Exploitation Of Mammals Research Articles

Holocene climate change shifted Southern Ocean biogeochemical cycling and predator trophic dynamics

AbstractStudies of Antarctic paleo‐archives have produced conflicting hypotheses on the relative impact of long‐term climate change and historic exploitation of marine mammals on Southern Ocean krill predator foraging ecology. We disentangle these hypotheses using amino acid stable isotope analysis on a 7000‐yr Holocene archive of Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) eggshells to differentiate variation in diet and trophic dynamics from baseline biogeochemical cycling as drivers of the rapid decline in krill predator bulk tissue δ15N values in recent centuries. Contrary to previous hypotheses suggesting solely trophic dynamic mechanisms as drivers of this decline, we identified an abrupt decline in source amino acid δ15N values, indicative of major changes in biogeochemical cycling at the base of the Southern Ocean food web that mirrored the decline in penguin bulk tissue δ15N values. These abrupt shifts in penguin δ15N values and associated biogeochemical cycling aligned with climatic events during the Little Ice Age that decreased surface δ15NNO3−, likely connected to a proposed increase in Ekman upwelling via a southward migration of the Westerlies. This baseline shift was in addition to a long‐term, gradual decline in penguin trophic position over the Holocene that began prior to both recent anthropogenic climate change and a proposed “krill‐surplus” following historic marine mammal exploitation in the 19th and 20th centuries. In resolving these outstanding hypotheses about drivers of Southern Ocean food web dynamics, this study emphasizes the fundamental importance of climate‐induced variability in biogeochemical cycling on ecological processes and improves the ability of paleo‐archives to inform the ecological consequences of future environmental change in the Southern Ocean.

Prehistoric and historic exploitation of marine mammals in the Black Sea

The recent exploitation of marine species is relatively well documented and understood in terms of impacts on species abundance, distribution, and resource use. In contrast, ancient exploitation of marine mammals remains poorly documented; in part, because a detailed meta-analysis of their presence in the zooarchaeological record is lacking. This is true in the Black Sea, where cetaceans are reported in the zooarchaeological record but have not yet been studied comprehensively. Here, we synthesize all available published and unpublished zooarchaeological data from 27 sites around the Black Sea, dating from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods (6500-6000 BCE) to the Medieval period (641–1475 CE), to document the extent and nature of the exploitation of the Black Sea cetacean species. The results suggest that cetacean exploitation was practised continuously in the Black Sea over a period of 8500 years from the Neolithic through to the Medieval period. This suggests a much longer history of marine mammal exploitation in the Black Sea than previously understood, pushing back the timeline of human impacts on the Black Sea marine fauna.

Preservation of Mammalian Teeth and Bones Influences Identification of Terminal Pleistocene to Middle Holocene Hunter-Gatherer Subsistence at Ban Rai Rockshelter, Northwest Thailand

Ban Rai Rockshelter in northwest Thailand, dating to the Terminal Pleistocene and Middle Holocene, includes evidence for hunter-gatherer exploitation of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, and arthropods. Abundant faunal remains, identified throughout site deposits, include macaques (Macaca sp.) and Sambar deer (Rusa unicolor), but these identifications are influenced by an assemblage largely comprised of preserved tooth elements and fragmented bone. Area 3 at Ban Rai has the largest abundance and diversity of faunal remains recovered and identified in this study. Here, we examine the zooarchaeological assemblage from Ban Rai Rockshelter, to understand long-term hunter-gatherer subsistence change, influenced by site preservation, during and after the Pleistocene–Holocene transition. Our results support the presence of the exploitation of arboreal taxa during the Early and Middle Holocene in northwest Thailand.

“This is the way”: Knowledge networks and toolkit specialization in the circumpolar coastal landscapes of western Alaska and Tierra del Fuego

