Palaeoecology

We present palaeoenvironmental, geomorphological, archaeological, and place-name data which allow a holistic assessment of the history of landscape change on Sandoy, Faroe Islands, especially in terms of the changes that occurred in response to the colonization of the island by humans. In contrast to other situations in the North Atlantic region, there is considerable continuity in the patterns and processes of landscape evolution across the initial

Soldier Meadows Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) in the Black Rock-High Rock Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area in northern Nevada is an unique habitat for threatened plant and animal species. The perennial geothermal springs have fostered human use of the area for millennia. Native American use of the area began approximately 10000 years ago, and Anglo-European settlements and ranching arose there circa AD 1868.
This paper looks at the vegetation and climate history of the Soldier Meadows ACEC over the last 1500 years. A core was obtained from wet meadow location inside of the ACEC just north of Mud Meadows reservoir. The core was processed to recover pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs. Information from this study will be used to inform federal land management decisions.

A Bayesian age-depth model was constructed for the core from Pb isotope and radiocarbon dates.

The irregular time series of the proportions of various species and taxa are discussed. Poaceae steadily increases through time. The cyanobacteria Rivularia increases and Glomus decreases in the late prehistoric period (ca. 350 BP) to the present. This is indicative of a change in water chemistry and potentially water level. The ratio of Artemisia/Chenopodiaceae indicates the area was drier during the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA) than the Little Ice Age (LIA); Bayesian change point analyses of this time series notes a significant increase in moisture circa 565 BP and a significant decrease circa 39 BP.

Modern analogue technique, in combination with the North American pollen database, is used to reconstruct winter precipitation and average July temperatures. While there are few modern analogues, the method does indicate that winter precipitation was low from circa 1200 BP through 600 BP, and significantly increased from 600 BP through 200 BP. The average July temperature was approximately 1 degree centigrade higher in the MCA than the LIA.

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Abstract: We present a procedure for estimating age-depth relationships in stratigraphical sequences by means of a generalized mixed-effect regression using an ancillary function for the partitioning of the fixed effect and the random effect corresponding to the degree of representativity of the individual calibrated dates for a particular section of the sedimentary sequence. The procedure uses mid-point estimates of the calibrated ages in combination with the central distributional range as the basis for estimating the fixed relationship between age and depth. Further, it combines the variability of the calibrated age at individual layers (within-object variance) with estimation of the variability of the calibrated age distribution as a whole between the layers standardized by the fixed effect (between-object variance). These components of random variability can be considered independent, and hence the uncertainty of the estimated fixed relationship between age and depth can be estimated by combining the two random variables. The procedure follows the logic of mixed-effects models, but with prior information about the expected variance within each dated object.

Aim  There remains some uncertainty concerning the causes of extinctions of Madagascar’s megafauna. One hypothesis is that they were caused by over-hunting by humans. A second hypothesis is that their extinction was caused by both environmental change and hunting. This paper systematically addresses the second hypothesis through examination of two new pollen records from south-eastern Madagascar alongside other published records across the island.Location  South-eastern Madagascar.Methods  We reconstructed past vegetation and fire dynamics over the past 6000 years at two sites in south-eastern Madagascar (Ste-Luce) using fossil pollen and charcoal contained in sedimentary sequences. We investigated drivers of vegetation changes and how these, in turn, influenced faunal species in the south-east, using published climatic, archaeological and faunal records. Further, we also used published records to provide a synthesis of environmental changes on the whole island.Results  Vegetation reconstructions indicate that the mosaic vegetation in the region of Ste-Luce was highly dynamic in response to climatic changes. The open woodland, surrounding the littoral forest, transformed into an ericoid grassland between c. 5800 and 5200 cal. yr bp, possibly in response to a moderate drought recorded during this period. The littoral forest was more stable between c. 5100 and 1000 cal. yr bp, with only some minor compositional changes c. 2800 cal. yr bp and between c. 1900 and 1000 cal. yr bp. Significant forest decline, however, is observed at c. 950 cal. yr bp, coinciding with a drought and a marine surge. A comparison of these results with a synthesis of published vegetation records across the island shows asynchronous vegetation changes in response to various droughts during the Holocene, except for the 950 cal. yr bp drought event, with evidence of widespread vegetation transformations and fires across the island.Main conclusions  Pronounced climatic desiccation between 1200 and 700 cal. yr bp may have been the slow driver framing and triggering vegetation transformations and decline in megafaunal populations. In addition, hunting by drought-impacted human inhabitants and competition with newly introduced cattle would have amplified the impacts on megafaunal populations, leading to numerous extinctions in this period.

Multi-proxy approach was used to reconstruct the environmental conditions of remote lakes in the High Tatra Mountains (Slovakia) over the past few centuries (approximately 500-1000 years). Short sediment cores (*30 cm) taken from three morphologically similar glacial lakes distributed along altitudinal gradient (subalpine to alpine conditions) were analysed for organic matter content (LOI), diatoms and chironomids. Both descriptive and correlative approaches were used for analysing stratigraphical data. Predictive canonical correspondence analysis and co-correspondence analysis were applied to directly relate physical and biological proxies to each other. The relationship between LOI and biotic proxies was inconsistent across groups and lakes. Concordant patterns in diatom and chironomid composition were found in two non-acidified lakes. Common trends in those assemblages indicated major past environmental events such as the Little Ice Age, air pollution and lake acidification. In contrast, no relationship between the composition of diatom and chironomid assemblages was found in the formerly acidified lake, suggesting different responses of assemblages to acidification. While chironomids showed shifts that are attributable to recovery, diatoms assemblage remained relatively stable throughout the uppermost layers of the sediment record. On the other hand, climatic-driven changes in assemblages detected in the deeper layers were more pronounced in diatoms than in chironomids.

Spiral-shaped foraging trace fossils, assigned to the graphoglyptid cf. Spirorhaphe azteca, are reported from an Early Permian intertidal flat in the Robledo Mountains of southern New Mexico, USA. Remarkably similar spiral-shaped structures are produced in modern intertidal flats by the paraonid polychaete Paraonis fulgens, and function as traps to capture mobile microorganisms migrating in the sediment in response to tides. We envisage a similar function for the Early Permian trace fossils. Previous studies have suggested that the lack of P. fulgens-type traces from ancient intertidal deposits indicates that such behavior only evolved geologically recently in such settings. However, this report demonstrates that such specialized foraging behavior was present in intertidal settings by at least the Early Permian. Graphoglyptids are typical of deep-marine settings, and characteristic of the Nereites ichnofacies. This represents their first undoubted occurrence in intertidal facies in the geological record. We postulate that the occurrence of graphoglyptids in deep-marine and intertidal settings is related to the predictability of resources. The scarcity of intertidal graphoglyptids in the geological record is most likely a preservational effect.

Pollen analysis has long been used as a tool to make an assessment of regional vegetation. On-site pollen samples are taken for the same purpose at some excavations, because they are often the only available contexts with good preservation conditions. This paper shows that the analysis of on-and off-site pollen samples from the same region (West Frisia, the Netherlands) and time period (Dutch Bronze Age; ca. 2000-800 bc) can give very conflicting results on the type and amount of regional vegetation, in this case forest cover. Reasons for this discrepancy are discussed in relation to the use of on-site contexts by people in the past, as well as their location within a settlement. Furthermore, the potential of these contexts for the assessment of locally performed subsistence-related activities is outlined. New research directions are required to test this potential, so that wells and other man-made pollen traps can become a valuable future tool for reconstructing the past.

Kniha Počátky zemědělství ve Starém světě nabízí globální
pohled na jeden z nevýznamnějších fenoménů vývoje lidstva.
Nejstarší prvky zemědělství byly přítomny u lovců a sběračů,
jimž je věnována značná pozornost. Na základě soudobých
znalostí popisuje autor dějiny řešení vzniku zemědělství
od 19. století do současnosti. Pozornost je věnována
ekologickým a společenským podmínkám, které panovaly
v přírodě a lidské společnosti na konci poslední doby ledové.
Jádrem knihy je pak líčení složitých dějů na Předním východě,
v Číně, v Africe a v Evropě tak, jak je zachycuje dnešní
bioarcheologie a paleoekologie.
Autor vidí počátky zemědělství jako dlouhodobý proces
s řadou etap, z nichž nejdůležitější bylo období pěstování
divokých rostlin na Předním východě a Číně, jež zde trvalo
řadu tisíciletí. Řada pozorování tehdejších společností
v centrech vývoje ukazuje, že sociální změny byly o něco
starší, než změny ekonomické. Pozdější plné zemědělství
charakterizuje vyšší míra sociální komplexity, vazba
na teritorium a přítomnost alespoň jedné domestikované
rostliny nebo zvířete.

