Spanish Site Research Articles

The Plio-Pleistocene scimitar-toothed felid genus Homotherium Fabrini, 1890 (Machairodontinae, Homotherini): diversity, palaeogeography and taxonomic implications

The systematics of the Plio-Pleistocene scimitar toothed felid Homotherium have remained problematic after more than a century of fossil findings in Eurasia, Africa and the Americas. Ranging in age between around 4 million and 10,000 years, fossils of this genus display considerable variation, but the distribution of that variation has largely failed to fit a consistent pattern that would allow a clear distinction between species, especially in the Eurasiatic record. The study of undescribed mandibular and cranial fossils of Homotherium from Pleistocene sites in Spain and Alaska provides new insights into the morphological variability within this widespread genus. The results of our study and comparison of the new material with the published fossils of Homotherium confirm the difficulty in dividing the sample into clear-cut species. The new mandible from Incarcal (Spain) shows in a more dramatic way than before how the sample from that Spanish site encompasses the range of variability observed in the Villafranchian and Pleistocene Eurasiatic record, while older, possibly Ruscinian fossils of Homotherium from East Europe display less reduced lower premolars and probably correspond to a different species. The Alaskan fossils, on the other hand, add to the variability in mandibular and cranial morphology of the late Pleistocene North American record. We find no evidence to allow a species-level division within the Villafranchian-Pleistocene Homotherium sample from Eurasia, which for now is best classified as a single variable species, Homotherium latidens, but there are indications of evolution within the lineage, such as the presence of a pocketed anterior margin of the mandibular masseteric fossa, a feature found in the younger fossils of middle or late Pleistocene age but consistently absent in older specimens. A comparable pattern is found in the American record, where the same mandibular feature is observed in late Pleistocene fossils, although in that continent the “primitive” features of some older Homotherium fossils of Blancan (Pliocene) age are consistent enough to justify their classification in a separate species, Homotherium ischyrus. Only the finding of more complete cranial fossils of middle and late Pleistocene age will reveal if there are additional morphological features (besides the pocketing of the masseteric fossa) that could one day allow the separation of younger populations from those of Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene age.

Neanderthal self-medication in context

In a recent study, Hardy et al. (2012) identified compounds from two non-nutritional plants, yarrow and camomile, in a sample of Neanderthal dental calculus from the northern Spanish site of El Sidrón. Both these plants are bitter tasting and have little nutritional value but are well known for their medicinal qualities. Bitter taste can signal poison. We know that the bitter taste perception gene TAS2R38 was present among the Neanderthals of El Sidrón (Lalueza-Fox et al. 2009), and their selection of yarrow and camomile was hence probably deliberate. With few nutritional benefits, reasons must be sought for why the Neanderthals collected and ingested these plants. They could have consumed them as flavouring, but this presupposes a degree of complexity in cuisine for which there is little evidence. The widespread evidence for animal self-medication, or zoopharmacognosy, however, offers an attractive behavioural context.We propose, indeed, that these plants were selected and ingested deliberately for the purpose of self-medication.Here, we investigate the implications of this new finding for Neanderthal knowledge of plants and we offer a context for plant knowledge and self-medication among early human and hominin populations.

Redescription and designation of a neotype for Pseudoloris reguanti Crusafont‐Pairó, 1967, an Eocene primate from the Iberian Peninsula

The species Pseudoloris reguanti (Microchoerinae, Omomyidae, Primates) was described by Miquel Crusafont-Pairó in 1967, based on a single lower molar from the Late Eocene Spanish site Sant Cugat de Gavadons. Sometime later, the holotype and unique material of P. reguanti was lost from the collections of the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont. Recently, several isolated teeth of Pseudoloris from the type locality have been found in the collections of the Naturhistorisches Museum Basel, Switzerland, including two lower molars. According to the description of Crusafont-Pairó, one of the specimens may correspond to the holotype, but this statement cannot be proved due to the lack of illustrations accompanying the original definition of the species. In this work we designate this specimen as a neotype, also providing proper descriptions, measurements and illustrations of the new material and an emended diagnosis for the species.

