Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Omar Cirilli, Luca Pandolfi, Lorenzo Rook, Raymond L. Bernor
Summary: The evolution of the genus Equus has been a topic of extensive debate with varying hypotheses, no consensus has been reached on the taxonomic content or phylogeny of Equus. Studies indicate a close evolutionary relationship between North American Pliocene E. simplicidens and European and African Pleistocene Equus, supporting the derivation of Equus grevyi and zebra-ass clade from European stenonine horses. The phylogenetic results uphold the theory that Equus originated around 4.0-4.5 million years ago, with Equus simplicidens representing the ancestral stock of Old World Pleistocene Equus and the zebra-ass clade.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Review
Geography, Physical
Omar Cirilli, Juha Saarinen, Luca Pandolfi, Lorenzo Rook, Raymond L. Bernor
Summary: The study reviews the European Early Pleistocene Equus stenonis record through morphological, morphometric and statistical analysis, combined with body mass and net primary production estimates. The results suggest that two E. stenonis subspecies should be elevated to species ranks. The evolutionary interpretations based on cranial morphology reveal the lineage of extant zebras over deep time.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
D. Heslop, U. Amarathunga, E. J. Rohling
Summary: In this study, a regression-based deconvolution method was used to estimate the combination of freshwater runoff and surface warming of the water column in the eastern Mediterranean over the past 5 million years. The analysis revealed the consistent influence of orbital eccentricity in modulating the North African monsoon and a possible shift in runoff source area. These findings provide important insights into the role of the North African monsoon in shaping Mediterranean environmental changes.
PALEOCEANOGRAPHY AND PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
(2023)
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Stephen J. Gaughran, Bridgett vonHoldt
Summary: The distribution and movement of species, known as biogeography, is a fundamental field in ecology and evolutionary biology. Recent genetic studies of ancient specimens have revealed important evidence on the migrations of brown bears and lions into North America during the late Pleistocene, highlighting the long-lasting impact of sea level changes on the dispersal of terrestrial carnivores.
Article
Geography, Physical
Joan Madurell-Malapeira, Antonio Rodriguez-Hidalgo, Hassan Aouraghe, Hamid Haddoumi, Saverio Bartolini Lucenti, Aicha Oujaa, Palmira Saladie, Said Bengamra, Juan Marin, Mohamed Souhir, Mourad Farkouch, Hicham Mhamdi, Al Mahdi Aissa, Lars Werdelin, M. Gema Chacon, Robert Sala-Ramos
Summary: The study describes a new small-sized species of Dinofelis from North Africa, which is smaller than previously known African Dinofelis and likely occupies a different ecological niche. This discovery adds complexity to the high intraspecific competition among large carnivorans in the Plio-Pleistocene of Africa.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Juha Saarinen, Omar Cirilli, Flavia Strani, Keiko Meshida, Raymond L. Bernor
Summary: Monodactyl horses of the genus Equus, originating in North America during the Pliocene, have been a crucial part of large ungulate communities in Europe, North America, and Africa since the Pleistocene. Research indicates that body size variation in Equus species is related to changes in environments and diet, with larger species tending to have more browse-dominated diets and smaller species inhabiting grass-rich paleoenvironments. When multiple Equus species co-occur, larger species are less abundant and tend to have browse-dominated diets compared to smaller species, indicating a complex interplay between body size, resource availability, and environmental factors.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Edward Armstrong, Miikka Tallavaara, Peter O. Hopcroft, Paul J. Valdes
Summary: A study has found that periodic wet phases in the Sahara region, known as North African Humid Periods, were influenced by Earth's orbital variations and were suppressed during glacial periods due to extensive ice sheets. This has implications for understanding the out of Africa dispersal of plants and animals during the Quaternary.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Mathieu Duval, Mohamed Sahnouni, Josep M. Pares, Jan van der Made, Salah Abdessadok, Zoheir Harichane, Razika Chelli Cheheb, Kamel Boulaghraif, Alfredo Perez-Gonzalez
Summary: The Oued Boucherit area in North East Algeria hosts a unique succession of archaeological and palaeontological deposits spanning from the late Pliocene to the Early Pleistocene. The sequence records the earliest evolutionary steps of lithic technology, with Oldowan and Acheulean assemblages identified, which are close in chronology to evidence found in East Africa and South Africa. This site provides a valuable opportunity to study the evolution of large mammal faunal assemblages in North Africa and the evolution of palaeoecological and palaeoenvironmental conditions in the region.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Marlize Lombard
Summary: The author discusses the development of hunting weapons and raises questions about the origins of spearthrower-and-dart hunting during the late Pleistocene. By summarizing direct evidence for Eurasian spearthrowers, the author suggests that they may have existed before or contemporaneously with bow hunting. The author predicts that spearthrowers might have been used in a green-Sahara phase in the Palearctic instead of the more biodiverse Afrotropic.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Diana Diaz-Canova, Ugo L. Moens, Annika Brinkmann, Andreas Nitsche, Malachy Ifeanyi Okeke
Summary: In this study, the complete genome sequence of an atypical cowpox virus (CPXV-No-H2) isolated from a human in Norway was determined. The virus showed a mosaic genome with genes most similar to other orthopoxviruses and multiple potential recombination events were identified. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that CPXV-No-H2 formed a distinct clade with German CPXV isolates and clustered closely with the ECTV-OPXV Abatino clade.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Audrey K. Taylor, Melissa A. Berke, Isla S. Castaneda, Andreas Koutsodendris, Hernan Campos, Ian R. Hall, Sidney R. Hemming, Leah J. LeVay, Alejandra Cartagena Sierra, Keith O'Connor
Summary: Efforts to understand long-term Indian Ocean dynamics and land-sea linkages in southeast Africa have been advanced using new biomarker and pollen records to fill a research gap between 4 and 1.8 million years ago. The study revealed a linkage between Indian Ocean temperatures and southeast African hydroclimate, as well as proposed additional mechanisms that may have influenced hydroclimate during the Plio-Pleistocene.
PALEOCEANOGRAPHY AND PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Peter H. Adler, Will K. Reeves
Summary: Glaciation plays a significant role in species distributions and genetic structure. The current distributions of many organisms in North America's Western Cordillera are influenced by Pleistocene glaciation. Through our study on the genus Prosimulium in western North America, we found a north-south differentiation pattern, indicating the separation of populations by the North American Ice Sheet during the Pleistocene Epoch. This discovery suggests the existence of new species within nominal species, requiring formal description or revalidation of currently synonymous names.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Christine A. Shields, Jadwiga H. Richter, Angeline Pendergrass, Simone Tilmes
Summary: This study analyzes the impact of stratospheric aerosol injections on atmospheric rivers in western North America using simulations. The results show that without climate intervention, the atmospheric rivers will increase in southern California and decrease in the Pacific Northwest and coastal British Columbia by the end of the century. Moreover, the character of precipitation in the atmospheric rivers changes under climate engineering.
NPJ CLIMATE AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mathew Stewart, W. Christopher Carleton, Huw S. Groucutt
Summary: Research suggests that the disappearance of North American megafauna may be more closely related to climate change than human overhunting. There is no evidence of a persistent relationship between human and megafauna population levels over time.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
John A. F. Wendt, David B. McWethy, Chris Widga, Bryan N. Shuman
Summary: This study integrates archaeological and paleontological data with simulated climate data to investigate the long-term drivers of bison distribution and abundance in North America. The results show that the distribution and abundance of bison were influenced by large-scale temperature and precipitation trends, and the abundance of bison in the Holocene was affected by hydroclimatic shifts.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Marie-Pierre Aubry, Werner E. Piller, Philip L. Gibbard, David A. T. Harper, Stanley C. Finney
Summary: The proposal for formal adoption of the chronostratigraphical/geochronological unit divisions subseries/subepoch has been unanimously ratified by the IUGS Executive Committee. The naming convention for subseries/subepochs within the Cenozoic has also been standardized.
Article
Biology
Raymond L. Bernor, Omar Cirilli, Hans-Walter Mittmann
Summary: Howenegg in Southwest Germany is known for its well-preserved mammalian skeletons, invertebrate and plant fossils. In this study, photographic images of Hippotherium primigenium skulls, mandibles, and dentitions from Howenegg are provided to describe important character states used to define hipparion species. Comparisons with other specimens from North America, Turkey, Austria, China, and Moldova are made, and statistical analyses are conducted to improve taxonomic comparisons and understand the origins of Old World hipparions. The results suggest that the first occurring Old World hipparions may have originated from North American Cormohipparion, and provide new evidence for the chronology of hipparion evolution in the Old World.
HISTORICAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Daniel Zoboli, Georgios L. Georgalis, Marisa Arca, Caterinella Tuveri, Salvatore Carboni, Luciano Lecca, Gian Luigi Pillola, Lorenzo Rook, Mauro Villani, Francesco Chesi, Massimo Delfino
Summary: This paper provides a detailed review of the fossil record of turtles from Sardinia, including previously undescribed specimens. The turtle fossil record in Sardinia spans back to the Eocene and comprises 18 different taxa belonging to 6 lineages. The presence of Eocene pleurodires is notable and coincides with the Oligo-Miocene rifting of the Corso-Sardinian block. The fossil record also reveals the coexistence of Testudo hermanni and Emys orbicularis during the Pleistocene, despite their recent introduction according to molecular data.
HISTORICAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Editorial Material
Anthropology
David Lordkipanidze, Jordi Agusti, Lorenzo Rook
JOURNAL OF HUMAN EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Luca Pandolfi, Lorenzo Rook
Summary: Through the study of new material of Umbrotherium, this research reveals the morphological and morphometric variability of Umbrotherium, enabling a comparison between specimens from different Miocene localities and establishing the possibility of a new species U. engesserii sp. nov from Fiume Santo (Sardinia). The study also suggests a closer relationship between Umbrotherium and Decennatherium, rather than other Late Miocene continental giraffids, indicating a possible dispersal of its ancestor from the Iberian Peninsula. A new paleogeographic and biochronological framework is proposed for the Tusco-Sardinian archipelago.