A new palaeoecological role for Archaeopteryx.  (1985) R.A. Thulborn & T.L. Hamley. (1985) A new palaeoecological role for Archaeopteryx.  In: The Begnnings of Birds; Proceedings of the International Archaeopteryx conference, Eichstätt, 1984 (eds M.K. Hecht, J.H. Ostrom, G. Viohl & P. Wellnhofer): 81-89.

The late Quaternary history of the Lake Bolac region is reconstructed from sedimentary and pollen analysis of lake and swamp sequences and is supported by archaeological remains from lunette sediments. Freshwater deposits recovered from lake Turangmoroke appear to date from the last glacial period, when the vegetation was composed of herbfield and grassland. Subsequent dry conditions at the end of the Pleistocene caused the deflation of some accumulated sediments. On refilling, the lake had become saline. As moisture availability increased, casuarina woodland, dominated by Allocasuarina verticillata, became the regional vegetation cover. Domination by casuarina ended ca. 8000-7000 yr BP, probably as a result of rising saline ground-water tables. Casuarinas were replaced to some degree by eucalypts, augmented by the development of a riverine Eucalyptus camaldulensis woodland. Swamp deposition commenced in the channel of neighbouring Fiery Creek at ca. 4000 yr BP, most likely as the result of a reduction in stream flow with decreased precipitation. Despite suggestions of significant impact on the vegetation by Aboriginal people from other sites in southeastern Australia, there is no evidence of any alteration here from periods of occupation dated to around 13 000 yr BP and after 3500 yr BP. The period of European occupation, though, is marked by significant changes in fire patterns, reduced tree cover, loss of floristic diversity, increased erosion rates and salinity levels, and decreased water levels.

Sulphur isotope data from early Archaean rocks suggest that microbes with metabolisms based on sulphur existed almost 3.5 billion years ago, leading to suggestions that the earliest microbial ecosystems were sulphur-based 1-5 . However, morphological evidence for these sulphur-metabolizing bacteria has been elusive. Here we report the presence of microstructures from the 3.4-billion-year-old Strelley Pool Formation in Western Australia that are associated with micrometre-sized pyrite crystals. The microstructures we identify exhibit indicators of biological affinity, including hollow cell lumens, carbonaceous cell walls enriched in nitrogen, taphonomic degradation, organization into chains and clusters, and δ 13 C values of −33 to −46 Vienna PeeDee Belemnite (VPDB). We therefore identify them as microfossils of spheroidal and ellipsoidal cells and tubular sheaths demonstrating the organization of multiple cells. The associated pyrite crystals have 33 S values between −1.65 and +1.43 and δ 34 S values ranging from −12 to +6 Vienna Canyon Diablo Troilite (VCDT) 5 . We interpret the pyrite crystals as the metabolic by-products of these cells, which would have employed sulphate-reduction and sulphur-disproportionation pathways. These microfossils are about 200 million years older than previously described 6 microfossils from Palaeoarchaean siliciclastic environments.

Sphagnum peatlands in the oceanic-continental transition zone of Poland are currently influenced by climatic and anthropogenic factors that lead to peat desiccation and susceptibility to fire. Little is known about the response of Sphagnum peatland testate amoebae (TA) to the combined effects of drought and fire. To understand the relationships between hydrology and fire dynamics, we used high-resolution multi-proxy palaeoecological data to reconstruct 2000 years of mire history in northern Poland. We employed a new approach for Polish peatlands e joint TA-based water table depth and charcoal-inferred fire activity reconstructions. In addition, the response of most abundant TA hydrological indicators to charcoal-inferred fire activity was assessed. The results show four hydrological stages of peatland development: moderately wet (from~35 BC to 800 AD), wet (from~800 to 1390 AD), dry (from~1390 to 1700 AD) and with an instable water table (from~1700 to 2012 AD). Fire activity has increased in the last millennium after constant human presence in the mire surroundings. Higher fire activity caused a rise in the water table, but later an abrupt drought appeared at the onset of the Little Ice Age. This dry phase is characterized by high ash contents and high charcoal-inferred fire activity. Fires preceded hydrological change and the response of TA to fire was indirect. Peatland drying and hydrological instability was connected with TA community changes from wet (dominance of Archerella flavum, Hyalosphenia papilio, Amphitrema wrightianum) to dry (dominance of Cryptodifflugia oviformis, Euglypha rotunda); however, no clear fire indicator species was found. Anthropogenic activities can increase peat fires and cause substantial hydrology changes. Our data suggest that increased human fire activity was one of the main factors that influenced peatland hydrology, though the mire response through hydrological changes towards drier conditions was delayed in relation to the surrounding vegetation changes.

En este ensayo contrastamos la hipótesis de “partición filogenética de nichos” para comprender los potenciales mecanismos que subyacen a las adaptaciones de los
cocodrilos mesozoicos atoposáuridos bajo el modelo de la estasis coordinada. Para ello exploramos factores evolutivos (filogenéticos y de diversidad) y funcionales (masa
corporal y especialización trófica), concluyendo que la evolución de este clado para el intervalo entre el Jurásico Superior y Cretácico Inferior se ha caracterizado por: a)
drástica reducción en talla, b) alta especialización ecológica. Proponemos la siguiente hipótesis: estos cocodrilos pequeños y potencialmente insectívoros ocuparon un nicho
ecológico en un momento de máxima diversificación de insectos y en ausencia de mamíferos. Los miembros del clado de los atoposáuridos se diversificaron ocuparon la
misma categoría ecomorfológica al diversificarse, lo cual retroalimentó la estabilidad del ecosistema. La pervivencia del grupo está asociada a la del ecosistema; esto sugiere que
debió darse un fuerte acoplamiento entre los ritmos de ambos.

Spiral-shaped foraging trace fossils, assigned to the graphoglyptid cf. Spirorhaphe azteca, are reported from an Early Permian intertidal flat in the Robledo Mountains of southern New Mexico, USA. Remarkably similar spiral-shaped structures are produced in modern intertidal flats by the paraonid polychaete Paraonis fulgens, and function as traps to capture mobile microorganisms migrating in the sediment in response to tides. We envisage a similar function for the Early Permian trace fossils. Previous studies have suggested that the lack of P. fulgens–type traces from ancient intertidal deposits indicates that such behavior only evolved geologically recently in such settings. However, this report demonstrates that such specialized foraging behavior was present in intertidal settings by at least the Early Permian. Graphoglyptids are typical of deep-marine settings, and characteristic of the Nereites ichnofacies. This represents their first undoubted occurrence in intertidal facies in the geological record. We postulate that the occurrence of graphoglyptids in deep-marine and intertidal settings is related to the predictability of resources. The scarcity of intertidal graphoglyptids in the geological record is most likely a preservational effect.

The article presents the diagnosis and aetiology of an arthropathological horse (Equus sp.) radius from the Middle Palaeolithic site of Pfeddersheim (Rhine-Hesse, Germany). For the contextualisation of the results the chronological and archaeological frame of the site, the taphonomic history of the faunal assemblage and site formation are summarised. A fracture of the ulna caused a malposition of the humeroradial joint, that developed into a degenerative arthrosis with severe grooving of the articular surface of the radius, extension of the joint by new bone formation and exostosis around the epiphysis. The progression of the disease from the trauma to the final grade of arthrosis and how it affected the horse's life is portrayed. Eventually, the horse fell prey to a large carnivore. Finally, the palaeoecological significance of this very specific palaeopathological finding is discussed.

