Search

Abstract Most European rewilding initiatives are based on the recovery of large herbivores, particularly European bison Bison bonasus, aiming at restoring ecosystem processes and increase trophic complexity. The growing support for the release of bison as a wild species, and change its legal status, in Spain, as an ecological analogue of the extinct steppe bison Bison priscus, makes it an excellent example to reflect the limits of a rewilding biogeographically advisable. We discuss if this initiative could be justified from ecological, biogeographical, ethical, and legal reasons. Besides remarkable taxonomic and functional differences between both bison species, the Mediterranean environment, under the present and future climatic scenarios, does not suit the European bison. Furthermore, there is no evidence to support the presumption that the European bison was ever present in the Iberian Peninsula, with legal implications. We expect that our approach will be inspirational for similar assessments on rewilding initiatives globally.

‘Archaeogenetic analysis of black rat remains reveals that this species was introduced into temperate Europe twice, in the Roman and medieval periods. This population turnover was likely associated with multiple historical and environmental factors.’

Most European rewilding initiatives are based on the recovery of large herbivores, particularly European bison Bison bonasus, aiming at restoring ecosystem processes and increase trophic complexity. The growing support for the release of bison as a wild species, and change its legal status, in Spain, as an ecological analogue of the extinct steppe bison Bison priscus, makes it an excellent example to reflect the limits of a rewilding biogeographically advisable. We discuss if this initiative could be justified from ecological, biogeographical, ethical, and legal reasons. Besides remarkable taxonomic and functional differences between both bison species, the Mediterranean environment, under the present and future climatic scenarios, does not suit the European bison. Furthermore, there is no evidence to support the presumption that the European bison was ever present in the Iberian Peninsula, with legal implications. We expect that our approach will be inspirational for similar assessments on rewilding initiatives globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus; BFT) abundance was depleted in the late 20th and early 21st century due to overfishing. Historical catch records further indicate that the abundance of BFT in the Mediterranean has been fluctuating since at least the 16th century. Here we build upon previous work on ancient DNA of BFT in the Mediterranean by comparing contemporary (2009–2012) specimens with archival (1911–1926) and archaeological (2nd century BCE–15th century CE) specimens that represent population states prior to these two major periods of exploitation, respectively. We successfully genotyped and analysed 259 contemporary and 123 historical (91 archival and 32 archaeological) specimens at 92 SNP loci that were selected for their ability to differentiate contemporary populations or their association with core biological functions. We found no evidence of genetic bottlenecks, inbreeding or population restructuring between temporal sample groups that might explain what has driven catch fluctuations since the 16th century. We also detected a putative adaptive response, involving the cytoskeletal protein synemin which may be related to muscle stress. However, these results require further investigation with more extensive genome-wide data to rule out demographic changes due to overfishing, and other natural and anthropogenic factors, in addition to elucidating the adaptive drivers related to these.

Leopard complex spotting is inherited by the incompletely dominant locus, LP, which also causes congenital stationary night blindness in homozygous horses. We investigated an associated single nucleotide polymorphism in the TRPM1 gene in 96 archaeological bones from 31 localities from Late Pleistocene (approx. 17 000 YBP) to medieval times. The first genetic evidence of LP spotting in Europe dates back to the Pleistocene. We tested for temporal changes in the LP associated allele frequency and estimated coefficients of selection by means of approximate Bayesian computation analyses. Our results show that at least some of the observed frequency changes are congruent with shifts in artificial selection pressure for the leopard complex spotting phenotype. In early domestic horses from Kirklareli-Kanligecit (Turkey) dating to 2700-2200 BC, a remarkably high number of leopard spotted horses (six of 10 individuals) was detected including one adult homozygote. However, LP seems to have largely disappeared during the late Bronze Age, suggesting selection against this phenotype in early domestic horses. During the Iron Age, LP reappeared, probably by reintroduction into the domestic gene pool from wild animals. This picture of alternating selective regimes might explain how genetic diversity was maintained in domestic animals despite selection for specific traits at different times.