JOURNAL OF MAMMALIAN EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Luca Pandolfi, Roberta Martino, Matteo Belvedere, Bienvenido Martinez-Navarro, Tsegai Medin, Yosief Libsekal, Lorenzo Rook
Summary: This study re-analyses and describes the hippopotamid fossil material from Buia (Eritrea), aiming to clarify the presence of different species and provide new data on their distribution. The results reveal the presence of Hippopotamus gorgops and aff. Hippopotamus karumensis, and suggest a revision of the Northern African and Levantine Hippopotamidae records.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2023)
Review
Geography, Physical
Omar Cirilli, Luca Pandol, David M. Alba, Joan Madurell-Malapeira, Maia Bukhsianidze, Laszlo Kordos, David Lordkipanidze, Lorenzo Rook, Raymond L. Bernor
Summary: This study revises the taxonomy and evolution of the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene three-toed horses in Western Eurasia, based on large equid samples from Villarroya (Iberian Peninsula) and Kvabebi (Georgia). The samples are compared to a range of Old World hipparions to identify the different genera and species in the region. The study provides a revised interpretation of their taxonomy, chronology, paleobiogeography, and evolutionary history, identifying three genera and six species with different distributions in time and space during the Plio-Pleistocene.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Biology
R. Martino, L. Rook, O. Mateus, L. Pandolfi
Summary: Fossil remains from the latest Messinian of Casino Basin in Tuscany, Italy have been known since the 19th century. The mammal assemblage includes Mesopithecus pentelicus, Tapirus arvernensis, Propotamochoerus provincialis, and poorly preserved remains of a hippopotamid. These remains were initially referred to as Hippopotamus hipponensis and later ascribed to the new species Hippopotamus pantanellii.
HISTORICAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Saverio Bartolini-Lucenti, Lorenzo Rook
Summary: This manuscript presents a preliminary report on the use of virtual palaeontology methodologies in two natural history museums in central Italy. The use of surface and computed tomography (CT) scans allowed the acquisition of data to create digital copies of specimens. The resulting 3D and raw data will be used in exhibitions using digital visualization devices and techniques or 3D-printed touchable specimens.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Andrea Faggi, Saverio Bartolini-Lucenti, Lorenzo Rook
Summary: This study aims to describe and test an objective analytic operational procedure that could allow for the assessment of the relevance of any fossiliferous site and its potential vulnerability. The proposed indexes were tested on 22 different localities and showed promising results in describing and characterizing each site.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Samuele Frosali, Saverio Bartolini-Lucenti, Joan Madurell-Malapeira, Alessandro Urciuoli, Loic Costeur, Lorenzo Rook
Summary: This study analyzed for the first time the paranasal sinus of extant and fossil canids and made ecological inferences. The results showed a significant correlation between the morphology of the frontal sinus and the diet preferences of canids. Additionally, the study successfully reconstructed the frontal sinus of three fossil Eucyon species and compared it to living forms.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Biology
Bienvenido Martinez-Navarro, Tegenu Gossa, Francesco Carotenuto, Saverio Bartolini-Lucenti, Paul Palmqvist, Asfawossen Asrat, Borja Figueirido, Lorenzo Rook, Elizabeth M. Niespolo, Paul R. Renne, Gadi Herzlinger, Erella Hovers
Summary: In 2017, a fossil of an Ethiopian wolf was discovered in southeastern Ethiopia, providing the earliest evidence of its presence in Africa. The fossil suggests that the Ethiopian wolf faced challenges in the past due to geographic range contractions. Future climate scenarios indicate a significant reduction in suitable territories for the species, further endangering its survival. The recovery of the fossil highlights the importance of research on early human origins and associated biodiversity outside the East African Rift System.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Geography, Physical
Omar Cirilli, Juha Saarinen, Maia Bukhsianidze, David Lordkipanidze, Raymond L. Bernor
Summary: This study provides a comprehensive description of the Akhalkalaki E. suessenbornensis samples and compares them with the fossil record of Early and Middle Pleistocene Europe. New insights into the morphology, variability, paleoecology, biochronology, paleobiogeography, and evolution of E. suessenbornensis are presented using ontogenically-based analysis and paleoecological estimations. These findings contribute to a reassessment of equid evolution during the Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition in Western Eurasia.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Dario Fidalgo, Antonio Rosas, Saverio Bartolini-Lucenti, Jean-Renaud Boisserie, Luca Pandolfi, Bienvenido Martinez-Navarro, Paul Palmqvist, Lorenzo Rook, Joan Madurell-Malapeira
Summary: An in-depth study of Early Pleistocene European remains of Hippopotamus provides a detailed description of dental alterations related to climatic and environmental factors, highlighting the importance of nutrient deficiencies on dental enamel hypoplasia development. Glacial cyclicity and changes in humidity and plant community structure conditioned the survival of this taxon.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