Comparative assessment of climate change and its impacts on three coastal aquifers in the Mediterranean

A comparative study on climate change and its impacts on coastal aquifers is performed for three Mediterranean areas. Common climate scenarios are developed for these areas using the ENSEMBLES projections that consider the A1b scenario. Temperature and precipitation data of three climate models are bias corrected with two different methods for a historic reference period, after which scenarios are created for 2020–2050 and 2069–2099 and used to calculate aquifer recharge for these periods based on two soil water budget methods. These multiple combinations of models and methods allow incorporating a level of uncertainty into the results. Groundwater flow models are developed for the three sites and then used to integrate future scenarios for three different parameters: (1) recharge, (2) crop water demand, and (3) sea level rise. Short-term predictions are marked by large ranges of predicted changes in recharge, only showing a consistent decrease at the Spanish site (mean 23 %), particularly due to a reduction in autumn rainfall. The latter is also expected to occur at the Portuguese site, resulting in a longer dry period. More frequent droughts are predicted at the Portuguese and Moroccan sites, but cannot be proven for the Spanish site. Toward the end of the century, results indicate a significant decrease (mean >25 %) in recharge in all areas, though most pronounced at the Portuguese site in absolute terms (mean 134 mm/year) and the Moroccan site in relative terms (mean 47 %). The models further predict a steady increase in crop water demand, causing 15–20 % additional evapotranspiration until 2100. Scenario modeling of groundwater flow shows its response to the predicted decreases in recharge and increases in pumping rates, with strongly reduced outflow into the coastal wetlands, whereas changes due to sea level rise are negligible.

Global Efforts to Address Severe Acute Malnutrition

476 5. C hildhood malnutrition encompasses a plethora of nutritional disorders that include stunting, underweight, wasting, severe acute malnutrition (SAM), and micronutrient deficiency disorders. Overweight and obesity, at the other end of the nutritional spectrum, are also manifestations of childhood malnutrition. Nearly 24 million children (younger than 5 years) worldwide experience SAM. The vast majority is located in Africa and Asia (8 million are in India alone). A child with SAM is 10 times more likely to die than a wellnourished child. SAM is one of the top 3 nutrition-related causes of death in children younger than 5 years. Estimates of deaths directly attributable to SAM varied from 0.5 to 2 million annually. Moderate and severe child malnutrition account for 40% to 50% of all deaths in children younger than 5 years. If the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (http://www.un.org/millennium goals) of reducing children malnutrition and mortality by 50% by 2015 are to be met, SAM needs to be prevented and controlled effectively.

Evaluating contamination in the Red-billed Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax through non-invasive sampling

Concentrations of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 19 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), 7 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), isomers and metabolites of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDTs) and Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCHs) were measured in the feathers of the Red-billed Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax, a rare and protected corvid species inhabiting rural and mountainous areas. Feathers were collected in the wild from seven sites in the Iberian Peninsula, one in La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain and one site in Italy. HCH isomers and HCB resulted always under the detection limit. PAHs were found only in the Italian population (range 39.3–54.6ng/g wet weight in the three subsamples). For PBDEs, the concentrations ranged from 135 to 11,753pg/g (mean 1560±3415pg/g w.w.). Only one sample collected in the most urbanized Spanish site in 1990 exceeded 2000pg/g. Twenty years later in the same site the concentration resulted very low. Six Spanish areas from the same meta-population, and one island population at La Palma showed a low contamination by pp'DDE (3.2±3.3ng/g w.w., range for positive samples 1.7–10.1ng/g w.w.). PCBs were found only in two Spanish locations with the 52 and the 138 congeners. Overall the species showed low to intermediate levels of contamination in feathers probably due to its intermediate trophic position and/or to the integrity of its environment.

Optimization of pressurized liquid extraction using a multivariate chemometric approach and comparison of solid-phase extraction cleanup steps for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in mosses

A factorial design was used to optimize the extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from mosses, plants used as biomonitors of air pollution. The analytical procedure consists of pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) followed by solid-phase extraction (SPE) cleanup, in association with analysis by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection (HPLC–FLD). For method development, homogeneous samples were prepared with large quantities of the mosses Isothecium myosuroides Brid. and Hypnum cupressiforme Hedw., collected from a Spanish Nature Reserve. A factorial design was used to identify the optimal PLE operational conditions: 2 static cycles of 5min at 80°C. The analytical procedure performed with PLE showed similar recoveries (∼70%) and total PAH concentrations (∼200ngg−1) as found using Soxtec extraction, with the advantage of reducing solvent consumption by 3 (30mL against 100mL per sample), and taking a fifth of the time (24 samples extracted automatically in 8h against 2 samples in 3.5h). The performance of SPE normal phases (NH2, Florisil®, silica and activated aluminium) generally used for organic matrix cleanup was also compared. Florisil® appeared to be the most selective phase and ensured the highest PAH recoveries. The optimal analytical procedure was validated with a reference material and applied to moss samples from a remote Spanish site in order to determine spatial and inter-species variability.

