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The Middle Pleistocene – Late Pleistocene transition of European large mammal's fauna (Proboscidea, Artiodactyla, Perissodactyla, Carnivora, Hystrix and Castor) assemblages has been studied in 18 European regional faunal assemblages. This study is based on the data yielded from 423 palaeontological sites (758 localities) dated within interval of MIS 6–MIS 4. All the data was aggregated by 9 time intervals (time scale). For ten bioregions, we have been able to obtain descriptive models of evolution of their faunal assemblages. It allowed detecting common rules of changes in large mammals' fauna composition in Europe on the whole as well as changes in the distribution of individual species and their groups within the regions. We have studied the changes in biodiversity parameters (Shannon index, index of self-organization) and Mourelle–Ezcurra species turnover index within MIS 6–MIS 4 time interval. The evolution of European fauna was compared for MIS 6–MIS 5 transition and MIS 2–MIS 1 transition as well as influence of change in global temperature on these transitions was described. In addition, we have showed the correlation between modern species richness with the species richness in MIS 6, MIS 5 and MIS 4 and proposed the hypothesis of historical succession of European bioregions. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methanesulfonate (MSA) in ice cores has attracted attention as a possible tracer of past oceanic emissions of dimethylsulfide (DMS). After sulfate MSA is the second most prevalent aerosol oxidation product of DMS, but in contrast to sulfate, DMS oxidation is the only known source of MSA. The hypothesis by Charlson et al., [1987] of a climate feedback mechanism with sulfur emissions from marine phytoplankton influencing the cloud albedo adds to the interest in establishing long records of MSA and non-seasalt sulfate spanning large climatic changes. Records of MSA and non-seasalt sulfate covering time periods from a few years to thousands of year have been extracted from antarctic ice cores [Ivey et al., 1986; Saigne and Legrand, 1987; Legrand and Feniet-Saigne, 1991; Mulvaney et al., 1992] but only the record from the Vostok ice core [Legrand et al., 1991] covers a full glacial cycle. The concentrations of MSA and non-seasalt sulfate in Antarctica have been found to increase under glacial conditions. Here we present the first Northern Hemisphere record of MSA, and the first continuous record of non-seasalt sulfate, both extracted from the Renland ice core, East Greenland. The records are extending from the Holocene to the Eem interglacial 130,000 years B.P. The contrast to the Southern Hemisphere records is striking, with a decreasing concentration of MSA with the advance of glaciation but an increasing concentration of non-seasalt sulfate. A strong linear relationship is found in the Renland ice core between the ratio of MSA to non-seasalt sulfate and the temperature, with higher ratios associated with warmer climatic stages, while the opposite relationship to temperature is found in the Vostok ice core. A more complicated picture is emerging of the use of MSA in ice cores as a quantitative tracer which suggests that previous interpretations can have been overly simplistic.

Abstract: An analysis of energy use by Neanderthals in Northern Europe during the mild Eem interglacial period is carried out with consideration of the metabolic energy production required for compensating energy losses during sleep, at daily settlement activities and during hunting expeditions, including transport of food from slain animals back to the settlement. Additional energy sources for heat, security and cooking are derived from fireplaces in the open or within shelters such as caves or huts. The analysis leads to insights not available from archaeological findings that are mostly limited to durable items such as those made of stone: Even during the benign Eem period, Neanderthals faced a considerable heat-loss problem. Wearing tailored clothes or some similar measure was necessary for survival. An animal skin across the shoulder would not have sufficed to survive even average cold winter temperatures and body cooling by convection caused by wind. Clothes and particularly footwear had to be sewn together tightly in order to prevent intrusion of water or snow. The analysis of hunting activity evolvement in real time further shows that during summer warmth, transport of meat back to the base settlement would not be possible without some technique to avoid that the meat rots. The only likely technique is meat drying at the killing site, which indicates further skills in Neanderthal societies that have not been identified by other routes of investigation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Climatic oscillations influence the distribution of species in time. Thermophilic species survived the ice ages in refugia around the Mediterranean. Northern Africa is one of the possibly important refugia. In this study we test the genetic differentiation between northern African and European populations, using the marbled white butterfly species complex, Melanargia galathea/M. lachesis, as a model. We studied 18 allozyme loci in 876 individuals from 23 populations representing a major part of Europe (northern Spain to Romania) and the western part of northern Africa (Atlas Mountains). The African populations resemble the European ones in allelic richness; their genetic diversity is higher than in Europe. Cluster analysis discriminated five European genetic groups: M. lachesis, a western European lineage, and three eastern European lineages. However, the African samples did not form a separate cluster within this phenogram, but clustered randomly within the Balkan/southeastern European groups. The genetic differentiation among the African populations (F ST 8.8%) was higher than that within any of the European lineages (F ST 2.6–5.5%). The high genetic diversity and the relatively strong differentiation of the four African populations sampled in a comparatively limited area of the Atlas Mountains indicate that the most probable origin of M. galathea is northern Africa, with its sibling species, M. lachesis, evolving in parallel in Iberia. Most probably, M. galathea colonised Europe first during the Eem interglacial, some 130ky ago. Since M. lachesis must have existed on the Iberian peninsula during that period already, M. galathea should have reached Europe via Italy. The genetic differentiation to distinct groups in Europe most probably evolved during the following Würm glacial period. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]