The diatom stratigraphy of a 23-m sediment core from Lake Tilo, a maar lake in the Ethiopian Rift Valley, provides a 10,000-yr record of lake salinity and trophic status. Until 5500 14 C yr B.P., the phytoplankton was dominated by Aulacoseira granulata, with only minor changes in the abundance of other diatoms; the lake was over 50 m deep, eutrophic, and oligosaline. At 5500 yr B.P., geothermal groundwater inflow, inferred from calcite and silica deposition rates, declined abruptly, and the lake became more oligotrophic, as indicated by a rapid rise in Cyclotella stelligera. About 4500 yr B.P., lake salinity began to increase, reaching approximately its present state ca. 2500 yr B.P., but with a temporary reversal to lower salinity at 4000 -3500 yr B.P. The record shows no evidence of salinity increases equivalent to early Holocene low stands of the larger river-fed Rift Valley lakes, probably because of high rates of geothermal groundwater influx. It responded to reduced rainfall at 4500 yr B.P., when levels of the larger lakes also fell, because geothermal groundwater flux had diminished 1000 years earlier, independently of climate. Because geothermal groundwaters can form a significant proportion of a crater lake's hydrological budget and dominate its salinity budget, these results show that variable geothermal groundwater flux can override lake hydrochemical response to climate change. Palaeoclimatic interpretation of palaeosalinity proxies from the sediments of volcanic crater lakes should be approached with caution. © 1999 University of Washington.

Zusammenfassung: Von 2007 bis 2016 untersuchte ein interdisziplinäres Projekt im Unterengadin (Graubünden, Schweiz) die alpine Weidewirtschaft. Im Fimbertal/Val Fenga wurden in über 2000 m Höhe spätbronzezeitliche bzw. hallstattzeitliche Baustrukturen entdeckt, die in Verbindung mit zeitgleichen Talsiedlungen um Ramosch als Nachweis für eigentliche Alpwirtschaft in prähistori-scher Zeit interpretiert werden. Um diese idealtypische Kombination eines gestuften Tal-Alp-Systems und die gesamtwirtschaftliche Bedeutung der Viehwirtschaft besser zu verstehen, wurde eine GIS-gestützte Szenario-evaluation der prähistorischen Landschaftsnutzung ausgeführt. Da zur Größe und Struktur der Siedlungen keine ausreichenden Daten vorhanden sind, wurde eine theoretische Berechnung der maximalen Bevölkerungs- bzw. Vieh-/Herdenzahl angestrebt. Die Basis dazu bildet ein komplexes Subsistenzmodell, das aus der archäologischen, physiologischen und landwirtschaftlichen Fachliteratur ausgearbeitet wurde und den Flächenbedarf von Ackerbau und Viehzucht berücksichtigt. Anhand separat modellierter landwirtschaftlicher Nutzungsflächen im Einzugsgebiet (site catchment) der jeweiligen Siedlung lässt sich so die maximale Tragkraft (carrying capacity) bzw. Bevölkerungszahl ermitteln. Die alpine Topografie wird dabei als landwirtschaftlich stark limitierender Faktor betrachtet, sodass eine wachsende Siedlung bzw. Bevölkerung dazu gezwungen wäre, das Vieh im Sommer auf weiter entfernte Hochweiden auszulagern. Aus den Modellen kann allerdings kein ökonomischer oder ökologischer Druck als primärer Grund für die Ausformung der Alpwirtschaft belegt werden. Es wäre in den Talsiedlungen möglich, Ackerbau und Viehwirtschaft für bis zu 200 Personen ganzjährig in unmittelbarer Siedlungsnähe zu bewerkstelligen. Die saisonale vertikale Mobilität muss daher aus anderen Gründen eingeführt worden sein, möglicherweise für die strategische Mehrproduktion landwirtschaftlicher Erzeugnisse für den inner- und transalpinen Gütertausch.

Schlüsselworte: Alpen; Landschaftsarchäologie; Vieh-wirtschaft; Alpwirtschaft; Subsistenzmodell; GIS; Tragfä-higkeit; Mehrproduktion; Bronzezeit; Eisenzeit.