This work presents the results from the analysis of the bone material from the Byzantine harbor quarter overlapping the Roman theater of Carthago Spartaria (Cartagena, Murcia). From a broad sample of 2,723 fragments from debris pits and garbage dumps, the production strategies and the consuming patterns of the livestock are established during a historical period of the city in which its appearance has nothing to do with the monumental image of a Roman town. The use of mixed farming is established, with a predominance of caprine and bovine versus a scant presence of suids and equines, as well as wild hunted fauna. Most of the animals, with the exception of goats and pigs, as well as certain bovines, were sacrificed in full adulthood. This implies that both their secondary products and their draft force were used. Livestock managing is confirmed as an important economic activity, at a moment when agricultural exploitation of the environment undergoes substantial diminishing as judged from the disappearance of the vast majority of rural sites from preceding decades. The represented livestock and the herding and maintenance conditions contribute to provide a “rural-like” image of the old Hispanic capital.

Data from morphology, linguistics, history, and archaeology have all been used to trace the dispersal of chickens from Asian domestication centers to their current global distribution. Each provides a unique perspective which can aid in the reconstruction of prehistory. This study expands on previous investigations by adding a temporal component from ancient DNA and, in some cases, direct dating of bones of individual chickens from a variety of sites in Europe, the Pacific, and the Americas. The results from the ancient DNA analyses of forty-eight archaeologically derived chicken bones provide support for archaeological hypotheses about the prehistoric human transport of chickens. Haplogroup E mtDNA signatures have been amplified from directly dated samples originating in Europe at 1000 B.P. and in the Pacific at 3000 B.P. indicating multiple prehistoric dispersals from a single Asian centre. These two dispersal pathways converged in the Americas where chickens were introduced both by Polynesians and later by Europeans. The results of this study also highlight the inappropriate application of the small stretch of D-loop, traditionally amplified for use in phylogenetic studies, to understanding discrete episodes of chicken translocation in the past. The results of this study lead to the proposal of four hypotheses which will require further scrutiny and rigorous future testing.

En este trabajo presentamos el estudio arqueológico, paleontológico, tafonómico, cronológico y geoquímico de una valva de ostra hallada en la cueva de La Pileta. El ejemplar procede de depósitos fosilíferos neógenos distantes más de 10 km del yacimiento. Una vez adaptada, la concha fue empleada como lámpara portátil. La cronología 14C/AMS de la costra carbonatada que sellaba la cubeta nos remite al periodo Gravetiense. Según diversos indicios en la lámpara, durante su vida útil se procesaron o almacenaron pigmentos. Los datos aportados informan sobre la dispersión del simbolismo del Paleolítico Superior Inicial hasta el extremo sudoccidental europeo, así mismo, suma nuevos elementos al debate sobre la existencia de una fase presolutrense en el arte parietal de La Pileta y, por ende, de todo el sur de la Península Ibérica.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0039171.].

The physiographical features of the Galician sea, in particular its temperature, marine currents and plankton richness, have turned its waters into one of the most biologically diversified marine regions of the planet. The 1500 km of shorelines from this Northwest Iberian region are dotted with rías (Galician fjords) where settlements devoted to fishing and trade have existed since prehistoric times. These activities left abundant testimonies in terms of archaeological deposits. In recent decades, urban/industrial development, as well as a number of natural agents (e.g., storms, sea level rise, climate change), is rapidly erasing the evidences of this rich cultural heritage. Loss of fish and shellmiddens in particular will hamper our ability to infer traditional lifeways, doing away with evidence that is crucial to monitoring past climatic changes and to inferring those biological conditions under which marine species and coastal populations thrived in the past. This paper surveys some issues dealing with the coastal bio-archaeological heritage of Galicia, and the risks these deposits face. It concludes with a proposal to save this increasingly threatened marine heritage.

