Year-round shellfish exploitation in the Levant and implications for Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer subsistence

Recent studies have shown that the use of aquatic resources has greater antiquity in hominin diets than pre- viously thought. At present, it is unclear when hominins started to habitually consume marine resources. This study examines shellfish exploitation from a behavioural ecology perspective, addressing how and when past hunter-gatherers from the Levant used coastal resources for subsistence purposes. We investigate the seasonality of shellfish exploitation in the Levantine Upper Palaeolithic through oxygen isotope analysis on shells of the intertidal rocky shore mollusc Phorcus (Osilinus) turbinatus from the key site Ksâr ‘Akil (Lebanon). At this rockshelter, multi-layered archaeological deposits contained remains of both marine and terrestrial molluscs in relatively large quantities, which were consumed and used as tools and ornaments by the occupants of the site. Our results indicate that at the start of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic (IUP), there is no evidence for shellfish consumption. Humans started to take fresh shellfish to the rockshelter from the second half of the IUP onward, albeit in low quantities. During the Early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP) shellfish exploitation became increasingly frequent. Oxygen isotope data show that shellfish exploitation was practised in every season throughout most of the Upper Palaeolithic (UP), with an emphasis on the colder months. This suggests that coastal resources had a central role in early UP foraging strategies, rather than a seasonally restricted supplementary one. Year-round shellfish gathering, in turn, suggests that humans occupied the rockshelter at different times of the year, al- though not necessarily continuously. Our oxygen isotope data is complemented with broader-scale exploitation patterns of faunal resources, both vertebrate and invertebrate, at the site. The inclusion of coastal marine re- sources signifies a diversification of the human diet from the EUP onward, which is also observed in foraging practices linked to the exploitation of terrestrial fauna.H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship “EU-BEADS”, project number: 656325 and the Max Planck Society

A Late Miocene methane-seep fauna from Kalimantan, Indonesia

This item is freely available online and the full text is attached. http://seep.paleo.pan.pl/AHS_5.htm

Genus Paracoccidioides: Species Recognition and Biogeographic Aspects

Background: Paracoccidioidomycosis is a systemic mycosis caused by Paracoccidioides brasiliensis (species S1, PS2, PS3), and Paracoccidioides lutzii. This work aimed to differentiate species within the genus Paracoccidioides, without applying multilocus sequencing, as well as to obtain knowledge of the possible speciation processes. Methodology/Principal Findings: Single nucleotide polymorphism analysis on GP43, ARF and PRP8 intein genes successfully distinguished isolates into four different species. Morphological evaluation indicated that elongated conidia were observed exclusively in P. lutzii isolates, while all other species (S1, PS2 and PS3) were indistinguishable. To evaluate the biogeographic events that led to the current geographic distribution of Paracoccidioides species and their sister species, Nested Clade and Likelihood Analysis of Geographic Range Evolution (LAGRANGE) analyses were applied. The radiation of Paracoccidioides started in northwest South America, around 11–32 million years ago, as calculated on the basis of ARF substitution rate, in the BEAST program. Vicariance was responsible for the divergence among S1, PS2 and P. lutzii and a recent dispersal generated the PS3 species, restricted to Colombia. Taking into account the ancestral areas revealed by the LAGRANGE analysis and the major geographic distribution of L. loboi in the Amazon basin, a region strongly affected by the Andes uplift and marine incursions in the Cenozoic era, we also speculate about the effect of these geological events on the vicariance between Paracoccidioides and L. loboi. Conclusions/Significance: The use of at least 3 SNPs, but not morphological criteria, as markers allows us to distinguish among the four cryptic species of the genus Paracoccidioides. The work also presents a biogeographic study speculating on how these species might have diverged in South America, thus contributing to elucidating evolutionary aspects of the genus Paracoccidioides

Phylogenetic Analysis of Seven WRKY Genes across the Palm Subtribe Attaleinae (Arecaceae) Identifies Syagrus as Sister Group of the Coconut