One relevant dimension through which human populations articulate their occupation of the landscape involves the accumulation and interpersonal transmission of information pertaining to the spatio-temporal distribution, accessibility, and desirability of resources. The high productivity and resource diversity of coastal circumpolar landscapes enables them to sustain larger hunter-gatherer populations throughout the year. In circumpolar landscapes, marine mammals are a particularly highly ranked resource, as major sources of essential fats, proteins, and other nutrients. The adoption of specialized toolkits for marine mammal exploitation in open waters, encompassing watercraft and detachable harpoons, would have ensured that marine mammal hunting was a particularly rewarding and predictable endeavor. The first consistent adoption of toggling harpoons in southwestern Alaska is documented primarily at the height of the cold Neoglacial (ca. 4500–2500 BP), mirroring trends along the western Bering Sea coast. While maritime resource exploitation in northwestern Alaska also appears to have begun during the Neoglacial—particularly in the Kotzebue Sound area—specialized technological adaptations reflecting full-time maritime adaptations became more prominent in the wider region during the subsequent warmer period, in the context of population growth and increasing social connectivity. In contrast, the appearance of detachable harpoons at sites in the Beagle Channel (southern Tierra del Fuego) does not appear to be associated with any significant climatic changes, developing locally around 6500 BP after an initial period of human settlement in the region which lacked such adaptations. Therefore, we argue that the pathways toward the adoption of specialized toolkits enabling a maritime-oriented subsistence strategy in circumpolar coastal environments emerged primarily as the outcome of the consolidation of knowledge networks derived from the habituation of hunter-gatherer-fisher communities to predictable ecological conditions during periods in which the coastal landscapes they inhabited had become relatively stable.

Large mammal exploitation during the c. 14–11 ka Oakhurst techno-complex at Klipdrift Cave, South Africa

Understanding how hunter-gatherers adapted to the marked environmental changes of the last glacialinterglacial transition (~18 to 11.7 ka cal. BP) remains a key question for archaeologists. South Africa, with its rich and well-preserved archaeological sequences, has a major role to play in this study. Reconstructing the subsistence strategies of people during the Later Stone Age (LSA) is crucial for investigating human– environment interactions at this period in South Africa, yet data are scarce. Recent excavations at a new LSA site, Klipdrift Cave, in the southern Cape, revealed c. 14–11 ka levels with excellent faunal preservation associated with an Oakhurst lithic industry. Taphonomic and zooarchaeological analyses of these levels show an almost exclusive accumulation of large mammal remains by LSA groups, with evidence of meat removal, marrow extraction, fire use and the preferential import of nutritious elements back to the site. Large mammals from the site indicate a relatively stable environment dominated by open grasslands that is in accordance with isotopic analyses, with only subtle diachronic variability. Comparison of faunal dynamics with changes in lithic industries, shellfish density and composition reflects complex, asynchronous changes in the macromammal, micromammal, shellfish and lithic records throughout the Oakhurst levels. Rather than evidence of a strong impact of global climate change, Klipdrift Cave shows subtle shifts in subsistence patterns and technology that are better explained by internal societal dynamics and the history of the Oakhurst techno-complex, or local changes in site occupation and direct environment.
 Significance
 
 LSA archaeological sequences can document the impact of the marked environmental changes of the Pleistocene–Holocene transition on hunter-gatherer societies. Studies of past subsistence strategies are central to our understanding of human–environment interactions in these contexts.
 Zooarchaeological, taphonomical and palaeoecological analyses of the large mammal remains from the excavated LSA sequence at Klipdrift Cave provide new data on these interactions. The data highlight asynchronous changes in subsistence patterns, lithic technology and local environment, supporting a complex interplay between climate change, local environment, societal changes and human prehistory.
 Klipdrift Cave data set also shows that excavation and analytical choices can strongly bias faunal analysis and environmental reconstructions based thereon.

Bushmeat biogeochemistry: hunting tropical mammals alters ecosystem phosphorus budgets.

Wild meat (or 'bushmeat') hunting is nearly ubiquitous across the tropics and is very often unsustainable-driving declines and extirpation of numerous mammal populations. Loss of these animals can alter the transport of nutrients within and between ecosystems. But whether the physical removal of vertebrate carcasses and the nutrients that they store can reduce overall nutrient availability in ecosystems has been little explored. At 32 sites on three continents, we show that annual phosphorus (P) loss via mammal exploitation was low relative to the rate of atmospheric P deposition. But at four sites in Africa and Southeast Asia, removal of P in the skeletons of hunted mammals exceeded the atmospheric input of this nutrient by 10-fold or more. Because P is the growth-limiting nutrient for many tropical terrestrial ecosystems and certain large mammals, the imbalance created by the removal of mammal biomass under very high hunting scenarios could reduce ecosystem carrying capacity if no compensatory P additions occur in the system. This biogeochemical perspective on bushmeat exploitation raises further concerns about harvest sustainability and human food security in areas where hunting rates are high and ecosystem P inputs low.

The Holocene exploitation of mammals in the Clearwater and lower Snake River regions of north-central Idaho

The Clearwater River region of north-central Idaho is a distinct cultural region within the Columbia Plateau, yet no studies have comprehensively assessed the composition of recorded faunal assemblages to explore prehistoric subsistence practices by the region's Nez Perce people. We analyzed 27 Holocene zooarchaeological mammalian assemblages from 20 sites across the Clearwater and adjacent lower Snake River regions. A variety of leporids, rodents, carnivores, and artiodactyls were identified in assemblages, including several species (e.g. bison [Bison bison], pronghorn [Antilocapra americana], and grizzly bear [Ursus arctos]) no longer present in the study area. Taxonomic richness and taxonomic evenness suggest a specialized subsistence economy where one or two taxa were the focus of subsistence activities. Relative frequencies of mammals indicate that subsistence practices were focused disproportionately on large mammals (>25kg), and artiodactyl index values indicate subsistence practices were specialized on artiodactyls regardless of cultural phase. Across all artiodactyl species, however, only relative frequencies of deer (Odocoileus spp.) were negatively correlated with taxonomic evenness values. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that deer were a particularly important component of aboriginal diets in the Clearwater River region throughout most of the Holocene.

A specific small game exploitation for Lower Paleolithic: The beaver (Castor fiber) exploitation at the Caune de l'Arago (Pyrénées-Orientales, France)

Beaver exploitation is little documented for the Lower Paleolithic, in the Caune de l'Arago (Tautavel, France) beaver remains are present in ten levels dated from the Middle Pleistocene. Levels Gs4 and J provide bones with cut-marks. These cut-marks are located on the long bones, indicating meat removal and also on the metapodials, indicating that the animals were skinned before defleshing. The few beaver remains in each level could lead us to think that its exploitation was opportunistic but the fact that this exploitation occurs in two levels shows that it was not an exceptional practice. Even if small game was proposed in addition to large mammal exploitation for the model of hominid subsistence, evidence is scarce for the Lower Paleolithic. Their exploitation, even occasional, shows that large mammals are not the only meat resource used in this site.

Food and technical exploitation of mammals during the early Upper Palaeolithic at Les Abeilles (Haute-Garonne, France)

La grotte des Abeilles, fouillee entre 1945 et 1951, a livre des niveaux archeologiques documentant notamment les premieres phases du Paleolithique superieur en Europe. Ces series, attribuees au Protoaurignacien et a l’Aurignacien ancien, se composent de plusieurs restes humains, d’un abondant materiel lithique et de nombreux vestiges fauniques dont certains ont ete transformes en outils et en elements de parure. L’etude presentee ici concerne l’ensemble du materiel faunique, soit les restes utilises a des fins alimentaires, techniques et ornementales. Les analyses archeozoologiques des niveaux attribues au Protoaurignacien et a l’Aurignacien ancien illustrent a la fois des similitudes (saisons de capture du gibier, modes de transport des carcasses) et des differences (e.g. desarticulation, techniques de recuperation de la moelle osseuse) dans les modalites d’exploitation alimentaire du gibier. La prise en compte de l’ensemble du materiel faunique a permis de montrer que les spheres alimentaire, utilitaire et symbolique s’enchevetrent de maniere complexe dans les deux ensembles et que les choix effectues se repercutent sur l’ensemble de la chaine d’exploitation (acquisition du gibier, modalites de boucherie, etc.). Les donnees acquises, confrontees a celles disponibles pour d’autres series de cette meme periode, soulignent la diversite des reponses adoptees par les groupes humains du debut du Paleolithique superieur pour satisfaire au mieux a des besoins specifiques.

Food and technical exploitation of mammals during the early Upper Palaeolithic at Les Abeilles (Haute-Garonne, France)

