Neanderthal selective hunting of reindeer? The case study of Abri du Maras (south-eastern France)

Fieldwork was supported by the Regional Office of Archaeology Rhône-Alpes, the French Ministry of Culture and Communication and the Ardèche Department through several scientific programs. M.G.Chacon, F. Rivals and E. Allué research are funded by ‘CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya’. Thanks to Jean-Jacques Hublin, Annabell Reiner and Steven Steinbrenner from the Max Planck Institute (MPI-EVA) for analytical support (isotope analysis). We are grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive remarks on this manuscript. The English manuscript was edited by L. Byrne, an official translator and native English speaker.Peer reviewedPostprin

First identification of the genus Argyrosomus (Teleostei, Sciaenidae) in Neogene African outcrops [Première identification du genre Argyrosomus (Teleostei, Sciaenidae) dans des sites néogènes Africains]

Disarticulated fossil remains of a same indeterminate perciform have been described in Neogene deposits from Africa, in Libya (Upper Miocene of Sahabi) and in Namibia (Middle Miocene of Arrisdrift), and then from Germany (Lower Miocene of Langenau). Found in association with strictly or dominantly freshwater faunas, they were supposed to be freshwater fish. However, their distribution was rather difficult to interpret and their comparison with freshwater ichthyotaxa did not permit to attribute them neither to a known genus even nor to a known family. By comparison with marine perciforms, the review of the African fossils allowed us to attribute them to the genus Argyrosomus (Teleostei, Sciaenidae) or "Meagre". Only new fossil material and an acute study of the osteology of extant species might allow specific attribution of this bony material. ese African fossils and those from Langenau constitute the whole bony fossil record of the genus Argyrosomus De La Pylaie, 1835 that is also known by otoliths from European Miocene deposits (Mediterranean and Paratethyan seas). ese marine fish, today present along European and African (and also Asian and West Pacific) coasts, have certain members that frequently enter estuaries and coastal freshwater streams. So, our identification of disarticulated bony remains completes the fossil record of Argyrosomus. It allows us to date their presence along the African West coast since at least the Middle Miocene and it indicates that their affinity with fresh water existed yet in the Lower Miocene. © Publications Scientifiques du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris

First record of a stranded specimen of the sharptail mola, Masturus lanceolatus (Actinopterygii: Tetraodontiformes: Molidae), from the central coast of Peru

The Molidae are a widely distributed family, but they are rarely encountered and their distribution and abundance have poorly been documented. A stranded specimen of the sharptail mola, Masturus lanceolatus (Liénard, 1840), has recently been recorded on a Pacific beach in Peru. We examined, measured and photographed the specimen. It is very likely that the presently reported sharptail mola was originally captured by a Peruvian purse seiner or longliner and later discarded as a useless bycatch

Ancient fishing (2900-2800 BP) at the Arapus site, Efate, Vanuatu (Conference Poster)

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Checklist of the marine fishes from metropolitan France

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Archaeological history of Middle Holocene environmental change from fish proxies at the Monte Castelo archaeological shell mound, Southwestern Amazonia

Monte Castelo, an archeological shell mound located on the southwestern periphery of the Amazon basin, is an artificial forest island occupied from the Middle to late-Holocene, and it contains one of the longest, continuous sequences of human occupation anywhere in the basin. Analysis of fish remains investigates fluctuations in the fish communities that are markers of changes in the paleoenvironment. The 8112 taxonomically identified remains document diagnostic taxa that are drought-tolerant (armoured catfishes, swamp-eels and tiger fishes) and from swampy environments, indicating probable occupation during low-waters periods. The results from Monte Castelo contrasts with the use of shell mounds as refuges from high-water season floods, a dominant hypothesis. A considerable shift in the nature of the fish spectrum occurred around 4000 BP with increased diversity; the number of taxa jumps from 18 to 48. The Middle Holocene occupations, from 6000 to 4000 BP, reflect long-term stability in drought-tolerant taxa collaborating with paleoecological evidence of dryer conditions. The post 4000 BP introduction of small-sized cichlids and characins suggests an initial exploitation of flooded forests. Archeological fish remains corroborate paleoenvironmental records of increased precipitation between the Middle and Late-Holocene. The probable replacement of some savanna areas by forest vegetation, and the accompanying alteration of aquatic landscapes, is documented through the presence/absence of certain taxa in Monte Castelo's occupations. This suggests new economic strategies and the exploitation of new ecological niches, as the fish remains correspond to approximately 80% of the vertebrate fauna throughout the archeological sequence