Abstract: Between 2007 and 2016 an interdisciplinary project explored the Alpine pastoral economy in the Lower Engadine region (Grisons, Switzerland). Late Bronze Age or Hallstatt-period structures were discov-ered at 2000  m a.s.  l. in the Fimbertal/Val Fenga valley and were, in association with contemporary settlements in the valley around Ramosch, interpreted as evidence of an actual Alpine pastoral economy in prehistoric times. To gain a better understanding of such an ideal combination of a tiered Alp-valley system on one hand and the overall economic significance of livestock farming on the other, a GIS-based scenario evaluation of prehistoric land use was carried out. Since the data available on the size and structure of the settlement is not sufficiently large, the aim was to achieve a theoretical calculation of the maximum number of people and livestock. This calculation was based on a complex subsistence model which was devel-oped from archaeological, physiological and agricul-tural specialist literature and took into account the area required for crop cultivation and animal husbandry. Based on separately modelled areas of farmland within each site catchment, this allowed us to calculate the maximum car-rying capacity or population sizes. The Alpine topography was seen as a severely limiting factor with regard to agri-cultural output, which would mean that an expanding settlement or population group would be forced to move their livestock to higher pastures further afield during the summer months. The models, however, have not allowed us to state that economic or ecological pressure was the primary reason for the evolution of an Alpine pastoral economy. It would have been possible by means of crop cultivation and animal husbandry to sustain a population of up to 200 people living in or around each valley set-tlement all year round. Seasonal vertical mobility must therefore have been established for other reasons, possi-bly in order to increase the output of agricultural produce for exchange within and beyond the Alpine region.

Keywords: Alps; landscape archaeology; livestock farming; pastoral economy; subsistence model; GIS; car-rying capacity; produce of exchange; Bronze Age; Iron Age.

Résumé: De 2007 à 2016, un projet interdisciplinaire pour la Basse Engadine (canton des Grisons, Suisse) s’est consacré à l’économie pastorale en milieu alpin. A plus de 2000  m d’altitude, dans la vallée du Fimber/Val Fenga, on a découvert des structures d’habitat datant du Bronze final et de l’époque de Hallstatt. Elles peuvent être corré-lées avec certaines occupations contemporaines de fond de vallée s’articulant autour de Ramosch, et témoignent d’une véritable économie alpestre à l’époque préhisto-rique. Pour mieux comprendre un système qui correspond à une combinaison idéale entre vallée et alpages, de même que pour cerner l’importance économique de l’élevage, on a effectué une évaluation de différents scénarios d’ex-ploitation du paysage à l’époque préhistorique, basée sur les SIG. Comme on ne dispose pas de données suffisantes concernant les dimensions et la structuration des habi-tats, on a procédé au calcul de la population théorique maximale, répétant l’exercice pour le nombre d’animaux ou de troupeaux. A cette fin, on a eu recours à un modèle de subsistance complexe, mis en place grâce aux données fournies par la littérature spécialisée et tenant compte de données archéologiques, physiologiques et agricoles, sans oublier les surfaces nécessaires à l’agriculture et à l’élevage. Sur la base des zones d’exploitation agricole régionales, modélisées individuellement (site catchment) pour chacun des sites, on peut établir quels étaient la charge maximale (carrying capacity) et le nombre d’habi-tants. Dans ce modèle, la topographie du milieu alpin est considérée comme un facteur particulièrement contrai-gnant pour l’agriculture, impliquant que la croissance d’un village ou de sa population devait déboucher sur le déplacement du bétail durant l’été vers des pâturages d’al-titude éloignés. Ces modèles ne permettent toutefois pas d’établir la présence d’une pression économique ou écolo-gique qui aurait été la cause majeure de la mise en place d’une économie alpestre. Dans les habitats de vallée, il était possible de subvenir, grâce à l’agriculture et à l’éle-vage, aux besoins d’une communauté comptant jusqu’à 200 personnes, durant toute l’année et à proximité immé-diate des villages. La mobilité saisonnière, avec des dépla-cements en altitude, relève donc d’autres intentions, peut-être une surproduction stratégique de produits agricoles, destinée à l’échange de biens intra-alpin et transalpin.

Mots-clés: Alpes; archéologie du paysage; économie agro-pastorale; exploitation des alpages; modèle de sub-sistance; SIG; carrying capacity; surproduction; âge du Bronze; âge du Fer.