Taxonomic over-splitting of extinct or endangered taxa, due to an incomplete knowledge of both skeletal morphological variability and the geographical ranges of past populations, continues to confuse the link between isolated extant populations and their ancestors. This is particularly problematic with the genus Equus. To more reliably determine the evolution and phylogeographic history of the endangered Asiatic wild ass, we studied the genetic diversity and inter-relationships of both extinct and extant populations over the last 100,000 years, including samples throughout its previous range from Western Europe to Southwest and East Asia. Using 229 bp of the mitochondrial hypervariable region, an approach which allowed the inclusion of information from extremely poorly preserved ancient samples, we classify all non-African wild asses into eleven clades that show a clear phylogeographic structure revealing their phylogenetic history. This study places the extinct European wild ass, E. hydruntinus, the phylogeny of which has been debated since the end of the 19th century, into its phylogenetic context within the Asiatic wild asses and reveals recent mitochondrial introgression between populations currently regarded as separate species. The phylogeographic organization of clades resulting from these efforts can be used not only to improve future taxonomic determination of a poorly characterized group of equids, but also to identify historic ranges, interbreeding events between various populations, and the impact of ancient climatic changes. In addition, appropriately placing extant relict populations into a broader phylogeographic and genetic context can better inform ongoing conservation strategies for this highly-endangered species.

Archaeozoological finds of the remains of marine and amphihaline fish from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ca. 21 ka ago show evidence of very different species ranges compared to the present. We have shown how an ecological niche model (ENM) based on palaeoclimatic reconstructions of sea surface temperature and bathymetry can be used to effectively predict the spatial range of marine fish during the LGM. The results indicate that the ranges of marine fish species now in northwestern Europe were displaced significantly southwards from the modern distribution, challenging an existing paradigm of marine glacial refugia. The model presents strong evidence that there was an invasion of important fish through the Straits of Gibraltar in glacial times, where they were exploited by Palaeolithic human populations around the western Mediterranean Sea. The ENM results are important for ongoing studies of molecular ecology that aim to assess marine glacial refugia from the genetic structure of living populations, and they pose questions about the genetic identity of vanished marine populations during the LGM. Economically, the approach may be used to understand how the ranges of exploited fish species may be displaced with the future climate warming. The research presents a challenge for future archaeozoological work to delimit the glacial refugia and to verify palaeoclimatic reconstructions based on deep-sea core records.

En el presente informe se detalla la totalidad de la fauna de las excavaciones que, entre 1980 y 1986, se llevaron a cabo en el gran complejo arqueológico murciano de Begastri. El análisis de fauna evidencia un tipo de explotación ganadera centrada principalmente en la explotación de la cabaña de ovicaprinos existiendo parejas proporciones entre ovejas y cabras. La abrumadora dominancia de fauna doméstica relega a un papel estrictamente casual o anecdótico el desempeñado por la fauna de interés cinegético, mientras que la recuperación de un molusco marino es lo único que parece apuntar hacia un comercio con la costa de forma definida. El estudio concluye realizando una somera valoración de las implicaciones paleoeconómicas de la fauna, comparando Begastri con algunos yacimientos similares de la mitad meridional de la península.

Una recopilación de restos óseos de peces musteriense en la Península Ibérica es aprovechada para llevar a cabo una valoración preliminar de su importancia de cara a definir el nicho ecológico del Hombre de Neandertal. Lo limitado de estas faunas y la dificultad para determinar la procedencia de los materiales no aclara, desgarciadamente, el papel desempeñado por los Neandertales en la génesis de estos acúmulos, participación que parece, cuando menos, intuirse en el caso de una de las asocaciones, a saber, el abrigo de Cueva Millán en la provincia de Burgos. En ausencia de un modelo definido de estrategias de subsistencia para este homínido tampoco nos resulta posible valorar en que medida una eventual actividad pesquera entraría dentro de su repertorio normal de comportamientos o constituiría un hecho excepcional. En tanto no se aclare ello, consideramos más prudente alejarnos de dicotoías simplistas del tipo "Neandertal-cazador-Cromañon-cazador/pescador"

Por sus especiales circunstancias, la península ibérica gozó de privilegiadas condiciones para proveerse de fauna exótica Este artículo examina el papel desempeñado por esa fauna en la España medieval especialmente su contribución al desarrollo de los zoológicos. Secundariamente se contempla la introducción de especies autóctonas en la península ibérica y los motivos de su permanencia y/o desaparición actual.Probably due to its strategic geographical position, the Iberían península has enjoyed a privileged condltion in terms of fluxes of exotic faunas througfiout history. This paper reviews the role played by exotic faunas in Medieval Spain, in particular with reference to the creation of zoos and zoological parks at large. In addition, a brief consideration is made about aspects related to the introductions of autochtonous species at various places of the iberían territory itself as well as extinction events of certain taxa or stocks.

Los análisis ictioarqueológicos complementan y amplían la serie de técnicas, documentales y analíticas, de que disponen prehistoriadores y arqueólogos a la hora de evaluar el papel de los peces dentro de los sistemas de interacción entre poblaciones humanas y animales en el pasado. El presente estudio proporciona una visión general del desarrollo y estado de estas investigaciones en la Península Ibérica, al tiempo que ofrece una panorámica sobre los tipos de cuestiones, tanto paleobiológicas como paleoculturales, susceptibles de ser abordados con peces.

La calidad bioindicadora de un taxón viene determinada por el grado de asociación con determinadas variables ambientales y no por otras circunstancias tales como su abundancia o tamaño. Desde esta perspectiva y desde el punto de vista del análisis del espacio agrario como un ecosistema de creciente importancia en la biosfera, el presente estudio analiza algunas de las circunstancias que permiten evaluar la calidad, como bioindicadores, de dos grupos de fauna bien diferentes, las aves y las garrapatas. El trabajo pretende asimismo sentar las bases de cara a una concepción más integradora y equilibrada de la arqueozoología como ciencia pluridisciplinar.

Data from morphology, linguistics, history, and archaeology have all been used to trace the dispersal of chickens from Asian domestication centers to their current global distribution. Each provides a unique perspective which can aid in the reconstruction of prehistory. This study expands on previous investigations by adding a temporal component from ancient DNA and, in some cases, direct dating of bones of individual chickens from a variety of sites in Europe, the Pacific, and the Americas. The results from the ancient DNA analyses of forty-eight archaeologically derived chicken bones provide support for archaeological hypotheses about the prehistoric human transport of chickens. Haplogroup E mtDNA signatures have been amplified from directly dated samples originating in Europe at 1000 B.P. and in the Pacific at 3000 B.P. indicating multiple prehistoric dispersals from a single Asian centre. These two dispersal pathways converged in the Americas where chickens were introduced both by Polynesians and later by Europeans. The results of this study also highlight the inappropriate application of the small stretch of D-loop, traditionally amplified for use in phylogenetic studies, to understanding discrete episodes of chicken translocation in the past. The results of this study lead to the proposal of four hypotheses which will require further scrutiny and rigorous future testing.

Numerous studies along the northern Mediterranean borderland have documented the use of shellfish by Neanderthals but none of these finds are prior to Marine Isotopic Stage 3 (MIS 3). In this paper we present evidence that gathering and consumption of mollusks can now be traced back to the lowest level of the archaeological sequence at Bajondillo Cave (Málaga, Spain), dated during the MIS 6. The paper describes the taxonomical and taphonomical features of the mollusk assemblages from this level Bj(19) and briefly touches upon those retrieved in levels Bj(18) (MIS 5) and Bj(17) (MIS 4), evidencing a continuity of the shellfishing activity that reaches to MIS 3. This evidence is substantiated on 29 datings through radiocarbon, thermoluminescence and U series methods. Obtained dates and paleoenvironmental records from the cave include isotopic, pollen, lithostratigraphic and sedimentological analyses and they are fully coherent with paleoclimate conditions expected for the different stages. We conclude that described use of shellfish resources by Neanderthals (H. neanderthalensis) in Southern Spain started ∼150 ka and were almost contemporaneous to Pinnacle Point (South Africa), when shellfishing is first documented in archaic modern humans.