Search results for "PALEOECOLOGY"

Paleoecological insight into the straight-tusked elephant population from the late Middle Pleistocene site of Poggetti Vecchi

Il progetto di ricerca s’incentra sullo studio della macrofauna rinvenuta nel sito paleontologico e archeologico di Poggetti Vecchi, scoperto nella località di Roselle situata in provincia di Grosseto. Nello specifico esso è stato focalizzato sulla ricostruzione paleoambientale e paleoecologica dell’area. L’analisi paleobiologica e tafonomica dei resti faunistici è stata perciò inserita all’interno di un progetto multidisciplinare e l’integrazione di tutti i dati paleontologici (relativi a vertebrati, invertebrati, macroresti vegetali e pollini) con quelli stratigrafici ha permesso di ricostruire dettagliatamente l’evoluzione paleoambientale. Nella seconda parte, lo studio paleoecologico è …

Reconstitution du squelette d'astérides fossiles à partir d'ossicules isolés : intérêt taxinomique et phylogénétique

1999

Abstract Dissociated ossicles of asteroids are frequent in neritic sediments. Until now, this material was mainly used in the identification of species. A new method, associating a morphological analysis and counting of plates, allows the architecture of the skeleton and the shape of the body to be reconstructed. This method provides new elements for taxonomic and phylogenetic comparisons. It also provides indications on the adaptation of the asteroids to their environment. In geological beds, frequencies of the different kinds of plates will allow qualification of bioerosion and taphonomic sorting.

Acanthochaetetidae (Hadromerida, Demospongiae) fromthe Coniacian of Vera de Bidasoa (basque pyrénées, Northern Spain)

1986

Abstract Acanthochaetetes specimens from the Coniacian brecciated limestones near Vera de Bidasoa (Northern Spain) are described. It is the first report of acanthochaetetids from Coniacian strata. The specimens are very small and probably lived in fissures and crevices in fore-reef breccias and deep water mud mounds. The family Acanthochaetetidae Fischer is placed in the order Hadromerida (Tetractinomorpha, Demospongiae). The order Tabulospongida Hartman & Goreau was abandoned.

Palaeogeographical and palaeoecological aspects of the Cambro–Ordovician radiation of echinoderms in Gondwanan Africa and peri-Gondwanan Europe

2003

Abstract Ecology and tempo of the Lower Palaeozoic radiation of echinoderms are discussed in this paper based on comparison of the diversity patterns observed in Cambro–Ordovician faunas from Laurentia and the northern Gondwana margin. The Cambrian ‘agronomic revolution’ triggered a global radiation of echinoderms, with the progressive disappearance of biomat-related lifestyles, and the colonisation of new environments. Both in Laurentia and on the northern Gondwana margin, soft-substrate echinoderm assemblages related to cold and/or deep environments were dominated by blastozoans and stylophorans. These assemblages show a pattern of continuous diversification from the Middle Cambrian to th…

A Palaeoenvironmental Study in Semi-arid Southeastern Spain: the Palynological and Sedimentological Sequence at Perneras Cave (Lorca, Murcia)

1995

Abstract Results are presented of palynological and sedimentological research at the Palaeolithic site of Perneras Cave (coastal Murcia, southeastern Spain). Sedimentological features point to a warm, somewhat humid phase corresponding with the lowermost part of the Mousterian sequence, which was followed by a climatic deterioration which lasted throughout the later Mousterian and Upper Palaeolithic. The palynological study described here barely allows palaeoclimatological inferences to be drawn, but it does highlight interesting paleobotanical data, namely, the presence of Ibero-Maghrebian and Mediterranean elements, which suggest that the site was an important refuge for thermophilous tax…

Abrupt Alnus population decline at the end of the first millennium CE in Europe - The event ecology, possible causes and implications

2019

The study, based on the examination of 70 published and unpublished pollen profiles from Poland and supplementary data from the surrounding regions, shows that an abrupt, episodic Alnus population decline at the end of the first millennium CE was a much more widespread event than has been previously reported, spanning large areas of the temperate and boreal zones in Europe. The data from Poland suggest that the decline was roughly synchronous and most likely occurred between the 9th and 10th centuries, with strong indications for the 10th century. The pollen data indicate that human impacts were not a major factor in the event. Instead, we hypothesize that one or a series of abrupt climatic…

Trace and soft body fossils from the Pedroche Formation (Ovetian, Lower Cambrian of the Sierra de Córdoba, S Spain) and their relation to the Pedroch…

2006

The low Lower Cambrian rocks from the Sierra de Cordoba contain one of the best successions in Europe, which consists of well exposed mixed facies with abundant fossil assemblages showing long stratigraphical ranges throughout the Pedroche Formation. These assemblages include diverse Ovetian archaeocyaths, trilobites, small shelly fossils, calcimicrobes, trace fossils and stromatolites. Trace fossils are still poorly known, and thus they are the main objective of this work. Ichnological data are obtained from the Arroyo de Pedroche 1, Arroyo de Pedroche 2 and Puente de Hierro sections. Trace fossils include the ichnogenera Bergaueria, aff. Bilinichnus, Cochlichnus, aff. Cosmorhaphe?, Cylind…

Biogeography of the Pleistocene pleniglacial malacofaunas in Europe. Stratigraphic and climatic implications

1990

Abstract As determined by Lozek, malacological associations are significant of a particular vegetal environment. In Quaternary sequences, different types of associations are recognized which can be assimilated to the present types of malacofaunas. There are associations of grass group, of forest group and of the ecotone of these two biogeographical entities. On the European scale, in Pleistocene sequences, the interglacial faunas indicate similarly the same differences as today, being of stratigraphic interest. On the contrary, pleniglacial faunas, which are mainly preserved in the loess belt, seemed not interesting for stratigraphy since they indicate more generalized and more homogeneous …

Land Snails as a Diet Diversification Proxy during the Early Upper Palaeolithic in Europe

2014

Despite the ubiquity of terrestrial gastropods in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene archaeological record, it is still unknown when and how this type of invertebrate resource was incorporated into human diets. In this paper, we report the oldest evidence of land snail exploitation as a food resource in Europe dated to 31.3-26.9 ka yr cal BP from the recently discovered site of Cova de la Barriada (eastern Iberian Peninsula). Mono-specific accumulations of large Iberus alonensis land snails (Ferussac 1821) were found in three different archaeological levels in association with combustion structures, along with lithic and faunal assemblages. Using a new analytical protocol based on taphonomic…

Stable isotope composition and rare earth element content of vertebrate remains from the Late Cretaceous of northern Spain (Laño): did the environmen…

2003

Abstract Oxygen and carbon isotope measurements have been performed on phosphatic remains from faunal associations (dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtles and fish) of the Late Cretaceous continental and marine sediments from northern Spain (Basque Country). The environmental meaning of the oxygen isotope record in fossil reptiles is discussed on the basis of known paleoecology, modern fauna analogs, and apatite chemistry (rare earth elements (REE), CO32− and PO43− contents). Fossil remains in sandstones and argillites from two localities (Urria and Cuezva) have low (down to 16‰) and scattered δ18O(PO4,CO3) and δ13C values with REE patterns characterized by strong middle REE enrichments. These geoc…