4 research outputs found
Electrically induced changes in amaranth seed enzymatic activity and their effect on bioactive compounds content after germination
RESEARCH ARTICLE Body-size structure of Central Iberian mammal fauna reveals semidesertic conditions during the middle Miocene Global Cooling Event
We developed new quantitative palaeoclimatic inference models based on the body-size
structure of mammal faunas from the Old World tropics and applied them to the Somosaguas
fossil site (middle Miocene, central Iberian Peninsula). Twenty-six mammal species
have been described at this site, including proboscideans, ungulates, carnivores, insectivores,
lagomorphs and rodents. Our analyses were based on multivariate and bivariate
regression models correlating climatic data and body-size structure of 63 modern mammal
assemblages from Sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent. The results showed an
average temperature of the coldest month higher than 26ĂŠC for the Somosaguas fossil site,
a mean annual thermal amplitude around 10ĂŠC, a drought length of 10 months, and an
annual total precipitation greater than 200 mm per year, which are climate conditions typical
of an ecotonal zone between the savanna and desert biomes. These results are congruent
with the aridity peaks described over the middle Aragonian of Spain and particularly in the
local biozone E, which includes Somosaguas. The aridity increase detected in this biozone
is associated with the Middle Miocene Global Cooling Event. The environment of Somosaguas
around 14 Ma was similar to the current environment in the Sahel region of North
Africa, the Horn of Africa, the boundary area between the Kalahari and the Namib in Southern
Africa, south-central Arabia, or eastern Pakistan and northwestern India. The distribution
of modern vegetation in these regions follows a complex mosaic of plant communities,
dominated by scattered xerophilous shrublands, semidesert grasslands, and vegetation
linked to seasonal watercourses and ponds.Peer reviewe