Efforts to identify Paleolithic dogs or incipient dogs have been based mainly on examination of complete or nearly complete crania. Complete skulls are, however, very rare in the archaeological record. Because canid mandible are far more frequently found in Pleistocene assemblages, the objective of this study is to investigate whether it is possible to differentiate these jaws by metric and osteomorphological methods in two morphotypes: Paleolithic dogs and Pleistocene wolves. This paper is mainly based on the very rich canid assemblage from the Gravettian Předmostí site in the Czech Republic, but also includes a few mandible from several other European Paleolithic sites. This study provides additional evidence of the existence at Předmostí of the two canid morphotypes. The metric data indicate that the mandible of the Paleolithic dogs are shorter than those from Pleistocene wolves in all tested measurements of length, and the carnassial crown length is shorter in Paleolithic dogs compared with the length of this tooth in Pleistocene wolves. Furthermore, in eight of nine indexes, the Paleolithic dogs differ significantly from the Pleistocene wolves. The mandible of Paleolithic dogs differ also in non-metric features from the Pleistocene wolves: they present a high frequency of crowded premolars and backwards-oriented apex of the coronoid. This paper furthermore confirms that Paleolithic dogs occur at two late Upper Paleolithic sites (Eliseevichi, Verholenskaya) where previous studies had indicated their presence. In addition, we document the presence of Paleolithic dogs at another Gravettian site, Kostenki-8.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications
Mytilopsis leucophaeata is a biofouling bivalve causing major problems in the cooling water system of BASF, Antwerp NV, Belgium, a large water-using industrial facility. This study aimed to develop a statistical model to predict the response of M. leucophaeata larvae to environmental conditions in estuarine ecosystems. Multiple logistic regression, taking into account temporal autocorrelation, was applied on a large dataset allowing the prediction of the probability of occurrence of M. leucophaeata larvae at BASF NV as a response to the environmental variables. The final model made it possible to predict larval presence in the water column solely by monitoring water temperature. The results from subsampling indicated that the model was stable. The model was tested with 2005 data, demonstrating a 98\% precise prediction of the occurrence of M. leucophaeata larvae in the water column, with a sensitivity of 100\% and a specificity of 97\%, even though autumn 2005 was exceptionally warm, which led to an extended presence of the larvae.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications
