Search results for " palaeoecology"
showing 6 items of 6 documents
The Eurasian Modern Pollen Database (EMPD), version 2
2020
The Eurasian (née European) Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) was established in 2013 to provide a public database of high-quality modern pollen surface samples to help support studies of past climate, land cover, and land use using fossil pollen. The EMPD is part of, and complementary to, the European Pollen Database (EPD) which contains data on fossil pollen found in Late Quaternary sedimentary archives throughout the Eurasian region. The EPD is in turn part of the rapidly growing Neotoma database, which is now the primary home for global palaeoecological data. This paper describes version 2 of the EMPD in which the number of samples held in the database has been increased by 60% from 4826 to…
Tectogonotoechia rivasi n. sp. A new lower Pragian Celtiberian (Spain) Ancystrorhynchoidea rhynchonellid brachiopod
2020
A new lower Pragian Ancystrorhynchoidea rhynchonellid, Tectogonotoechia rivasi n. sp. of the Celtiberian region (Eastern Iberian Chain, EIC, and Eastern Guadarrama, EG) is described and figured. The growth of the new species, from the last neanic stage to the senescent one is specially underlined. T. rivasi n. sp. is characterized as the other species of the genus by the occurrence of a pseudoseptum and a pseudoseptalium in the dorsal interior, with a fine connectivum forming a roofed over structure covering most part of the latter. Exteriorly, the species is an entirely costate, strongly dorsibiconvex, uniplicate form lacking of marginal spines. T. rivasi n. sp. is fairly abundant in the u…
Benthic foraminiferal assemblage turnover during intensification of the Northern Hemisphere glaciation in the Piacenzian Punta Piccola section (South…
2012
Abstract We present the results of a high-resolution analysis of the benthic foraminiferal assemblages at the Punta Piccola section (Stratotype for the Piacenzian Stage), which spans the gradual climate transition of the intensification of the Northern Hemisphere glaciation (3.6–2.6 Ma). This study highlighted a major benthic foraminiferal fauna turnover, which started at about 3.05 Ma with LO of Cibicidoides italicus , registered the gradual decline of Stilostomella spp. and culminated at about 2.7–2.75 Ma, when the dominant Siphonina reticulata was replaced by Cibicidoides pachyderma , costate Bulimine, spinose Bulimine, spinose Uvigerine and the Bolivina dilatata group. Four compositiona…
Fossil micromammals of the early Pliocene locality of Almenara MB: biostratigraphical and palaeoecological implications
2020
In this work, we have studied the fossil rodent, insectivore and chiropteran faunas, of a new locality from the AlmenaraCasablanca karstic complex, named ACB MB (Castellón, east Spain). We consider an early Ruscinian age for this site, close to the Miocene/Pliocene boundary, and infer warm and relatively humid conditions from the analysis of the micromammal assemblage. We remark the presence of two species of Eliomys in ACB MB, rare in localities of this age, and the lack of any gerbil remains, fossil markers of faunal interchanges between Africa and Europe in the context of the Messinian Salinity Crisis, recorded in the nearby late Miocene site of ACB M
Origin and Diet of the Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers on the Mediterranean Island of Favignana (Ègadi Islands, Sicily)
2012
Hunter-gatherers living in Europe during the transition from the late Pleistocene to the Holocene intensified food acquisition by broadening the range of resources exploited to include marine taxa. However, little is known on the nature of this dietary change in the Mediterranean Basin. A key area to investigate this issue is the archipelago of the Ègadi Islands, most of which were connected to Sicily until the early Holocene. The site of Grotta d'Oriente, on the present-day island of Favignana, was occupied by hunter-gatherers when Postglacial environmental changes were taking place (14,000-7,500 cal BP). Here we present the results of AMS radiocarbon dating, palaeogenetic and isotopic ana…
The marine diapsid reptile Endennasaurus from the Upper Triassic of Italy
2005
The marine reptile Endennasaurus from the Upper Triassic Zorzino Limestone of northern Italy is rede- scribed and reassessed. New details of the skull and postcra- nial skeleton are revealed, confirming the attribution of this genus to the diapsid reptile clade Thalattosauriformes. Phylo- genetic analysis suggests that Endennasaurus was related to the European genus Askeptosaurus and the Chinese Anshun- saurus. Despite a rather conservative postcranial morphology, Endennasaurus clearly occupied a highly specialized dietary niche as it combined a slender tapering premaxillary rostrum with a complete absence of either marginal or palatal teeth.