I stay or should I go? 6000 years of human presence and abandonments at Stromboli volcano and an overview on the whole Aeolian Archipelago (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy)

T The paper addresses the long-lasting human presence on the island of Stromboli, an active volcano at the northern edge of the Aeolian archipelago, in the Southern Tyrrhenian sea, Italy. A conceptual model has been built to explore the phenomenon, it takes into account a series of aspects comparing Stromboli to other islands: their morphology, natural resources and geography along with the archaeological and historical data and, further, human attitude to volcanic environments, to risk and to insularity has been deeply explored. We propose a complex narrative where a combination of geological, socio-economic, historical, and psychological factors influenced people’s choices and that human presence is related more to the volcanic (and island) environment (and opportunities) than to volcanic activity.

New Data on Plant Use in the Eastern Sahara: The Macro-Remain Assemblage from Sheikh el-Obeiyid Villages and Bir el-Obeiyid Playa, Farafra Oasis, Egyptian Western Desert

This article discusses archaeobotanical evidence from two Sheikh el-Obeiyid villages and the Bir el-Obeiyid playa, which are located along the course of the Wadi el-Obeiyid and on the top and escarpment of the Northern Plateau, at the northern edge of the Farafra Oasis, Egypt. The villages and playa are both part of a settlement system which developed from the top of the plateau, through its various erosion surfaces, down to the bottom of the wadi. The villages in particular can be considered as seasonal base camps, populated by semi-sedentary groups who engaged in intensive exploitation of the resources available in the surrounding environment during the early and mid-Holocene. These sites can be compared to the better-known Hidden Valley village site located only 20 km to the east, the remains from which were analysed during the early 2000s by Ahmed G. Fahmy. At all the sites investigated to date in Farafra there is clear evidence for gathering and use of sorghum and other species of small-seeded wild grasses, fitting the emerging patterns of intense wild grass exploitation in attractive ecological zones for the eastern Sahara during the 9th–6th millennia BP.

Seismic reflections from a lithospheric suture zone below the Archaean Yilgarn Craton

Seismic reflectors in the uppermost mantle, which can indicate past plate tectonic subduction, are exceedingly rare below Archaean cratons, and restricted to the Neoarchaean. Here we present reprocessed seismic reflection profiles from the northwest Archaean Yilgarn Craton and the Palaeoproterozoic Capricorn Orogen of western Australia that reveal the existence of a ~4 km thick south-dipping band of seismic reflectors that extends from the base of the Archaean crust to at least 60 km depth. We interpret these reflectors, which lie south of a ~50 km deep crustal root, as a relict suture zone within the lithosphere. We suggest that the mantle reflectors were created either by subduction of an oceanic plate along the northern edge of the Yilgarn Craton, which started in the Mesoarchaean and produced the rocks in northern Yilgarn greenstone belts that formed in a supra-subduction zone setting, or, alternatively, by underthrusting of continental crust deep into the lithosphere during the Palaeoproterozoic.

A closer look at an eroded dune landscape: first functional insights into the Federmessergruppen site of Lommel-Maatheide

The vast Federmessergruppen site of Lommel-Maatheide, which is located in the Campine region (Northern Belgium), revealed the presence of numerous Final Palaeolithic concentrations situated on a large Late Glacial sand ridge on the northern edge of a contemporary lake. This situation offers a unique possibility for a large-scale functional analysis in order to understand the occupation of such a Late Glacial dune landscape. The variable preservation state of the lithic artefacts permitted to evaluate in detail the impact of post-depositional processes on the potential of functional studies. Also, the impact of excavation protocols on the preservation of wear traces and residues was evaluated, in particular the impact of mechanical sieving. The integrated functional research that included the microscopic examination of wear traces, fractures and residues, next to experimentation, permitted the identification of a range of crafting and hunting activities, thereby demonstrating the potential of such assemblages for obtaining innovative insights into Late Glacial site dynamics in spite of a varying preservation state.

