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Article Reference Palaeolithic and prehistoric dogs and Pleistocene wolves from Yakutia: identification of isolated skulls.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference Palaeolithic dog skulls at the Gravettian Předmostí site, the Czech Republic
Whether or not the wolf was domesticated during the early Upper Palaeolithic remains a controversial issue. We carried out detailed analyses of the skull material from the Gravettian Předmostí site, Czech Republic, to investigate the issue. Three complete skulls from Předmostí were identified as Palaeolithic dogs, characterized by short skull lengths, short snouts, and wide palates and braincases relative to wolves. One complete skull could be assigned to the group of Pleistocene wolves. Three other skulls could not be assigned to a reference group; these might be remains from hybrids or captive wolves. Modifications by humans of the skull and canine remains from the large canids of Předmostí indicate a specific relationship between humans and large canids.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Palaeolithic dogs and Pleistocene wolves revisited: a reply to Morey
This is a reply to the comments of Morey (2014) on our identification of Palaeolithic dogs from several European Palaeolithic sites. In his comments Morey (2014) presents some misrepresentations and misunderstandings that we remedy here. In contrast to what Morey (2014) propounds, our results suggest that the domestication of the wolf was a long process that started early in the Upper Palaeolithic and that since that time two sympatric canid morphotypes can be seen in Eurasian sites: Pleistocene wolves and Palaeolithic dogs. Contrary to Morey (2014), we are convinced that the study of this domestication process should be multidisciplinary.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Palaeolithic dogs and Pleistocene wolves revisited: a reply to Morey
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Palaeolithic dogs and the early domestication of the wolf: a reply to the comments of Crockford and Kuzmin
This is a response to the comments of Crockford and Kuzmin (2012) on our identification of Palaeolithic dogs from different European Palaeolithic sites. In their comments Crockford and Kuzmin (2012) present some errors, misunderstandings and misrepresentations that we remedy here. In our opinion, the early wolf domestication must be regarded as an intimate relationship between humans and canids including the breeding of the latter by prehistoric people, resulting in the European Palaeolithic dogs.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Palaeopathological and demographic data reveal conditions of keeping of the ancient baboons at Gabbanat el-Qurud (Thebes, Egypt)
Since predynastic times, baboons (Papio hamadryas and Papio anubis) were important in ancient Egypt for ritual and religious purposes. These species did not occur naturally in Egypt and therefore had to be imported, but little is known about their exact provenance and the conditions in which they were kept through time. Here, we analyse the skeletal remains of a collection of baboon mummies coming from Thebes (Egypt), representing a minimum of 36 individuals, from a palaeopathological and demographic point of view. The pathological cases are described, figured where relevant, and the discussion attempts to understand their aetiology. The prevalence of the different types of deformations and pathologies is compared with that of other captive baboon populations from more or less contemporary (Tuna el-Gebel and Saqqara) or older (predynastic Hierakonpolis) sites. This is combined with observations on the age and sex distribution and the proportion of hamadryas and anubis baboons to draw conclusions about the conditions of keeping, possible breeding on-site, provenance of the animals and the trade routes used for import. As in Tuna el-Gebel and Saqqara, the baboons from Gabbanat el-Qurud suffered from numerous metabolic diseases due to chronic lack of sunlight and an unbalanced diet. This and the demographic data suggest that there was a local breeding population derived from animals captured downstream from the Sudanese Nile Valley (for anubis) and from the Horn of Africa or the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula (for hamadryas). A new series of radiocarbon dates is provided, placing the baboons from Gabbanat el-Qurud between the end of the Third Intermediate Period and the beginning of the Late Period.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Paleobiogeography of the lotus plant (Nelumbonaceae: Nelumbo) and its bearing on the paleoclimatic changes
