Faunal Analysis Research Articles

Characterizing the variability of benthic foraminifera in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon event (2010-2012).

Following the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) event in 2010 subsurface hydrocarbon intrusions (1000-1300m) and an order of magnitude increase in flocculent hydrocarbon deposition caused increased concentrations of hydrocarbons in continental slope sediments. This study sought to characterize the variability [density, Fisher's alpha (S), equitability (E), Shannon (H)] of benthic foraminifera following the DWH event. A series of sediment cores were collected at two sites in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico from 2010 to 2012. At each site, three cores were utilized for benthic faunal analysis, organic geochemistry, and redox metal chemistry, respectively. The surface intervals (∼0-10mm) of the sedimentary records collected in December 2010 at DSH08 and February 2011 at PCB06 were characterized by significant decreases in foraminiferal density, S, E, and H, relative to the down-core intervals as well as previous surveys. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) analysis suggested that a 3-fold increase in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentration in the surface interval, relative to the down-core interval, was the environmental driver of benthic foraminiferal variability. These records suggested that the benthic foraminiferal recovery time, following an event such as the DWH, was on the order of 1-2years.

COMPARATIVE TAPHONOMY OF THE MAMMALIAN REMAINS FROM THE CABBAGE PATCH BEDS OF WESTERN MONTANA (RENOVA FORMATION, ARIKAREEAN): CONTRASTING DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS AND SPECIMEN PRESERVATION

The study of faunal change through time in the fossil record requires a careful assessment of the potential biases introduced by the filtering of death assemblages by depositional environments and other agents of accumulation such as predators. The investigation of taphonomy of the mammalian remains from the Arikareean-aged Cabbage Patch beds of western Montana reported here used both sedimentological evidence and characteristics of the preservation of the fossil specimens to test two hypotheses regarding their preservation pattern: (1) the pattern of faunal change through the section is not a product of differences in the preservation of fossils and (2) the taphonomic characteristics of fossil specimens are linked to the environments in which they were preserved. The interpretation of the sedimentological data, combined with the analyses of the taphonomic filtering of mammalian fossils, suggests that the attritional accumulation of fossils in floodplain settings was the result of predator activity, attrition, and local reworking by fluvial processes. The fossils from these deposits experienced little transport. Moreover, despite complexities in the dataset, select specimen characteristics, including size, shape, and surface modifications, can be linked to the depositional environments determined from sedimentological data. The fossils recovered from a high energy deposit of the lower Cabbage Patch are significantly different from those found in low energy deposits. These low depositional energy fossil assemblages appear to be sufficiently taphonomically similar to be used in faunal analyses despite a change in postmortem filtering through the section.

The Use of Animal Bone as Fuel in the Third Millennium BC Walled Enclosure of Castanheiro do Vento (Northern Portugal)

AbstractExperiments on fire manipulation of bones as fuel demonstrated that animal bones are effective in the act of maintaining lasting combustion. These experiments are almost always applied to the studies in hunter–gather societies in prehistory, even though the use of bones as fuel is also known in historical times.Based on data and models resulting from these recent experiments, both in laboratory and in real hearths, I tested the hypothesis of the use of animal bone as fuel in the third/second millennium BC walled enclosure of Castanheiro do Vento, in northern Portugal. The faunal assemblage shows some specific characteristics such as a very low percentage of identifiable material and close to 90% of charred bones with a very high index of fragmentationI link the faunal analysis with the results of some experiments recently published. These experiments show the particularities of bone fuel combustion, specifically used in certain activities. Nevertheless, the interpretation of these activities in Castanheiro do Vento is difficult to achieve because of the preliminary state of the investigations. As an additional problem, the available interpretations in the literature concern mostly hunter–gather, and models do not take into account the complex societies of the third/second millennium BC. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Reproductive Features of Roach, Bream and Common Carp of Zaporozhian (Dnipro) Reservoir in Contemporary Environmental Conditions

Over the past 50 years, the complete histological study of carp fish gonads was first carried out at Zaporozhian Reservoir. In conditions of environmental transformation of the reservoir the regularities of oogenesis and gonadogenesis, passing sexual cycles were found and the ecology of spawning carp fish was investigated. The adaptive potential of the carp fish reproductive systems, which is expressed through the asynchrony of reproductive products development as well as the functional peculiarities of the fish spawning process, was brought to light. Both environmental assessment and faunal analysis of biodiversity and distribution of young fish of Zaporozhian Reservoir were carried out. The growth and development of the fish larvae dwelling within the industrial agglomerations of Dnipropetrovsk city are found to be under anthropogenic influence. The efficiency of the use of artificial spawning nests for the carp fish spawning was studied, and practical recommendations for their installation and operation in the waters of the reservoir were elaborated.