Neanderthal medics? Evidence for food, cooking, and medicinal plants entrapped in dental calculus

Neanderthals disappeared sometime between 30,000 and 24,000years ago. Until recently, Neanderthals were understood to have been predominantly meat-eaters; however, a growing body of evidence suggests their diet also included plants. We present the results of a study, in which sequential thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS) and pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) were combined with morphological analysis of plant microfossils, to identify material entrapped in dental calculus from five Neanderthal individuals from the north Spanish site of El Sidrón. Our results provide the first molecular evidence for inhalation of wood-fire smoke and bitumen or oil shale and ingestion of a range of cooked plant foods. We also offer the first evidence for the use of medicinal plants by a Neanderthal individual. The varied use of plants that we have identified suggests that the Neanderthal occupants of El Sidrón had a sophisticated knowledge of their natural surroundings which included the ability to select and use certain plants.

Collocations and the translation of news: an English–Spanish electronic dictionary of multi-word combinations as a translation tool

Cross-linguistic research in English–Spanish phraseology has been limited to the comparison of idioms or metaphors in both languages, or the study of categories of set phrases around a given topic such as anger. In exploring the phenomenon of collocations – as a major category of multi-word combinations – in bilingual dictionaries, this paper focuses on the instrumentality of multi-word-combination dictionaries for the translation of news as a case in point. By conducting a case study examining the translation of collocations from the website of BBC News (in English) into the corresponding Spanish online site (i.e. BBC Mundo), this contribution draws attention not only to the mistranslations pervading this news service but also – and perhaps more importantly – to the current deficit in tools enabling professionals to translate word collocations accurately. The potential of English–Spanish multi-word dictionaries like the one presented as part of this paper is likewise considered. This study reveals that bilingual phraseological dictionaries such as the English–Spanish Phraseological Units Dictionary herein employed, along with corpus-based resources, can provide an invaluable help to the practising translator, as current dictionaries do not seem to cover a large variety of real-life collocations.

Study of CO 2 variability at different temporal scales recorded in a rural Spanish site

From February 2000 to December 2008 systematic measurements of CO 2 ambient concentrations were taken using a MIR 9000 continuous infrared analyser in a rural area of the upper Spanish plateau. The wide database obtained has enabled us to quantify CO 2 levels at the measuring site and describe daily and seasonal cycles as well as inter-annual variability. The daily cycle and seasonal variation were dominated by strong temperature inversions, TI, prevailing at the measuring site, up to 7.5 °C per 100 m, which largely contributed to trapping CO 2 during night-time, particularly during the growing season. This paper presents the influence of TI on CO 2 and describes the results using available TI values below 3 °C as a filtering criterion addressed to minimise local disturbances. The filtered monthly means exhibited a seasonal variation characterised by a primary peak in May, a secondary weak peak in October and a minimum in July–August. Seasonal amplitude yielded 8.7 ppm. Over the whole study period, the annual trend, estimated by means of a second order harmonic model applied to the monthly means ( R 2 = 95.6%), yielded a positive linear increase of 2.98 and a 0.64 ppm year −1 rise in the amplitude of the seasonal cycle.

Les colorants de l’art paléolithique dans les grottes et en plein air

The dyes used in the manufacture of Palaeolithic paintings are a cultural element of the first order to know the intentions of the artists, their points of supply, its systems for mixing and preparing and the quality of the used pigments. But here is not its only value, since they are used to establish possible areas and cultural relations that go beyond the technical to constitute genuine cultural bases. What we know at the moment suggests a degree of heterogeneity in the mixtures and systems on a common term that adapts to each specific site. The colours are fairly well preserved in the cave interior, and very badly abroad, in the Palaeolithic version of rock shelter external art. But we were able to isolate some samples in the Spanish site of Siega Verde, leading to affirm the general community of systems for all Palaeolithic art, underground and on it, proving that what today is black and white had chromatic signalling in the Palaeolithic epoch.

Performance of a FieldSpec spectroradiometer for aerosol optical depth retrieval: method and preliminary results