The historical reconstruction of the origin and dispersal of plant taxa in space and time facilitates a better understanding of theirmodern distribution patterns. However,most studies of paleobiogeography have focused on terrestrial plants, and the distribution changes of aquatic plants are less well understood. Here we study the lotus plant Nelumbo (Nelumbonaceae), an aquatic perennial herb, with a disjunctive distribution across East, South and Southeast Asia-North Australia and North America. The reproductive organs of Nelumbo changchangensis He et Jin from the Eocene of Hainan, China are supplementarily described. Analysis of the spatial and temporal distributions of Nelumbo in the geologic past indicates that the genus first occurs in mid-latitude area of Laurasia in the Early Cretaceous, then becomeswidespread in North America and Eurasia and expands into SouthAmerica during the Late Cretaceous, and reaches its maximum northern limit during the Eocene. The genus persists and thrives in North America and Eurasia until the Pliocene. The Pleistocene ice age causes the extinction of Nelumbo in Europe and central Asia, and its populations in North American and Asia are also restricted to refuges of lower latitude. Like the terrestrial plants Metasequoia (Cupressaceae) and Nordenskioeldia (Trochodendraceae), the fluctuations of Nelumbo distribution ranges are also linked to climatic changes in the Cenozoic. The cooling climate and increasing seasonality in the Eocene of East Asia may favor the origin of tubers and the differentiating of the ecotypes in lotus, which allow the deciduous type to survive in cold winters.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Paléobiologie et paléobiogéographie des amphibiens et reptiles : un hommage à Jean-Claude Rage – 2e partie
Editorial for the special volume in honour of Jean-Claude Rage.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Paléobiologie et paléobiogéographie des amphibiens et reptiles : un hommage à Jean-Claude Rage – 1re partie
Editorial for the special volume in honour of Jean-Claude Rage.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Inproceedings Reference Paleocene and Eocene bird assemblage from the Southern North Sea Basin
Numerous bird bones from the Paleocene and early Eocene of the Belgian and Paris basins have been collected by amateur paleontologists. Four bones from the early-middle Selandian of Maret, Belgium are among the earliest Cenozoic avian remains from Europe and include the oldest temporally well constrained records of the Gastornithidae, as well as tentative records of the paleognathous Lithornithidae and the Ralloidea. Another assemblage from the middle Thanetian of Templeuve, France contains multiple bones of the Lithornithidae as well as a record of the Pelagornithidae. Specimens from the latest Thanetian of Rivecourt-Petit Pâtis, France are tentatively assigned to the Ralloidea and Leptosomiformes. An assemblage of 54 bones from the middle Ypresian of Egem, Belgium represents at least 20 species in more than 11 higher-level taxa. Well-identifiable specimens are assigned to the Odontopterygiformes, Galliformes, Messelornithidae, Apodiformes, Halcyornithidae, Leptosomiformes, and Coraciiformes. Further specimens are tentatively referred to the phaethontiform Prophaethontidae and to the Accipitridae, Masillaraptoridae, and Alcediniformes. These three-dimensionally preserved fossils provide new data on the osteology of taxa that are otherwise mainly known from compression fossils with crushed bones. They also further knowledge of the composition of early Paleogene avifaunas of the North Sea Basin. Paleocene avifaunas of Europe and North America appear to have had different compositions and only a few taxa, such as the paleognathous Lithornithidae, are known from both continents. This suggests that the very similar early Eocene avifaunas of Europe and North America are the result of early Cenozoic dispersal events. The well-represented small galliform species from Egem most closely resembles Argillipes aurorum, an ignored galliform species from the London Clay. The tentatively identified fossils of Accipitridae and Alcediniformes would represent the earliest fossil records of these clades. The birds from Egem include few seabirds (Odontopterygiformes, cf. Prophaethontidae) and is dominated by terrestrial species (Galliformes, Messelornithidae). Arboreal birds (Halcyornithidae, Leptosomiformes, cf. Alcediniformes, Coraciiformes) are less abundant and aerial insectivores (Apodiformes) very scarce, which either indicates a taphonomic bias in the composition of the avifauna or particular paleoenvironmental characteristics of the nearshore habitats in that area of the southern North Sea Basin. Grant Information: Funded by Belgian Science Policy Office (project BR/121/A3/PalEurAfrica).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019