Reproductive Features of Roach, Bream and Common Carp of Zaporozhian (Dnipro) Reservoir in Contemporary Environmental Conditions

Over the past 50 years, the complete histological study of carp fish gonads was first carried out at Zaporozhian Reservoir. In conditions of environmental transformation of the reservoir the regularities of oogenesis and gonadogenesis, passing sexual cycles were found and the ecology of spawning carp fish was investigated. The adaptive potential of the carp fish reproductive systems, which is expressed through the asynchrony of reproductive products development as well as the functional peculiarities of the fish spawning process, was brought to light. Both environmental assessment and faunal analysis of biodiversity and distribution of young fish of Zaporozhian Reservoir were carried out. The growth and development of the fish larvae dwelling within the industrial agglomerations of Dnipropetrovsk city are found to be under anthropogenic influence. The efficiency of the use of artificial spawning nests for the carp fish spawning was studied, and practical recommendations for their installation and operation in the waters of the reservoir were elaborated.

Reactivation of the Pleistocene trans-Arabian Wadi ad Dawasir fluvial system (Saudi Arabia) during the Holocene humid phase

The Wadi ad Dawasir fluvial system in central Saudi Arabia is investigated using remote sensing and sedimentology, in combination with bio-proxy analyses (molluscs and ostracods). Age control is provided by radiocarbon as well as luminescence dating, using both quartz and feldspar grains. It is shown that the fluvial system was active from the Asir Mountains across the partially sand-covered interior of the Arabian Peninsula to the Arabian Gulf during the Holocene humid period. Sedimentology and faunal analysis reveal the presence of perennial streams and a permanent freshwater lake in the distal reach of the Dawasir system that are synchronous with fluvial accumulation in the headwaters of its major tributary, Wadi Tathlith. The increased runoff during the Holocene led to a re-activation of streams that largely followed pre-existing Late Pleistocene courses and eroded into older sediments. The absence of Holocene lakes in most of the Rub' al-Khali implies that trans-Arabian rivers were mainly fed by precipitation in the Asir Mountains. Monsoonal rainfall was apparently stronger there as well as in the northern, south-eastern and southern part of the Arabian Peninsula (southern Yemen and Oman), but it apparently did not directly affect the interior during the Holocene. The palaeoenvironmental reconstruction shows a narrow trans-Arabian green freshwater corridor as the result of phases of sustained flow lasting up to several centuries. The permanent availability of water and subsistence for wildlife provided a favourable environment for human occupation as documented by Neolithic stone tools that are found all along Wadi ad Dawasir.

The Turanian Basin in the Eocene: the new data on the fossil sharks and rays from the Kyzylkum Desert (Uzbekistan)

Geological fieldwork to investigate the stratigraphic context of Dzheroy-2, fossil shark and ray location in the Kyzylkum desert (Case et al. 1996), resulted at the discovery of the new location, Dzheroy-3, consisting of three fossiliferous horizons, at different stratigraphic levels: in the base of Suzak Formation, in the middle of the Alay and at the base of Turkestan Formation. A total of over 450 shark and ray teeth were collected by a combination of surface prospecting and bulk sampling. From the lithology and the faunal composition of the individual assemblages it was possible to deduce the age and depositional environments of the new fossil fish-bearing horizons. Faunal analysis indicated full marine conditions of the including sediments with bottom-anoxic conditions of the two lower levels and more oxygenated in the upper one. All sequence of beds with fossil elasmobranches including Dzheroy-2 demonstrates a succession of sea shallowing. The vertebrate locality Dzheroy-2 has been placed in a stratigraphic context with its maximum age as NP16 – Late Middle Eocene, upper Lutetian or Bartonian. Lithostratigraphic description of the Dzheroy Sand Member is given.