The performance of a FieldSpec spectroradiometer for retrieving aerosol optical depth (AOD) has been assessed after modifying its basic configuration in order to measure direct solar irradiance at ground level. The FieldSpec measurements were obtained during four summertime days in the years 2004 and 2005, over a Spanish agricultural site in Barrax, Albacete (30 degrees 3(') N, 2 degrees 6(') W, 700 m a.s.l.), in the framework of two European Space Agency mission remote sensing field campaigns. From the whole FieldSpec spectral domain (350-2500 nm) the AOD was extracted for channels within atmospheric windows. The instrument was calibrated by means of the standard Langley plot method, performed at a high mountain site in Italy. The AOD retrieved by the FieldSpec has been validated by comparison with the AOD obtained from a colocated CIMEL CE318 Sun photometer. The FieldSpec AOD spectra were convoluted with the CE318 filter transmission functions in order to make both datasets comparable. Our results show that both datasets are very similar (R(2) around 0.9) for all the channels from the CE318, with an average deviation of about 0.02. The temporal evolution of the AOD was accurately monitored by the FieldSpec under different atmospheric conditions, as was the case for a previously reported mineral dust intrusion. As a conclusion, the comparison performed in this study shows that the FieldSpec spectroradiometer is a suitable instrument for retrieving the AOD in different atmospheric situations.

The parasitoid complex attacking coexisting Spanish populations of Euphydryas aurinia and Euphydryas desfontainii (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Melitaeini)

We report on a five‐year investigation of the complex of parasitoids associated with coexisting populations of Euphydryas aurinia and Euphydryas desfontainii at a Spanish site. A sample of over 7000 eggs, 1000 larvae and 200 pupae (the last of these in part having been experimentally placed) revealed the existence of no egg parasitoids, of three primary larval parasitoids and of five primary pupal parasitoids, plus 13 secondary and facultatively tertiary parasitoids associated with the cocoons of the main larval parasitoid, the specialist Cotesia sp. D. The most abundant secondary parasitoid, Neochrysocharis albiscapus, entirely escaped tertiary parasitism by being gregarious. The mortality induced by parasitoids on the butterfly populations, although heavy, was clearly partially minimized by secondary parasitoids acting on Cotesia sp. D. The striking coincidence of the parasitoid complexes attacking the two Euphydryas species suggests a good system for investigating apparent competition between hosts sharing common natural enemies.

Web‐based screening and advice for hazardous drinkers: Use of a Spanish site

A website for implementing screening and brief intervention on alcohol was launched in Barcelona, Spain, in October 2006. Its aim was to reach hazardous drinkers who probably would not ask for advice. This article describes use of the site, profiles users and discusses limitations concerning screening. The website included screening, advice and information. Demographic and self-screening data (typical weekly consumption and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, AUDIT) were examined. In a 12 month period, 12,138 visitors entered the website, 2574 started self-assessment, 1342 completed the table and 724 of these participants completed the AUDIT. These users had a mean age of 27.6 years, one-third of them drank above recommended weekly limits and 84.1% of those who completed the AUDIT (n = 724) scored positive (> or =5); a total of 70.3% of identified at-risk drinkers entered the advice section. Among visitors to the site, risk factors for hazardous drinking were: being male, > or =35 years of age, and drinking heavily at weekends. The percentage of hazardous drinkers accessing the site was high, and visitors reported that they liked the design, that it was easy to use and that it provided relevant information. Most of those who had sought advice considered it to be helpful. The website seems to be an accessible and useful tool for young people and might be used in youth centres as well as in health-care settings, such as primary care and emergency centres, where it could contribute to health promotion and constitute an easier alternative to screening and brief intervention given by the staff.

Spanish Language Web Site From CDC

Spanish Language Web Site From CDC

Measuring potential negative effects of traditional harvesting practices on waterbirds: a case study with migrating curlews

AbstractBecause of potential conflicts between commercial and conservation interests, one challenge in coastal‐area management is how to regulate harvesting practices in coastal areas without adversely affecting the survival of migratory waterbirds. In most Spanish intertidal areas of importance for shorebirds, managers have concentrated only on stock management of the shellfish species. Here, we studied aspects of the foraging behaviour of Eurasian curlews Numenius arquata migrating through a Ramsar area in north Spain in the presence and absence of hand harvesters. We aimed to assess potential negative effects on curlews with a view to making coastal management recommendations that would help reduce conflict between local people and waterbirds. The average density of hand harvesters and foraging curlews at low tide was 0.56±0.09 persons per 10 ha and 16.47±0.73 birds per 10 ha, respectively. The presence of harvesters had a significant effect on foraging activity (no harvesting: 86.47±1.01%; harvesting: 82.70±1.00%). However, the absence of significant differences in all other foraging variables, between days with and without harvesting, indicated that curlews were able to compensate for the impact of harvesters on their foraging activity. We recommend, as a point of departure, that intertidal coastal managers of this Spanish site and similar areas of importance for shorebirds limit the harvesting load to <0.56 persons per 10 ha−1 at least during autumn migration.

