Search results for "shell"
showing 10 items of 748 documents
Changes of shell microstructural characteristics of Cerastoderma edule (Bivalvia) — A novel proxy for water temperature
2017
Abstract Shells of bivalves potentially provide an excellent archive for high-resolution paleoclimate studies. However, quantification of environmental variables, specifically water temperature remains a very challenging task. Here, we explore the possibility to infer water temperature from changes of microstructural characteristics of shells of the common cockle, Cerastoderma edule . The size and elongation of individual microstructural units, i.e., prisms, in the outer shell layer of seven three to five year-old, specimens collected alive from the intertidal zone of the North Sea near Texel, The Netherlands, and Schillig, Germany, were measured by means of automatic image processing. Grow…
Last Interglacial Iberian Neandertals as fisher-hunter-gatherers.
2020
Fruits of the sea The origins of marine resource consumption by humans have been much debated. Zilhão et al. present evidence that, in Atlantic Iberia's coastal settings, Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals exploited marine resources at a scale on par with the modern human–associated Middle Stone Age of southern Africa (see the Perspective by Will). Excavations at the Figueira Brava site on Portugal's Atlantic coast reveal shell middens rich in the remains of mollusks, crabs, and fish, as well as terrestrial food items. Familiarity with the sea and its resources may thus have been widespread for residents there in the Middle Paleolithic. The Figueira Brava Neanderthals also exploited stone pine…
Advances of sclerochronology research in the last decade
2021
Over the past decade, sclerochronological research has continued to develop rapidly and is diversifying with respect to methods, taxa, geographic coverage as well as temporal depth. Chonologically aligned environmental records from bivalves, gastropods, coralline algae, corals, and many other periodically formed biogenic hard parts are integrated to build networks across broad spatial domains and trophic levels. Replication and exact dating ensure that environmental signals are fully preserved and facilitate the integration among chronologies as well as observational records of climatic and biological phenomena. The proliferation of chronologies promises to usher in a new era of synthesis t…
Reprint of "Shell oxygen isotope values and sclerochronology of the limpet "Patella vulgata" Linnaeus 1758 from northern Iberia: Implications for the…
2017
Abstract: Understanding environmental conditions faced by hunter-fisher-gatherers during the Pleistocene and Holocene, and interpretation of subsistence strategies, social organisation and settlement patterns, are key topics for the study of past human societies. In this respect, oxygen isotope values (?18O) of mollusc shell calcium carbonate can provide important information on palaeoclimate and the seasonality of shell collection at archaeological sites. In this paper, we tested P. vulgata shells from northern Iberia as a paleoclimate archive through the study of shell oxygen isotope values and sclerochronology of modern samples. Results showed that limpets formed their shells close to is…
Insights from sodium into the impacts of elevated pCO2 and temperature on bivalve shell formation
2017
Ocean acidification and warming are predicted to affect the ability of marine bivalves to build their shells, but little is known about the underlying mechanisms. Shell formation is an extremely complex process requiring a detailed understanding of biomineralization processes. Sodium incorporation into the shells would increase if bivalves rely on the exchange of Na+/H+ to maintain homeostasis for shell formation, thereby shedding new light on the acid-base and ionic regulation at the calcifying front. Here, we investigated the combined effects of seawater pH (8.1, 7.7 and 7.4) and temperature (16 and 22 °C) on the growth and sodium composition of the shells of the blue mussel, Mytilus edul…
Drivers of shell growth of the bivalve, Callista chione (L. 1758) - Combined it environmental and biological factors
2018
WOS:000426027100014; Seasonal shell growth patterns were analyzed using the stable oxygen and carbon isotope values of live-collected specimens of the bivalve Callista chione from two sites in the Adriatic Sea (Pag and Cetina, Croatia). Micromilling was performed on the shell surface of three shells per site and shell oxygen isotopes of the powder samples were measured. The timing and rate of seasonal shell growth was determined by aligning the delta O-18(shell)-derived temperatures so that the best fit was achieved with the instrumental temperature curve. According to the data, shells grew only at very low rates or not at all during the winter months, i.e., between January and March. Shell…
A model for planktic foraminiferal shell growth
1993
In this paper we analyze the laws of growth that control planktic foraminiferal shell morphology. We assume that isometry is the key toward the understanding of their ontogeny. Hence, our null hypothesis is that these organisms construct isometric shells. To test this hypothesis, geometric models of their shells have been generated with a personal computer. It is demonstrated that early chambers in log-spirally coiled structures cannot follow a strict isometric arrangement. In the real world, the centers of juvenile chambers deviate from the logarithmic growth curve. Juvenile stages are generally more planispiral and contain more chambers per whorl than adult stages. These traits are shown …
How do cuticular hydrocarbons evolve? Physiological constraints and climatic and biotic selection pressures act on a complex functional trait
2017
Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) cover the cuticles of virtually all insects, serving as a waterproofing agent and as a communication signal. The causes for the high CHC variation between species, and the factors influencing CHC profiles, are scarcely understood. Here, we compare CHC profiles of ant species from seven biogeographic regions, searching for physiological constraints and for climatic and biotic selection pressures. Molecule length constrained CHC composition: long-chain profiles contained fewer linear alkanes, but more hydrocarbons with disruptive features in the molecule. This is probably owing to selection on the physiology to build a semi-fluid cuticular layer, which is necessa…
Microbial symbionts expanding or constraining abiotic niche space in insects
2020
In addition to their well-studied contributions to their host’s nutrition, digestion, and defense, microbial symbionts of insects are increasingly found to affect their host’s response toward abiotic stressors. In particular, symbiotic microbes can reduce or enhance tolerance to temperature extremes, improve desiccation resistance by aiding cuticle biosynthesis and sclerotization, and detoxify heavy metals. As such, individual symbionts or microbial communities can expand or constrain the abiotic niche space of their host and determine its adaptability to fluctuating environments. In light of the increasing impact of humans on climate and environment, a better understanding of host-microbe …
Climate Warming as a Possible Trigger of Keystone Mussel Population Decline in Oligotrophic Rivers at the Continental Scale
2018
AbstractThe effects of climate change on oligotrophic rivers and their communities are almost unknown, albeit these ecosystems are the primary habitat of the critically endangered freshwater pearl mussel and its host fishes, salmonids. The distribution and abundance of pearl mussels have drastically decreased throughout Europe over the last century, particularly within the southern part of the range, but causes of this wide-scale extinction process are unclear. Here we estimate the effects of climate change on pearl mussels based on historical and recent samples from 50 rivers and 6 countries across Europe. We found that the shell convexity may be considered an indicator of the thermal effe…