This paper presents stratigraphical details of the Chedworth Nature Reserve Road Bridge Cutting, a detailed analysis of the fossils of one particular bed within the Clypeus Grit Member and a comparison of this assemblage with a more typical Clypeus Grit bed on Cleeve Hill. The Chedworth CG Soft Bed has very few deep-burrowing bivalves, a lower proportion of encrusting animals and a higher proportion of crushed Stiphrothyris shells. The latter two features could indicate a more rapid sedimentation rate for the bed.

Palaeobotanical specimens in private or public historical collections include important fossils, and modern studies involving taxonomic revisions can renew the scientific value of forgotten records. In Italy, information on past floras can be also obtained through the re-examination of the published drawings and pictures, or survey of the original collections. This paper presents the taxonomic revision of the macrofossils in the palaeobotanical collection, originally from San Venanzio (Modena), collected by Francesco Coppi at the end of the 19th century. Fossils were taken from the Argille Azzurre formation (Lower Pliocene-Lower Pleistocene). Re-sampling was not carried out because the sampling point at present lies under the houses of a village, increasing the importance of the museological collection. Descriptions of 76 fossil leaves are reported. Sporomorphs were extracted from the clayey limestone where three macrofossils had fossilized. Though only scattered information on the past plant cover has been randomly preserved, the plant macro-and microfossils provide a contribution to the research on the Plio-Pleistocene flora of Northern Apennines, and add information which can be useful to improve knowledge on local palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. Animal and plant fossils were deposited in a coastal or delta area. Pollen flora mainly reflected the vegetation distributed in the highest belts, far from the site of deposition, while macrofossils prevalently reflected local vegetation.

Diprotodon Owen, was one of the first fossil mammals described from Australia and has the distinction of being the largest ever marsupial. However, until recently its taxonomy was unclear and knowledge of its continental distribution, palaeoecology and evolution was poorly known. This paper describes cranial elements from an unusually small-bodied Diprotodon from the Early Pleistocene Nelson Bay Formation, Portland, Australia. It is intermediate in size between the smaller-bodied Pliocene ancestor, Euryzygoma dunense de Vis 1895 and the larger-bodied Late Pleistocene D. optatum Owen, . However, it is morphologically inseparable from Late Pleistocene Diprotodon and is here referred to as D. ?optatum. A temporal morphocline most parsimoniously explains the medium body size of the Nelson Bay taxon; thus we provide the first evidence of a transitional form within Diprotodon. The cause(s) of gigantism of the E. dunense-D. ?optatum-D. optatum lineage through the late Cainozoic is unclear but most likely involved the physiological response to changes in the physical and/or biotic environment. Although the size changes within the lineage may have been initially advantageous, they were most likely disadvantageous when the optimum body size was obtained. Our results suggest that Diprotodon was at its largest ever body size during the Late Pleistocene - the time period that coincided with its extinction.

Abstract:  Although their record extends back to the Early Ordovician, the occurrence of fossil starfish (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) is dependent almost exclusively upon horizons of exceptional preservation. Thus, asteroids found in Silurian obrution deposits of the English Midlands and Welsh Borderlands are particularly significant to an understanding of the early diversity of the group. Six species are described here: Hudsonaster? carectum sp. nov. (Hudsonasteridae), from the lower part of the Lower Elton Formation; and, from the Much Wenlock Limestone Formation, the hudsonasterids Doliaster brachyactis gen. et sp. nov. and Siluraster? ketleyi (Spencer, 1916), the lepidasterids Lepidaster grayi Forbes, 1850 and Lepidactis wenlocki Spencer, 1918, and the palasterinid Palasterina orchilocalia sp. nov. Though few in number, they show a diverse range of body morphologies when compared with Ordovician taxa: L. wenlocki had long, slender rays when fully grown whereas D. brachyactis is the first asteroid with the short-rayed body form of extant cushion stars. Most distinctive of all is L. grayi, the earliest multiradiate taxon known, all complete specimens of which have 13 rays. This morphological variety is interpreted as indicating that by the Early Silurian starfish were exploiting a wide range of feeding habits and ecological niches.