Diversity of pathogenic Fusarium populations associated with asparagus roots in decline soils in Spain and the UK

Asparagus decline is a disease associated with several species of Fusarium. In order to assess the relative significance of causative species, single‐stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of the ITS2 (internal transcribed sequence) region of the ribosomal DNA was used to rapidly and objectively identify the fusarial populations associated with the roots of two intensively sampled asparagus crops, one in the UK and the other in Spain. Over 360 fusarial isolates were obtained from fields showing symptoms of asparagus decline, and most were easily differentiated by SSCP into four principal species, F. oxysporum f. sp. asparagi, F. proliferatum, F. redolens and F. solani. Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. asparagi (Foa) was most frequently isolated from the UK site (69%), whilst Foa and F. proliferatum were found in similar proportions overall (40 and 39%, respectively) from the Spanish site, although individual fields showed considerable intraregional variation. Other minor populations, such as F. culmorum, were also found. Most isolates were highly pathogenic to asparagus in vitro, although F. solani isolates comprised both pathogenic and nonpathogenic populations. Two populations of Foa were distinguished by a single ITS2 base transition, and the dominance of these two populations differed between Europe and the USA. Fusarium proliferatum was more abundant in Spain than in the UK. Phylogenetic analysis using EF1α sequences indicated that isolates of F. oxysporum pathogenic to asparagus are spread across a number of clades within the species complex, supporting the hypothesis that pathogenicity to asparagus in this species is a relatively unspecialized trait.

Evidence of a false thumb in a fossil carnivore clarifies the evolution of pandas

The "false thumb" of pandas is a carpal bone, the radial sesamoid, which has been enlarged and functions as an opposable thumb. If the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) are not closely related, their sharing of this adaptation implies a remarkable convergence. The discovery of previously unknown postcranial remains of a Miocene red panda relative, Simocyon batalleri, from the Spanish site of Batallones-1 (Madrid), now shows that this animal had a false thumb. The radial sesamoid of S. batalleri shows similarities with that of the red panda, which supports a sister-group relationship and indicates independent evolution in both pandas. The fossils from Batallones-1 reveal S. batalleri as a puma-sized, semiarboreal carnivore with a moderately hypercarnivore diet. These data suggest that the false thumbs of S. batalleri and Ailurus fulgens were probably inherited from a primitive member of the red panda family (Ailuridae), which lacked the red panda's specializations for herbivory but shared its arboreal adaptations. Thus, it seems that, whereas the false thumb of the giant panda probably evolved for manipulating bamboo, the false thumbs of the red panda and of S. batalleri more likely evolved as an aid for arboreal locomotion, with the red panda secondarily developing its ability for item manipulation and thus producing one of the most dramatic cases of convergence among vertebrates.

First known complete skulls of the scimitar-toothed cat Machairodus aphanistus (Felidae, Carnivora) from the Spanish late Miocene site of Batallones-1

ABSTRACT We describe a sample of skulls, mandibles and isolated dentitions of Machairodus aphanistus from the Spanish late Vallesian (late Miocene) site of Batallones-1, near Madrid. This is the first time that the cranial morphology of this species has been seen in detail, and shows that late Vallesian M. aphanistus combined a relatively primitive cranial and mandibular morphology with very specialized upper canines, as flattened as in the later, cranially derived species M. giganteus. Cranio-mandibular adaptations for the canine shear-bite are incipient or non-existent, suggesting that the specialized canines of M. aphanistus were used within the context of a biting mechanism more similar to the canine bite of modern felids. Evolution of more extreme machairodont craniodental features in later members of the homotherin lineage converged with smilodontins but occurred independently of the initial development of derived saber-like canines. The high number of specimens, at least 14 individuals represented, reveals considerable variation in size within the population, with indications of sexual dimorphism in the size of the upper canines. Differences in cranial morphology suggest separation at the generic level between M. aphanistus and M. giganteus.

The Archaeology of Presidio San Sabá: A Preliminary Report

Archaeological excavations at the 18th-century Spanish colonial site of Presidio San Saba (41MN1) were conducted during the 2000 and 2001 Texas Tech Archaeological Field Schools under the supervision of Grant Hall and the author. Presidio San Saba represents one of the most important Spanish frontier outposts in Texas. Written records concerning the presidio consist primarily of military correspondence and supply records with little or no attention paid to the families of soldiers stationed at the fort or their daily lives. Excavations have concentrated on recovering information from the plaza area, the rooms alongside the interior walls of the presidio, and the 1937 reconstructed portions of the fort. Preliminary analyses of the cultural materials recovered from these excavations are providing a glimpse into the everyday lives of those who resided there as well as a better understanding of the architecture and layout of the fort.