The Danube Delta

This paper presents a short synthesis on the physiography, geology, hydrology and evolution of the Danube Delta during the Holocene. Deltaic conditions were initiated during the Quaternary, when the Danube started flowing into the Black Sea basin. The Danube Delta is formed of a sequence of clastic deposits ranging from tens to 300‑400 meters thick that accumulated mainly during the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene. The Holocene evolution phases of the Danube Delta have been elucidated by corroborating geomorphological, structural, textural, geochemical, mineralogical and faunal analyses and mainly by 14C dating. Five main evolutionary phases have been elucidated: (1) the formation of the Initial Letea-Caraorman Spit, 11700‑7500 yr. BP; (2) the St. George I Delta, 9000-7200 yr. BP; (3) the Sulina Delta, 7200-2000 yr. BP; (4) the St. George II and Kilia Deltas, 2500 yr. BP to present; and (5) the Cosna-Sinoie Delta, 3500-1500 yr. BP. The paper also describes the anthropogenic changes that have occurred during the last two centuries.

Subsistence strategies in Argentina during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene

This paper highlights regional and temporal variation in the presence and exploitation of faunal resources from different regions of Argentina during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. Specifically, the faunal analysis considered here includes the zooarchaeological remains from all sites older than 7500 14C years BP. We include quantitative information for each reported species (genus, family, or order) and we use the number of identified specimens (NISP per taxon and the NISPtotal by sites) as the quantitative measure of taxonomic abundance. The taxonomic richness (Ntaxatotal and Ntaxaexploited) and the taxonomic heterogeneity or Shannon-Wiener index are estimated in order to consider dietary generalization or specialization, and ternary diagrams are used to categorize subsistence patterns of particular sites and regions. The archaeological database is composed of 78 sites which are represented by 110 stratigraphic contexts. Our results demonstrate that although some quantitative differences between regions are observed, artiodactyls (camelids and deer) were the most frequently consumed animal resource in Argentina. Early hunter-gatherers did not follow a specialized predation strategy in megamammals. A variety in subsistence systems, operating in parallel with a strong regional emphasis is shown, according to specific environmental conditions and cultural trajectories.

Complementary approaches to the identification of bison processing for storage at the Kutoyis complex, Montana

Identifying sources of variability in carcass processing activities is central to the construction of inferences about primary consumption as well as production of storable and transportable by-products. In the northwestern Plains of North America, bison harvesting and processing underwent important changes in scale and intensity in the millennium before European contact. Recent studies of surface stone architecture dating to this time period point to band- and supra-band investment in the planning and construction of elaborate hunting facilities. Site-scale butchering and carcass processing, on the other hand, are good indicators of the degree to which hunting families foresaw the need to secure foodstuffs for future consumption and trade. This report discusses the results of a magnetic survey, excavations, and faunal analysis undertaken at the Kutoyis Site (24GL366), a Late Prehistoric-period hunting complex located in Montana, to characterize processing activities associated with large-scale communal bison hunting. Positive magnetic readings across the site's floodplain, discovery of processing features, and patterned bone fragmentation across the site suggest an investment in the production of storable and transportable by-products such as pemmican, and support architectural and environmental evidence of economic intensification.

The Neolithic within the context of northern Egypt: New results and perspectives from Merimde Beni Salama

Since the conclusion of even the most recent fieldwork at Merimde Beni Salama (MBS) in the 1990s, new theoretical and methodological approaches in archaeology and anthropology mean that it is possible once again to look at the issues surrounding the emergence of the Neolithic in the Nile Delta, from a new perspective. This contribution focusses on the application of methods, including geophysical survey, to the region through a new fieldwork project in the area of MBS, ‘The Imbaba Prehistoric Survey’ which began in 2013 with the aim of surveying the western Delta hinterland around the Neolithic settlement. The survey aims to recreate the local environment to determine its impact upon the ‘transition’ to a more sedentary way of life, the relationship between the Neolithic and the preceding Epipalaeolithic, and the wider exploitation and movement across the landscape throughout prehistory. This contribution discusses some preliminary results of the project, including the discovery that the settlement of MBS, or perhaps settlements, covered a much larger area than previously realised. MBS provides a great case study which also aids in interpretation and understanding of other sites in the region, and farther afield. The results of the first faunal analysis from new excavation trenches are discussed together with an overview of the survey on the Wadi el-Gamal terraces, including some preliminary remarks on the varied types of activity across the landscape during the Neolithic.

