Search results for "Beak"
showing 10 items of 60 documents
Sourcing african ivory in chalcolithic Portugal
2009
A recent review of all ivory from excavations in Chalcolithic and Beaker period Iberia shows a marked coastal distribution – which strongly suggests that the material is being brought in by sea. Using microscopy and spectroscopy, the authors were able to distinguish ivories from extinct Pleistocene elephants, Asian elephants and, mostly, from African elephants of the savannah type. This all speaks of a lively ocean trade in the first half of the third millennium BC, between the Iberian Peninsula and the north-west of Africa and perhaps deeper still into the continent.
Peñón de la Zorra y Puntal de los Carniceros (Villena, Alicante): Revisión de dos conjuntos de yacimientos campaniformes en el corredor del Vinalopó
2002
En el presente artículo se revisa la información existente sobre dos yacimientos campaniformes del Alto Vinalopó –Peñón de la Zorra y Puntal de los Carniceros–. Su importancia dentro de la investigación en tierras levantinas los ha convertido en una referencia casi obligatoria desde su publicación por parte de J. M. Soler García. In this article is cheked information about two bell beaker sites from Vinalopo Valley –Peñón de la Zorra and Puntal de los Carniceros–. The importance of this archaeological sites of investigation concerning Levante areas have got that these places would be an obligatory reference since the publication by J.M. Soler Garcia.
Causes of cetacean stranding and death on the Catalonian coast (western Mediterranean Sea), 2012-2019
2020
The causes of cetacean stranding and death along the Catalan coast between 2012 and 2019 were systematically investigated. Necropsies and detailed pathological investigations were performed on 89 well-preserved stranded cetaceans, including 72 striped dolphins Stenella coeruleoalba, 9 Risso’s dolphins Grampus griseus, 5 bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus, 1 common dolphin Delphinus delphis, 1 Cuvier’s beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris and 1 fin whale Balaenoptera physalus. The cause of death was determined for 89.9% of the stranded cetaceans. Fisheries interaction was the most frequent cause of death in striped dolphins (27.8%) and bottlenose dolphins (60%). Cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV)…
An experimental test of the dose-dependent effect of carotenoids and immune activation on sexual signals and antioxidant activity.
2004
Carotenoid‐based sexual traits are thought to be reliable indicators of male quality because they might be scarce and therefore might indicate the ability of males to gather high‐quality food and because they are involved in important physiological functions (as immune enhancers and antioxidants). We performed an experiment where male and female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) were provided with increasing carotenoid doses in the drinking water during 4 weeks (bill color of this species is a carotenoid‐based sexual signal). Simultaneously, birds were split into two groups: one receiving weekly injections of Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide in order to activate the immune system, the …
Age-dependent allocation of carotenoids to coloration versus antioxidant defences.
2009
SUMMARYAging is commonly attributed to age-related changes in oxidative damage due to an increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and a weakened efficacy of enzymatic antioxidants. These age-related changes might therefore modify the use of dietary antioxidants, including carotenoids. As carotenoids are closely associated with the expression of secondary sexual signals, the allocation of carotenoids to sexual signal versus antioxidant defences may vary with age. In this study, we explored how carotenoid-based ornament and antioxidant activity varied with age and how an inflammatory-induced oxidative burst affected ornament and antioxidant activity across a range of ages. Using …
Environmental stress affects the expression of a carotenoid-based sexual trait in male zebra finches.
2007
SUMMARY Abiotic factors including thermal stress are suggested to exert constrains on sexual ornaments through trade-offs between sexual displays and physiological functions related to self-maintenance. Given the health properties of carotenoid pigments, carotenoid-based ornaments offer a relevant context in which to investigate the effect of environmental stress, such as ambient temperature, on the production and maintenance of secondary sexual traits and, also, to explore the proximate mechanisms shaping their expression. In this study, we exposed male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) to environmental stress by exposing them to two temperature regimes (6 and 26°C) over a 4 week period.…
The beaker phenomenon and the Genomic transformations of Northwest Europe
2018
Bell Beaker pottery spread across western and central Europe beginning around 2750 BCE before disappearing between 2200–1800 BCE. The mechanism of its expansion is a topic of long-standing debate, with support for both cultural diffusion and human migration. We present new genome-wide ancient DNA data from 170 Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age Europeans, including 100 Beaker-associated individuals. In contrast to the Corded Ware Complex, which has previously been identified as arriving in central Europe following migration from the east, we observe limited genetic affinity between Iberian and central European Beaker Complex-associated individuals, and thus exclude migration as a signific…
Female exogamy and gene pool diversification at the transition from the final neolithic to the early Bronze Age in central Europe
2017
Human mobility has been vigorously debated as a key factor for the spread of bronze technology and profound changes in burial practices as well as material culture in central Europe at the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. However, the relevance of individual residential changes and their importance among specific age and sex groups are still poorly understood. Here, we present ancient DNA analysis, stable isotope data of oxygen, and radiogenic isotope ratios of strontium for 84 radiocarbon-dated skeletons from seven archaeological sites of the Late Neolithic Bell Beaker Complex and the Early Bronze Age from the Lech River valley in southern Bavaria, Germany. Complete mitocho…
Immune activation rapidly mirrored in a secondary sexual trait.
2003
A crucial assumption underlying most models of sexual selection is that sexual advertisements honestly reflect the phenotypic and/or genetic quality of their bearers ([1][1]). Here we show that experimental activation of the immune system is rapidly mirrored in the expression of a carotenoid-based
A new brachycladiid species (Digenea) from Gervais’ beaked whale Mesoplodon europaeus in north-western Atlantic waters
2014
AbstractA new species of the digenean family Brachycladiidae Odhner, 1905 is described from the bile ducts of a Gervais’ beaked whale Mesoplodon europaeus Gervais (Ziphiidae) stranded on the North Atlantic coast of Florida. These parasites were assigned to Brachycladium Looss, 1899 and differed from other species of the genus in the relative size of the oral and ventral suckers, the form and size of the eggs and their extremely small body size. A canonical discriminant analysis was used to examine differences between these specimens and the smallest available individuals of B. atlanticum (Abril, Balbuena and Raga, 1991) Gibson, 2005, considered the morphologically closest species. The overa…