Study of Radioactivity in Bajaur Norite Exposed in the Himalayan Tectonic Zone of Northern Pakistan

Radioactivity in Granites of Pakistan systematically increases from south to north. The Ambella Granite found at the northern edge of Pakistan is highly radioactive. Radioactivity measurements made on, so called, Bajaur Granite, located in northern Pakistan, have been found to be lowest among all the granitic rock of the area. In order to find out the exact nature of Bajaur rocks, mineralogical studies were carried on rock chips and powdered samples. The Bajaur Norite contains plagioclase feldspar more than 45% as the chief constituent. Orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene are 27% and 18%. Quartz, biotite, and some opaque minerals are also found in accessory amounts. Bajaur Granite is in fact not a granite but Norite, which is rich in Na-Ca plagioclase series of feldspars. The plagioclase feldspar rich in Na-Ca are low in radioactivity. Moreover, the average gamma activities of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K (4.98 ± 0.13 Bqkg−1, 4.03 ± 0.31 Bqkg−1, 204.40 ± 4.72 Bqkg−1 and a total of all three radionuclides are 214.00 ± 5.39 Bqkg−1) for Bajaur Norites are found too be much less than the average of the world’s Granites. Indoor and outdoor hazard indices of Bajaur Norite are much below building materials used throughout the world and largely beneath their criterion restrictions. As per radiations’ hazards are concerned, the Bajaur Norite as a building stone may be considered as the safest material available in the area that does not pose any radiological hazard.

Submesoscale flows impact Agulhas leakage in ocean simulations

Agulhas leakage, the warm and salty inflow of Indian Ocean water into the Atlantic Ocean, is of importance for the climate-relevant Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. South of Africa, the eastward turning Agulhas Current sheds Agulhas rings, cyclones and filaments of order 100 km that carry the Indian Ocean water into the Cape Basin and further into the Atlantic. Here, we show that the resolution of submesoscale flows of order 10 km in an ocean model leads to 40 % more Agulhas leakage and more realistic Cape Basin water-masses compared to a parallel non-submesoscale resolving simulation. Moreover, we show that submesoscale flows strengthen shear-edge eddies and in consequence lee cyclones at the northern edge of the Agulhas Current, as well as the leakage pathway in the region of the filaments that takes place outside of mesoscale eddies. This indicates that the increase in leakage can be attributed to stronger Agulhas filaments, when submesoscale flows are resolved.

A closer look at an eroded dune landscape: first functional insights into the Federmessergruppen site of Lommel-Maatheide

The vast Federmessergruppen site of Lommel-Maatheide, which is located in the Campine region (Northern Belgium), revealed the presence of numerous Final Palaeolithic concentrations situated on a large Late Glacial sand ridge on the northern edge of a contemporary lake. This situation offers a unique possibility for a large-scale functional analysis in order to understand the occupation of such a Late Glacial dune landscape. The variable preservation state of the lithic artefacts permitted to evaluate in detail the impact of post-depositional processes on the potential of functional studies. Also, the impact of excavation protocols on the preservation of wear traces and residues was evaluated, in particular the impact of mechanical sieving. The integrated functional research that included the microscopic examination of wear traces, fractures and residues, next to experimentation, permitted the identification of a range of crafting and hunting activities, thereby demonstrating the potential of such assemblages for obtaining innovative insights into Late Glacial site dynamics in spite of a varying preservation state.

Wiejskie struktury osadnicze i ich przemiany w czasie. Przykład Nowosielca na dawnym pograniczu polsko-rusko-litewskim

The article discusses the results of archaeological-onomastic research carried out for the village of Nowosielec, Łosice dist., situated in the Toczna river basin on the northern edge of Poland’s Siedlce Upland. Archaeological analyses of the chronological and spatial development of this micro-regional settlement showed this oecumene to have been continuously viable from the younger phases of the early Middle Ages to modern times. A trace of the continuity of settlement is preserved as the very place-name Nowosielec = Nowe Sioło (‘New Village’), which records memory of the existence of an older village. Its onomastic base indicates that it derived from the Old East Slavic term seło, which formed the core of many toponyms along the eastern frontier of contemporary Poland. The rise of the oldest settlement was probably related to the socioeconomic facilities of the nearby Dzięcioły stronghold – identified as the pre-location centre of the region (medieval Łosice). The example of Nowosielec and two other local micro-regions where settlement processes show similar patterns, offer insight into the regional settlement regress dated to the 2nd half of the 13th century. Results of the research carried out in the upper Toczna river basin show that its cultural landscape radically changed not earlier than during the 14th-15th centuries and was not caused by a demographic decline. Regional cultural continuity between the early medieval, late medieval, and modern times can be identified thanks to archaeological investigations and linguistic analysis of regional toponyms – in the case of microregions continuously functioning from the early Middle Ages till the modern period –derived from Old Russian apellatives and personal names.