Faunal Analyses in the Near East: scope and limitations

Faunal Analyses in the Near East: scope and limitations

The interplay between the surface and bottom water environment within the Benguela Upwelling System over the last 70 ka

AbstractThe Benguela Upwelling System (BUS), located between 30 and 20°S, is one of the fundamental high‐productivity systems of the world ocean. The BUS has previously been studied in terms of primary productivity and ecology over glacial‐interglacial timescales; however, the response and coupling with the benthic environment have received little attention. Here, for the first time, we present a high‐resolution reconstruction of the BUS highlighting the link between surface and benthic productivity and their response to climatic and oceanographic changes over the last 70 ka. The study is based on benthic foraminiferal faunal analysis together with analyses of diatom assemblages, grain size of the terrigenous fraction, and stable O and C isotopic and bulk biogenic components of core GeoB3606‐1. We reveal significant shifts in benthic foraminiferal assemblage composition. Tight coupling existed between the surface and bottom water environment especially throughout marine isotope stages 4 and 3 (MIS4 and MIS3). Due to the high export production, the site has essentially experienced continuous low oxygen conditions; however, there are time periods where the hypoxic conditions were even more notable. Two of these severe hypoxic periods were during parts of MIS4 and MIS3 where we find an inverse relationship between diatom and benthic foraminifera accumulation, meaning that during times of extremely high phytodetritus export we note strongly suppressed benthic productivity. We also stress the importance of food source for the benthos throughout the record. Shifts in export productivity are attributed not only to upwelling intensity and filament front position, but also, regional‐global climatic and oceanographic changes had significant impact on the BUS dynamics.

Faunal analysis and population density of fruit flies (Diptera: tephritidae) in an orchard located in the central western region of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Fruit flies are considered important pests of world fruit production, causing significant losses in yield and limiting the free movement of fruit due to the restrictions imposed by importing countries. Thus, the objective of the study was to investigate the infestation rates and faunal analysis to characterize the fruit fly assemblage in an orchard located in Bambui, MG, Brazil. To this end, samples were taken weekly with fly traps hung in the trees, at a height of about 1.60 m height. Faunal analysis and study of infestation rates were conducted. The captured species were Ceratitis capitata , Anastrepha grandis , A. fraterculus , A. pseudoparallela , A. obliqua , A. dissimilis , A. zenildae , A. sororcula , A. similis , A. aczeli and A. bistrigata . The species varied throughout the studied period, but only C. capitata reached an economic threshold requiring better management of these insects in areas with citrus, acerola and fig. The predominant species was C. capitata .

Diversity of foraminifera in a shallow restricted lagoon in Bahrain

We document the foraminiferal diversity across a semi-enclosed pool in eastern Bahrain that we named “Murray’s Pool†because this is the same location as the one studied by Basson and Murray (1995), the only previous study of foraminifera in this sector of the Arabian Gulf. We subdivided the sampling area into six subenvironments based on distinguishable physical environmental features, namely tidal channel, tidal flat, Salicornia marsh, algal mat, sheltered inner lagoon, and back marsh pool. Faunal analysis from these six shallow-water subenvironments reveals two main assemblages of benthic foraminifera: an Ammonia convexa-Elphidium advenum-Peneroplis pertusus assemblage and an Ammonia convexa-Coscinospira hemprichii-Peneroplis pertusus assemblage. The most abundant species across all the subenvironments are Peneroplis pertusus, Ammonia convexa, Coscinospira hemprichii, and Elphidium advenum. Species assemblage composition and percentage abundances were determined for each subenvironment; the tidal flat subenvironment shows the highest total abundance, but has twenty-four fewer species compared to the sheltered inner lagoon. We also noted the proportions of living foraminifera and juveniles in all the subenvironments to understand the distribution of biofacies within the lagoon. The numbers of juvenile miliolid foraminifera are highest in the tidal channel and the two adjacent subenvironments of the tidal channel.

Zoogeographical regionalization of the Serbia according to the affinity of local faunas of the skippers and butterflies (Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea & Papilionoidea)

Integrated list of skippers and butterflies of Serbia is shown. We also conducted faunal analyses of established species. Based on previous research, some regions have been identified as center of certain faunal groups. Degree of similarity of selected areas is established by Jaccard index method. By Cluster analyses has identified links between isolated areas. Specific faunal elements of certain areas have been separated - they are differential species. Summerazing the obtain results, zoogeographical map of the skippers and butterflies of Serbia is done.

The Early Pleistocene Gigantopithecus-Sinomastodon fauna from Juyuan karst cave in Boyue Mountain, Guangxi, South China

As one of the most important Quaternary mammalian faunas in southern China, the Gigantopithecus-Sinomastodon fauna has received much attention. The large-primate fossil teeth newly collected from Juyuan karst cave in Boyue Mountain, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of southern China, can be identified as Gigantopithecus blacki. The morphology and size of these G. blacki teeth differ from those of the middle Pleistocene Gigantopithecus teeth which hold evidently larger dental dimensions and more complex crenulations from Hejiang Cave also in Guangxi and Tham Khuyen Cave in Vietnam. However, the G. blacki teeth from Juyuan Cave are relatively similar to those from Early Pleistocene Mohui Cave and Liucheng Gigantopithecus Cave both in Guangxi, which suggests that the three cave sites have similar age. The Juyuan fauna associated with Gigantopithecus blacki, consisting of 45 mammalian species (such as Sinomastodon yangziensis, Ailuropoda wulingshanensis, Stegodon huananensis, and Rhinoceros fusuiensis), is a typical Early Pleistocene Gigantopithecus-Sinomastodon fauna of southern China. The Juyuan fauna is mostly similar to Mohui fauna, also implying their contemporaneity. Paleomagnetic analyses demonstrate that the fossil-bearing sediments in Juyuan Cave are dominated by normal polarity. Combining the faunal analysis and magnetostratigraphic evidence, the Juyuan sediments can be best correlated with the Olduvai normal subchron, giving an estimated age of 1.8 Ma.

Análise da entomofauna e flutuação associada a quatro culturas com potencial para produção de biodiesel

As culturas oleaginosas vêm ganhando destaque devido ao seu potencial para a produção de biodiesel, como uma alternativa ao diesel. Portanto, neste trabalho objetivou-se avaliar a entomofauna, por meio de análises faunísticas, associada às seguintes culturas: nabo forrageiro, niger, crambe e girassol, no município de Dourados, estado de Mato Grosso do Sul, tendo em vista que esses cultivares possuem potencial para a produção de biodiesel. Os insetos foram coletados com o método de pano de coleta. As avaliações ocorreram em área experimental agrícola (latitude de 22º 14'S, longitude de 54º 49'W). Foi observado um total de 7.406 espécimes nas quatro culturas, correspondendo a 3.569 espécimes no nabo forrageiro, o qual apresentou uma riqueza de insetos com 18 espécies; 2.275 espécimes no niger, com uma riqueza de 17 espécies; 908 espécimes no crambe com uma riqueza de 18 espécies; e 654 espécimes no girassol com uma riqueza de 18 espécies. Com relação ao estudo da diversidade de espécies medida nas quatro culturas analisadas, o índice de Shannon-Wiener (H') indicou baixa diversidade apenas na cultura do nabo forrageiro, uma vez que o maior valor ocorreu na cultura do girassol (22,935), seguida por crambe (17,487), niger (15,364) e nabo forrageiro (0,5716). A cultura que apresentou o maior índice de equitabilidade foi a do girassol (0,7935), seguida por crambe (0,6047), niger (0,5423) e nabo forrageiro (0,1978), indicando uma semelhança de composição faunística entre girassol, crambe e niger.

Evidence for historical human-induced extinctions of vertebrate species on La Désirade (French West Indies)

Pit cave 6 on Pointe Gros Rempart (Baie-Mahault, La Désirade, French West Indies) is a stratified fossil-bearing site. While the archaeological material and faunal remains from the oldest assemblage demonstrate it to have formed during the Amerindian period, the second assemblage dates to the first one-hundred years of the island's colonial period (mid-18th to mid-19th centuries). Faunal analysis revealed the presence of 4 now locally extinct or extinct species, three of which have never before been documented on La Désirade (Ameiva sp., Leiocephalus cf. cuneus and Alsophis sp.). Changing faunal spectrums (invertebrates and vertebrates) due to environmental destabilisation combined with aspects of the island's colonial economy demonstrate habitat degradation and over-grazing to be the principal causes of extinctions and or extirpations.

Faunal analysis of the Neolithic units from the Gueldaman Cave GLD1 (Akbou, Algeria) and the shift in sheep/goat husbandry

The GDL1 cave belongs to the large karst network of the Adrar Gueldaman ridges (Northern Algeria). New excavations by the Centre National de Recherches Préhistoriques, Anthropologiques et Historiques (CNRPAH) since 2010 have yielded rich archaeological remains dated between 7002 cal BP and 1484 cal BP. The paper presents results of the zooarchaeological analysis of the macromammals from the Neolithic units in sectors S2 and S3. They reveal the presence of a restricted fauna, dominated by sheep and goat, goat being more frequent than sheep. Domestic cattle and pig may also be present. The age profiles of the goat/sheep finds suggest a shift in the management of the sheep/goat herds aiming first at the production of meat and later at the production of meat and secondary products.