La grotte des Abeilles, fouillee entre 1945 et 1951, a livre des niveaux archeologiques documentant notamment les premieres phases du Paleolithique superieur en Europe. Ces series, attribuees au Protoaurignacien et a l’Aurignacien ancien, se composent de plusieurs restes humains, d’un abondant materiel lithique et de nombreux vestiges fauniques dont certains ont ete transformes en outils et en elements de parure. L’etude presentee ici concerne l’ensemble du materiel faunique, soit les restes utilises a des fins alimentaires, techniques et ornementales. Les analyses archeozoologiques des niveaux attribues au Protoaurignacien et a l’Aurignacien ancien illustrent a la fois des similitudes (saisons de capture du gibier, modes de transport des carcasses) et des differences (e.g. desarticulation, techniques de recuperation de la moelle osseuse) dans les modalites d’exploitation alimentaire du gibier. La prise en compte de l’ensemble du materiel faunique a permis de montrer que les spheres alimentaire, utilitaire et symbolique s’enchevetrent de maniere complexe dans les deux ensembles et que les choix effectues se repercutent sur l’ensemble de la chaine d’exploitation (acquisition du gibier, modalites de boucherie, etc.). Les donnees acquises, confrontees a celles disponibles pour d’autres series de cette meme periode, soulignent la diversite des reponses adoptees par les groupes humains du debut du Paleolithique superieur pour satisfaire au mieux a des besoins specifiques.

Holocene environment and subsistence patterns from Capsian and Neolithic sites in Tunisia

Faunal analysis was carried out on four Holocene Tunisian prehistoric sites from both Capsian and Neolithic cultures. Capsian hunting strategies from the examination of prey selection and carcass exploitation were investigated from two sites: Bir Hmairiya and SHM-1. Capsian populations showed great adaptability to their physical environment. At SHM-1 and Bir Hmairiya, prehistoric populations developed subsistence strategies focused on hunting of a wide range of local wild prey with more exploitation of medium and small mammals, especially hartebeest and gazelle with additional exploitation of food resources from other terrestrial mammals and land snails. Cultural and economic patterns indicate that these hunters-gatherers populations were using long-term occupation sites, a mode of sedentary lifestyle during the Capsian. The Neolithic economy is documented through archaeozoological studies of faunal remains from two sites: Kef el Agab and Doukanet el Khoutifa. Neolithic populations kept the same lifestyle as the Capsian tradition but with gradual investment in meat, milk, and wool production. Comparing Kef el Agab and Doukanet el Khoutifa, patterns of mammal exploitation do not display great differences. The occupants practiced hunting and gathered land snails. The main change lies in the increase in Ovicaprid remains at Doukanet el Khoutifa, which would suggest a greater control of breeding activity. Pastoralism was already established at Doukanet el Khoutifa by the first half of the 7th millennium cal BP. This pastoralism involved more sheep and goat than bovines, but without dog or pig.

Late Holocene Hunter-Gatherers at L'Anse aux Meadows and the Dynamics of Bird and Mammal Hunting in Newfoundland

This paper explores pre-contact hunting at L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site in Newfoundland, Canada during the Late Holocene. Data from over 40 years of excavations are interpreted in light of recent insights into the subsistence activities of Recent Indian people (2000–500 B.P.) and their historic Beothuk descendants. The site’s lithic assemblage is dominated by large bifaces, scrapers, and late-stage reduction debris that appear related to caribou and/or seal exploitation. However, the majority of the small sample of faunal remains consists of bird bone. We utilize historical records of Beothuk subsistence to argue that birds were harvested while mammal hunting tools were prepared for use at other locales. Ethnographic and archaeological examples from other northern regions portray similar seasonal relationships between warm weather bird harvesting and cold weather mammal exploitation with resultant implications for the interpretation of lithic assemblages.

Subsistence variations and landscape use among maritime hunter-gatherers. A zooarchaeological analysis from the Beagle Channel (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina)

Changes in the exploitation of resources among prehistoric hunter-gatherer-fishers of the Beagle Channel (Southern South America) are examined in this paper. Archaeological investigations show the prevalence of maritime hunter-gatherer organization throughout the occupation of the region (ca. 6400 BP – 19th century). Notwithstanding, variations in the exploitation of different kind of animal resources have been detected, and a concomitant reorientation in the landscape use is then inferred. Zooarchaeological evidence from five shellmiddens is analyzed here: evenness measures and relative abundance prey types are used to evaluate such adjustments. Results indicate the major utilization of coastal and terrestrial ecozones and the predominance in the exploitation of mammals (pinnipeds and guanacos) in ancient occupations. While, during the Late Holocene an expansion in ranges of maritime mobility for subsistence is detected, which was associated with an increase in the representation of birds and fish in the zooarchaeological record.

Deplete Locally, Impact Globally: Environmental History of Shore- Whaling in Barbados, W.I.~!2009-07-26~!2010-01-01~!2010-04-06~!

We give a detailed history of the exploitation of marine mammals in Barbados, which focused almost exclusively on humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). We have reconstructed this history to better understand the impacts of human activities on the marine environment. Based on historical data, we demonstrate that whaling was a marginal activity financed by local elites who found it easy to transfer labor and tools from agricultural activities to shore- whaling. In spite of its marginal status, this activity not only depleted the local population of whales in a relatively short period of time, it also contributed to the species' global decline. Today, humpbacks can be considered locally absent. Barbados, like other former British colonies, exploited marine mammals through shore-whaling, unlike many Latin American nations, which pursued dolphin fisheries. Barbadian shore-whaling, like many other marine mammal exploitation practices elsewhere in the Caribbean, was heavily influenced by industrialized nations. This history provides important clues for whale management and recovery.

From carcass to cave: Large mammal exploitation during the Aurignacian at Vogelherd, Germany

Recent results from the zooarchaeological analysis of faunal remains from Vogelherd Cave, southwestern Germany, provide new insight into the subsistence behavior of early modern human groups during the Aurignacian. The results presented here represent the first comprehensive study of the archaeofauna from this site. Several episodes of occupation are inferred at this site, taking place primarily between 31 and 32 ka. Although a wide spectrum of Pleistocene mammals is represented in the Aurignacian at Vogelherd, reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus) and horse ( Equus ferus) were the primary prey taxa, and they are the most appropriate data sets with which to understand human subsistence on an intrasite level. Hunting of both taxa took place during the late summer and fall, coinciding with reindeer migrations and local abundance of horses. Complete or nearly complete prey carcasses were then transported from the kill locations to the cave for processing. This study shows that Vogelherd was a preferred locale of Aurignacian groups for a broad range of activities, including the time- and labor-intensive exploitation of ungulate prey for meat, marrow, and fat resources, as well as the production and maintenance of artifacts such as figurative artwork, personal ornaments, bone and ivory armatures, and lithic tools. With its rich faunal and artifact assemblages, the Aurignacian deposit at Vogelherd provides a wealth of information on this critical period of the early Upper Paleolithic, when cultural innovations were flourishing.

Environmental History of Marine Mammal Exploitation in Trinidad and Tobago, W.I., and its Ecological Impact

Abstract Marine mammal exploitation has been documented for the Caribbean in recent times for only a handful of countries. Based on those studies a complex image of how that exploitation has taken place has begun to emerge. In order to fully understand whaling, dolphin fisheries, and manatee hunting, we still need to ascertain patterns of exploitation for many of the island-nations in that part of the world. We present a comprehensive analysis of marine mammal utilisation for Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago has been characterised by land-based whaling, organised during most of the nineteenth century by local elites. Dolphin fisheries have been rare and restricted to by-catches. Trinidad has the last remaining population of manatees among the eastern Caribbean islands, which is composed of a small number of individuals confined to a small swamp. We compared the history, patterns, and results of this exploitation in Trinidad and Tobago with other neighbouring nations (Venezuela, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines). As in other countries in the area that practised intense whaling, local populations of humpback whales have become virtually extinct in their waters. Culture, more than anything else, seems to be the force shaping the nature of marine mammal exploitation in the Caribbean, which has resulted in different histories and methods of exploitation for each one of the countries studied.

Trans-Holocene Marine Mammal Exploitation on San Clemente Island, California: A Tragedy of the Commons Revisited

Occupied from ca. 7040 B.C. to A.D. 1400, the Eel Point Site (CA-SCLI-43) on San Clemente Island, California represents one of the longest sequences of near-continuous marine resource exploitation on the west coast of North America. Faunal remains suggest transitions from heavy exploitation of fur seals and sea lions during the early Holocene, to increased hunting of cetaceans at mid-Holocene, to a focus on sea otters and fish during the late Holocene. These trends are consistent with patterns of overexploitation and economic intensification on the California and Oregon mainland, but they also suggest watercraft-based hunting earlier on the island than elsewhere. Fur seal and sea lion bones mainly represent females and juveniles, indicating that exploitation of island rookeries was guided more by self-interest than by principles of game conservation. Two intervals of temporary site abandonment, ca. 6150–3970 B.C. and A.D. 1020–1400, were both followed by periods of increased marine mammal exploitation and may reflect intervals during which marine mammal populations rebounded. Broad-scale diachronic trends in the zooarchaeological remains do not correlate with flux in paleo-sea temperatures and are best interpreted as products of overhunting and increased use of watercraft over time.

Prehistoric Marine Mammal Hunting on California's Northern Channel Islands

Prehistoric marine mammal hunting is of interest to archaeologists worldwide because these animals were exploited by a wide range of coastal societies. Sorting out the roles of particular groups of fauna in prehistoric economies requires detailed attention to the analysis of the entire faunal assemblage. Although marine mammals typically provided large quantities of fat and protein and were desirable prey, they were not always central to the diets of the groups that exploited them, particularly in temperate zones. To evaluate effectively the importance of marine mammal exploitation, scholars should calculate the relative contribution of these animals to the economy, identify changes in hunting techniques, determine the relationship between fauna and other aspects of society, assess changing environmental conditions, and consider alternate explanations for those relationships. A large body of research on the northern Channel Islands of California demonstrates that fishing was relatively more important than marine mammal exploitation in subsistence and in stimulating sociopolitical and technological developments. Recent attempts to credit marine mammal hunting as a driving force in the invention of the plank canoe and the evolution of a chiefdom in the Santa Barbara Channel area misunderstand environmental factors and site histories in this region. Rather than assuming that a pan-Pacific Coast set of traditions existed to exploit these taxa, we see evidence of local and regional differences rooted in variable cultural settings, physiographic and oceanographic conditions, and available technologies. Data from the Santa Barbara Channel are used to explore the relationships among marine mammal use, sociological change, and environmental change.

Convergence in community structure and dietary adaptation in Australian possums and gliders and Malagasy lemurs

Abstract The possums and gliders of Australia and the lemurs of Madagascar are ideally suited for investigation of radiation and convergence in arboreal mammal communities because of their long history of independent radiation in similar biophysical environments. Possum and glider communities at 22 sites in Australia and lemur communities at 18 sites in Madagascar were compared to evaluate patterns of community and species convergence in two shared habitats (evergreen and deciduous monsoon rainforests) and three derived habitats (Australian eucalypt forests and heaths, and Malagasy thorn scrubs). Arboreal mammals were classified into five dietary guilds for comparison of community structure and species adaptation. There is little evidence of convergence in trophic structure at the community level, but strong evidence of convergence in dietary adaptation at the species and niche level. Malagasy rainforest communities were characterized by a higher proportion of frugivore‐folivores, and Australian rainforest and moist eucalypt communities by a higher proportion of folivores and folivore‐frugivores. Possum and glider communities in temperate eucalypt forests and heaths supported a higher proportion of nectarivores and exudivores. Overall species richness was significantly higher in Madagascar. Four hypotheses are erected to account for these differences. The relative scarcity of frugivores in Australian evergreen rainforests is accounted for by the predominance of bird‐dispersed fruits, and fruiting phenologies unsuitable for mammal exploitation and dispersal. Higher folivore diversity in Australian evergreen rainforests is associated with a more pronounced seasonal shortage of edible fruits and new leaf, which has increased dependence on mature leaf. Folivore species richness is greatest in Australian moist eucalypt forests where structural complexity, sustained by serai responses to wildfire, permits a high level of vertical segregation. Increased nectarivory and exudivory in Australian temperate eucalypt forests and heaths is associated with Mediterranean winter rainfall regimes, which permit year round exudate production, and not with the absence of nectar feeding bats as previously supposed. A lower overall species richness in Australian rainforests is attributed to a longer history of contraction and fragmentation by anthropogenic fires (monsoon rainforests) and Pleistocene climatic change (tropical evergreen rainforests). A high degree of convergence is apparent between genera occupying folivore and wood gouging niches, in terms of gastrointestinal morphology (e.g. Pseudocheirus‐Lepilemur) and dental morphology (e.g. Dactylopsila‐Daubentonia). Divergences are most apparent in adaptations associated with frugivory, including larger body size, diurnality, and bipedal suspension and leaping modes of locomotion (in Eulemur spp.). This study highlights the importance of founding effects, competition from other vertebrate taxa, coevolution between animals and their food plants, and differences in biophysical environments, as determinants of mammalian radiation and convergence.

Exploitation of mammals at the Early Bronze Age site of West Row Fen (Mildenhall 165), Suffolk, England

Exploitation of mammals at the Early Bronze Age site of West Row Fen (Mildenhall 165), Suffolk, England