BACKGROUND:The Cocoseae is one of 13 tribes of Arecaceae subfam. Arecoideae, and contains a number of palms with significant economic importance, including the monotypic and pantropical Cocos nucifera L., the coconut, the origins of which have been one of the "abominable mysteries" of palm systematics for decades. Previous studies with predominantly plastid genes weakly supported American ancestry for the coconut but ambiguous sister relationships. In this paper, we use multiple single copy nuclear loci to address the phylogeny of the Cocoseae subtribe Attaleinae, and resolve the closest extant relative of the coconut. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We present the results of combined analysis of DNA sequences of seven WRKY transcription factor loci across 72 samples of Arecaceae tribe Cocoseae subtribe Attaleinae, representing all genera classified within the subtribe, and three outgroup taxa with maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian approaches, producing highly congruent and well-resolved trees that robustly identify the genus Syagrus as sister to Cocos and resolve novel and well-supported relationships among the other genera of the Attaleinae. We also address incongruence among the gene trees with gene tree reconciliation analysis, and assign estimated ages to the nodes of our tree. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:This study represents the as yet most extensive phylogenetic analyses of Cocoseae subtribe Attaleinae. We present a well-resolved and supported phylogeny of the subtribe that robustly indicates a sister relationship between Cocos and Syagrus. This is not only of biogeographic interest, but will also open fruitful avenues of inquiry regarding evolution of functional genes useful for crop improvement. Establishment of two major clades of American Attaleinae occurred in the Oligocene (ca. 37 MYBP) in Eastern Brazil. The divergence of Cocos from Syagrus is estimated at 35 MYBP. The biogeographic and morphological congruence that we see for clades resolved in the Attaleinae suggests that WRKY loci are informative markers for investigating the phylogenetic relationships of the palm family

Marmara Sea, Turkey) and the nature of Marmara - Black Sea corridors

In this study, marine Pleistocene mollusc faunas from deposits along the southern shores of the Izmit Bay area (Marmara Sea, Turkey) are reviewed. Ten samples from five localities spanning middle and late Pleistocene intervals are assessed and compared to four samples of a Holocene age. For the Pleistocene fauna, a total of 59 mollusc species (33 bivalve and 26 gastropod species) are recorded, some of which are reported for the first time for this region. The middle Pleistocene fauna bears large resemblance to the late Pleistocene faunas, even though marine conditions were lacking during sea-level drops in the Marmara Sea Basin in intervening times. The middle Pleistocene mollusc fauna is dominated by species that typify the so-called Uzunlarian faunas while the late Pleistocene mollusc fauna is indistinguishable from Karangatian faunas of the Black Sea Basin.Several common species (including Bittium reticulatum, Rissoa spp. and Lucinella divaricata) show that the both Uzunlarian and Karangatian assemblages of Yalova fauna mainly represent seagrass palaeoenvironments. Palaeosalinities estimates for the Yalova area are uppermost mesohaline to polyhaline, typically around or above 20 psu, which is almost similar to the optimum salinity estimates for the middle Pleistocene Uzunlarian. However, it is slightly lower then the Upper Pleistocene Karangatian, representing the location of the Yalova area in an embayment with freshwater input at that time.The Yalova sections are located in the southern flank of the North Anatolian fault system responsible for a strong local uplift of the study area. The sections contain evidence for three marine high stands, separated by terrestrial intervals. When regional uplift rates (approximately 0.2 mm/y) and oceanic sea-levels are considered it is likely that the three highstand intervals correspond to relative sea level high stands of MIS7, MIS5e and possibly MIS5d but further study is required to confirm such a suggestion. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved

fluvio-deltaic sequence of the Denizli Basin (SW Turkey)

The late Pliocene-early Pleistocene Tosunlar succession (Denizli Basin, southwestern Turkey) represents fluvial-dominated delta environments at the margins of a brackish long-lived lake. Two main facies associations are documented: (i) a delta front facies association, with a distal (DF1) and proximal (DF2) deposits; and (ii) a delta plain facies association that contains distributary channel (DPI) and interdistributary swamp (DP2) deposits.The stable isotopic analysis of the mollusc faunas exhibit a narrow range of values (-4.68 < delta O-18 < + 021%. and + 0.43 < delta C-13 < +3.27%., respectively) and the very poor delta O-18-delta C-13 correlation (r = -0.16) may indicate hydrologically open lake and significant diagenetic alteration. The mollusc faunas and their stable isotope ratios show a biogeographically isolated brackish lake system under semiarid climatic conditions. Under special environmental conditions the endemic faunal composition remained constant which is very unusual for a (semi-) isolated long-lived lake setting. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved