Hyaenids, felids and canids as bone accumulators: Does the natural history of extant species support zooarchaeological inferences?

Mammalian carnivores may be important agents of prehistoric bone accumulations. Taphonomic analyses of bone assemblages used for specific assignment usually include information on feeding, breeding, denning and even defecating ecology of extant species. Here, we review literature for the Hyaenidae, Felidae and Canidae families of carnivores, focusing on the ecological and behavioural traits that are commonly used as criteria to assign bone accumulations to specific carnivores, and whether these correspond to the present behaviour and ecology of extant species. We found a total of 93 records where 12 species (9 extant species) of these families were considered as bone accumulators in archaeozoological sites. Hyaenidae was the group most often cited, followed by Felidae and Canidae. Crocuta crocuta was by far the species most often cited as a bone accumulator. Most bone deposits assigned to carnivores (84.9%) were found in underground cavities, and to a lesser extent in non-cave deposits (15.1%). The use assigned to the sites was mainly as a den (29.5%) or breeding den (29.5%), followed by prey depot (16.2%), feeding shelter (12.4%), and to a lesser extent a hunting place (7.6%), with some remarkable differences among families. Coprolites were also found in 53.8% of cases. The behaviour of present hyenas may be similar to that of prehistoric ones as they commonly use underground dens, defecate inside of them and frequently accumulate prey remains. On the other hand, even though present canids are more often recorded than felids using underground dens and accumulating prey, the latter are more often recorded as prehistoric bone accumulators than the former. The behaviour of only one present species of canid (V. vulpes) and other a felid (P. pardus) matches the one presumed for prehistoric individuals of such species in relation to bone and scat accumulation. The role of the remaining species as bone and scat accumulator agents in prehistoric sites remains questionable due to differences in their present behaviour. Therefore, many assignments of bone accumulation to specific carnivores are based on assumptions, which did not coincide with the present natural history of the species. Our review also highlights the absence of records of small species as prehistoric bone accumulators.We thank Cuauhtemoc Ch avez and Ana Carolina Srbek for their unpublished information on jaguars. HRV is a beneficiary of a PhD scholarship “Severo Ochoa” from the Regional Government of Principality of Asturias, and AMG was supported by the Predoctoral Fellowship PRE2018-086102

Impacto de depredación y selección de presa del lince ibérico y el zorro sobre el conejo

[ES] Durante los años 1995-96 y 97 en el parque Nacional de Doñana, en la finca concodia como "Coto del Rey" (Huelva) se ha censado las poblaciones de lince ibérico, zorro y conejo, a la par que realizado un estudio sobre la importancia del conejo en la dieta de ambos carnívoros. Con todo ello se determinó el impacto de depredación, medido como porcentaje de presas consumidas del total presente, así como la selección de tamaño de conejos que estos carnívoros efectuaron a lo largo del tiempo

Human pressures constrain Eurasian otter occurrence in semiarid Northern Africa

Populations inhabiting the periphery of species distribution ranges may experience suboptimal environmental conditions and higher vulnerability to anthropogenic pressures. Disentangling the role of natural and human-related factors and the relationships among them in these marginal areas is thus key to understand and prevent species declines and range reductions. We analysed Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) occurrence patterns in relation to anthropogenic pressures and natural environmental gradients in Morocco, an area constituting the arid limit of the species’ global range. The probability of otter occurrence was higher as terrain ruggedness increased and at intermediate elevations, and lower in catchments exposed to higher anthropogenic pressures. Otters tended to be rare at higher elevations and in areas with less annual precipitation, probably as a result of trophic resource limitations and large water flow fluctuations, respectively. A combination of natural and anthropogenic factors, both at drainage area and local scales, was needed to understand the current occurrence of the species. Our study highlights a need for urgent action to conserve the Eurasian otter in northern Africa, where freshwater ecosystems and their associated biodiversity are threatened by rapid human development in areas of marginal climatic conditions.We acknowledge the help of our colleagues in conducting the field sampling: Begoña Adrados, Seila Alvaré, Manuela González, Carlos Gutiérrez-Expósito, Miguel Jácome, Francisco Palomares, Carli Pérez, Eloy Revilla, Jacinto Román and Pablo Villalba, and the scientific advice of Abdeljebbar Qninba and his help in processing the permits necessary to conduct the study. We thank three anonymous referees for their constructive comments on an earlier manuscript. The picture of an otter used in Figure 4 was donated by Juan Matutano. Sampling permissions were obtained from the Haut Commissariat aux Eaux et Forêts et a la Lutte contre la Désertification du Royaume du Maroc. Financial support was received from Estación Biológica de Doñana-CSIC. N.F. acknowledges the support of iDiv funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG–FZT 118, 202548816). Funding for Open Access charge: Universida

Los mamíferos en Huelva

Entre los variados recursos de la provincia, Huelva destaca por su maravilloso patrimonio natural. La provincia de Huelva posee 23 espacios protegidos, entre ellos un Parque Nacional, dos Parques Naturales, ocho Parajes Naturales, un Paisaje Protegido, tres Reservas Naturales y una Reserva Natural Concertada. Entre todos los espacios protegen el 30% del territorio de la provincia de Huelva. El patrimonio natural de Huelva es famoso, entre otras cosas, por la rica cantidad de aves silvestres que crían e invernan en sus marismas, sobre todo en las del Parque Nacional de Doñana y en las del Paraje Natural de las Marismas del Odiel. Pero lo que es menos conocido es que Huelva es también rica y diversa en mamíferos. Como se relata en este capítulo, se han citado en la provincia hasta 72 especies distintas de mamíferos y 51 son comunes: seis especies de insectívoros, ocho especies de roedores, dos de lagomorfos, 19 especies de murciélagos, tres especies de ungulados, 10 de carnívoros y tres cetáceos. No en vano la provincia cuenta con seis áreas ZIM, Zonas Importantes para los Mamíferos de España: Sierra Morena Occidental, Andévalo y Cuenca Minera, Marismas de Isla Cristina y Ayamonte, Marismas del Río Piedras, Marismas del Odiel, Tinto y Estero de Domingo Rubio y Comarca de Doñana

Chromosomal Differentiation in Genetically Isolated Populations of the Marsh-Specialist Crocidura suaveolens (Mammalia: Soricidae)

The genus Crocidura represents a remarkable model for the study of chromosome evolution. This is the case of the lesser white-toothed shrew (Crocidura suaveolens), a representative of the Palearctic group. Although continuously distributed from Siberia to Central Europe, C. suaveolens is a rare, habitat-specialist species in the southwesternmost limit of its distributional range, in the Gulf of Cádiz (Iberian Peninsula). In this area, C. suaveolens is restricted to genetically isolated populations associated to the tidal marches of five rivers (Guadiana, Piedras, Odiel, Tinto and Guadalquivir). This particular distributional range provides a unique opportunity to investigate whether genetic differentiation and habitat specialization was accompanied by chromosomal variation. In this context, the main objective of this study was to determinate the chromosomal characteristics of the habitat-specialist C. suaveolens in Southwestern Iberia, as a way to understand the evolutionary history of this species in the Iberian Peninsula. A total of 41 individuals from six different populations across the Gulf of Cádiz were collected and cytogenetically characterized. We detected four different karyotypes, with diploid numbers (2n) ranging from 2n = 40 to 2n = 43. Two of them (2n = 41 and 2n = 43) were characterized by the presence of B-chromosomes. The analysis of karyotype distribution across lineages and populations revealed an association between mtDNA population divergence and chromosomal differentiation. C. suaveolens populations in the Gulf of Cádiz provide a rare example of true karyotypic polymorphism potentially associated to genetic isolation and habitat specialization in which to investigate the evolutionary significance of chromosomal variation in mammals and their contribution to phenotypic and ecological divergence.This research was partially funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain), through projects CGL2014-54317-P and CGL2017-83802-P to ARH, and through the ‘Microproyecto’ “Evolutionary history of lesser white-toothed shrew, C. suaveolens, in the Iberian Peninsula and genetic status of populations in the Gulf of Cádiz” financed by Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD) with funds from the Severo Ochoa Program for Centres of Excellence in R+D+I (SEV-2012-0262). LB benefited from an FPU fellowship from the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte