Human nature: The perspective from sociobiology

Edward O. Wilson. Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1975. ix + 697 pp. Illustrations, figures, tables, glossary, bibliography and index. $20.00     

Trace fossils on penguin bones from the Miocene of Chubut,southern Argentina

Several traces of biological interaction were found on penguin bones from the basal levels (Aquitanian) of the Miocene Gaiman Formation in the lower Chubut valley of the Provincia del Chubut, Argentina. The fossil-bearing beds were deposited in littoral to sublittoral environments within sediments of mostly pyroclastic origin. We interpret many traces to have been produced by predators and/or scavengers while the penguins were still in a breeding area. Many bones show cracking marks due to aerial exposure. The material is disarticulated as is usual in recent breeding areas. Potential predators were coeval terrestrial mammals, most probably marsupial carnivores. After a marine transgression, these bones were buried or exposed on the sea bottom where they could be colonized by algae, sponges, cnidarians, and other benthic organisms. We identified sponge borings in several bones. Other traces are interpreted to have been produced by echinoderms feeding on sponges or algae. No evidence of other invertebrate predators such as muricid or naticid gastropods, or decapods was found. Finally, other traces appear to have been generated by shark and possibly teleostean vertebrates feeding on epibionts. One coracoid is interpreted to have been marked by a shark that is common in the Gaiman Formation, the carcharhiniform Galeocerdo aduncus. From an ethological (Seilacherian) classification, traces on bones from the Gaiman Formation include Domichnia (sponge perforations), Praedichnia (terrestrial marsupials, sharks, teleosteans) and Pasichnia (echinoderms). Remarkably, remains of marine organisms with skeletons made of calcium carbonate are very poorly preserved in the Gaiman Formation. Only large oysters, sparse shell fragments, skeletal moulds, and bioturbation is evident. The fossil assemblage is mainly composed of phosphatic (e.g. teeth, bones, crustacean parts) and siliceous (sponge spicules, diatoms) remains.     

Society from the perspective of women

Ilsa M. Glazer Shuster. New Women of Lusaka (Explorations in World Ethnology Series). Palo Alto: Mayfield Publishing Co., 1979. xiv ‐ 209 pp. Maps, illustrations, glossary, bibliography and index. $4.95 paper.

Alice Schlegel, ed. Sexual Stratification: A Cross‐Cultural View. New York: Columbia University Press, 1977. xix ‐ 371 pp. Tables, bibliography, index.     

First report of Cixiidae insect fossils from the Miocene of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau and their palaeoenvironmental implications

Li, Y., Liu, X., Ren, D., Li, X. & Yao, Y., June 2016. First report of Cixiidae insect fossils from the Miocene of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau and their palaeoenvironmental implications. Alcheringa 41, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.

A new insect species, Cixius discretus (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha), from the Lower Miocene Garang Formation of Zeku County, Qinghai Province (northeastern Tibetan Plateau) is described. This species can be assigned to Cixiidae and represents the first fossil representative of this family from Qinghai Province. Based on the recent single-origin hypothesis and the distribution of tectonic plates in the Cretaceous, we consider that ancient Cixius had dispersed globally prior to the Cretaceous. Through analysis of the habitats of extant Cixius, the palaeoclimate and fossil flora of the Zeku area during the Miocene, we interpret the climate of Zeku in the early Miocene to have been warm-temperate and mildly arid. The new species constitutes evidence of wooded and shrubby habitats in Zeku during the Miocene.

Yi Li [liy0124@sina.com], XiaoHui Liu [liuxh8917@163.com], Dong Ren [rendong@mail.cnu.edu.cn] and YunZhi Yao [yunzhi@cnu.edu.cn], College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Xisanhuanbeilu 105, Haidian District, Beijing 100048, PR China; XiangChuan Li [lzulixiangchuan@163.com], College of Earth Sciences and Resources & Key Laboratory of Western Mineral Resources and Geological Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054, PR China.     

The two starting points of World War II: a reexamination from a global perspective

Although the factual chronology of World War II is not in dispute, how to best make sense of these facts and how to objectively evaluate that history have always been limited by political circumstances and personal biases. Viewing WWII seven decades later, we need to move away from Eurocentrism and to stop seeing the war from the prism of a European war or Pacific war. The entire history of WWII, from beginning to end, including its several phases characterized by fermentation, outbreak, climax, and conclusion, is extremely complex. This paper argues that the war has two origins or starting points because it resulted from disparate prewar conditions in Europe and Asia. Viewed from this perspective, the strategic importance of the China Theater in WWII and the enormous sacrifices and contributions the Chinese people made to the victory over Fascism and for world peace ought to be given due credit.     

The extraction and identification of opal phytoliths from the teeth of ungulates

A method is described for the extraction and identification of opal phytoliths from food residue on the teeth of cattle. Two types of residual food debris were recognized. These yielded varying quantities of silica particles from plants and soil. The application of the identification of silica bodies to enviromental archaeolory is discussed.     

Late Cambrian (Iverian,Jiangshanian) fossils from the Professor Range area,Western Tasmania

Abstract

Late Cambrian (Iverian, Jiangshanian) agnostoids and trilobites are described from two localities in the Professor Range area of western Tasmania. The fossils occur within a thick folded flysch succession of siltstone, mudstone, quartzwacke sandstone and siliceous conglomerate that forms the lower part of the Owen Group correlatives in this area. The flysch succession has a conformable and probable gradational contact with the underlying Mt Read Volcanics and is abruptly overlain by the siliceous pebble-cobble conglomerate correlated with the Middle Owen Conglomerate of the West Coast Range. The stratigraphically lower southern locality contains the agnostoids Pseudagnostus sp. and Agnostinae gen. et sp. indet. plus the polymerid trilobites Parabolina sp., Hedinaspis sp. cf. H. regalis and Eugonocare sp. The northern locality contains the agnostoids Rhaptagnostus sp. and Pseudagnostus sp. plus the polymerid trilobites Hedinaspis sp. cf. H. regalis, Ketyna? sp. 1, Ketyna? sp. 2, and Cermatops sp. It is possible that most specimens of the cosmopolitan genus Hedinaspis belong in the type species, H. regalis.

Christopher J. Bentley [bigfossil@bigpond.com], 30 Albert Street, Clare SA 5453; James B. Jago [jim.jago@unisa.edu.au], University of South Australia, School of Natural and Built Environment, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095; Keith D. Corbett [keith.corbett@bigpond.com], 35 Pillinger Drive, Fern Tree Tas 7054, Australia.     

Late Silurian trace fossils from the Melbourne Formation,Studley Park,Victoria, southeastern Australia

An ichnoassemblage of 10 ichnospecies is described for the first time from the Late Silurian Melbourne Formation at Studley Park, Victoria, southeastern Australia. The ichnofauna is preserved in a typical deep-water turbidite succession of alternating thin- to thick-bedded sandstone and thin- to medium-bedded mudrocks. Trace fossils observed within the study site have been assigned to three main ichnofacies. Ichnofacies 1 is best developed on the linguoid-rippled upper surface of thin sandstone beds and includes Laevicyclus, Aulichnites, Nereites, Helminthoidichnites, small Chondrites and possible Zoophycos. Ichnofacies 2 is very similar to Ichnofacies 1 in ichnospecies composition but instead contains large forms of Chondrites together with other thin burrow types usually poorly preserved and in very low abundance compared with Ichnofacies 1. Ichnofacies 3 is preserved mainly as casts on the underside of medium- to thick-bedded turbiditic sandstones, and has a very low diversity, with Planolites being the most common trace. A detailed analysis of the ichnofabrics and tiering structures of these ichnofacies suggest that Ichnofacies 1 and 3 represent ‘simple tiering’, in contrast to Ichnofacies 2, which is more characteristic of ‘complex tiering’. Despite the differences in ichnospecies composition and ichnofabrics between the three recognized ichnofacies, the collective ichnoassemblage from the study site can be assigned confidently to the Nereites ichnofacies and is, therefore, interpreted to have formed in a distal submarine fan environment of lower bathyal to abyssal depth. Further, it is possible to recognize two main subenvironments within this deep-sea setting to account for the differences between the ichnofacies. Ichnofacies 1 and 2 are interpreted to represent a typical Nereites ichnofacies located on a level basin floor subenvironment of relatively low energy conditions at the distal end of a submarine fan deposit. In comparison, Ichnofacies 3 is dominated by Planolites with rare other facies-crossing trace fossil forms, and lacks Nereites. It is, therefore, best interpreted as representing a relatively high-energy environment, possibly a distributary channel near the distal end of the submarine fan system.     

Knowledge making and corporate environmentalism from the perspective of the egg tray

ABSTRACT

In the 1990s, there was a change in capitalist thinking on environmental issues in many global settings, which materialised in what has been termed corporate environmentalism. Beginning with a history of the moulded fibre egg tray and one of its primary manufacturers, this is a case study of how corporate environmentalism came about and was enacted as a confluence of corporate priorities, environmental concerns, production processes, materials, and the development of new measuring tools. Unlike the many environmental history studies that emphasise the role of NGOs and policy developments, this study begins in the business world. More specifically, it is based in the making of environmental knowledge in the form of life cycle assessments and environmental accounts and in the environmental reframing of materials like moulded pulp and plastic. In this way it is the story of how it became reasonable for a manufacturer of egg trays to choose the slogan, ‘Choose Fibre. Save Nature’.     

Exceptional fossils and biotas of Gondwana: the fortieth anniversary issue of Alcheringa

McLoughlin, S., September 2016. Exceptional fossils and biotas of Gondwana: the fortieth anniversary issue of Alcheringa. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.

Stephen McLoughlin [steve.mcloughlin@nrm.se], Department of Palaeobiology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Box 50007, S-104 05, Sweden. Submitted 22.8.2016.     

Human osteoarchaeology in the UK 2001–2007: a bibliometric perspective

Bibliometric analysis of osteoarchaeology publications covering the period 2001–2007 in leading journals was carried out. The aims were two‐fold: firstly, to characterise research in this field in the UK and make comparisons with selected other countries, and secondly, to shed light on the use of skeletal collections. It was found that, since a previous survey of this type,covering the period 1991–1995, isotopic and DNA studies have increased. In the UK, work on biodistance studies is minor compared with other countries, and the proportion of palaeopathology work is high. In palaeopathology, substantial effort continues to be devoted to case studies, particularly in the UK where the frequency of problem‐orientated work directed at understanding earlier populations has not increased since the early 1990s. Although it is argued that the case study still has a place in osteoarchaeology, the balance of work needs to shift further in favour of population studies, particularly in the UK. Skeletal collections are vital for primary osteoarchaeological work, and there was little evidence for any great use of skeletal databases such as the Standard Osteological Database. Skeletal collections from the UK were the most used for the research papers analysed, demonstrating the importance of UK‐held collections for research that leads to high profile publication in the international scientific literature. These observations are pertinent since legal, ethical and practical issues in the treatment of human remains, particularly those connected with retention of skeletal collections, are now coming under closer scrutiny in the UK. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Absence of premolar teeth from ruminant mandibles found at archaeological sites

Three bovine and three ovine mandibles are described in each of which the second permanent premolar tooth was absent. In one of the bovine jaws an absence of the fifth cusp of the third molar was also noted. A review of tooth absence in wild and domestic bovidae is presented and suggestions are made as to the reason for absence.     

Laser ablation depth profiling of U-series and Sr isotopes in human fossils

We have explored laser depth profiling to obtain data sets for U-series as well as Sr analyses. Laser probing with an 81 μm spot size allows for the exploration of low uranium domains of up to 400 μm below the outer surface in tooth enamel. These low U domains will contain Sr isotope compositions of the individual, that are least affected by diagenetic Sr overprints. The small holes drilled for U surveying are not visible to the naked eye. Using larger spot sizes of around 233 μm, laser drilling can be used to obtain reliable U-series isotope data to a depth of approximately 1000 μm in enamel and around 1300 μm in bone. Furthermore, meaningful ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope data can also be obtained with this spot size. Using our sampling strategy, the overall damage to a human tooth is minute, as demonstrated on a Neanderthal tooth from Moula-Guercy. We expect that laser ablation depth profiling will become routine for gaining insights into the age of human fossils and the migrations of ancient humans.     

Collagen fingerprinting of archaeological bone and teeth remains from Domuztepe,South Eastern Turkey

We applied a recently developed method of collagen peptide mass fingerprinting for taxonomic identification in faunal remains to 111 specimens from the Neolithic site of Domuztepe in southeastern Turkey. Advances on the published technique allow us to move beyond the key domesticated fauna (sheep, goat, pig and cattle) to include non-domesticates (deer and gazelle, as well as humans). As the animal economy of Domuztepe was dominated by domestic sheep and goats, a large number of the samples tested were morphologically indistinguishable sheep/goat remains. A number of samples represented elements that provide information on age (i.e., mandibles) or sex (pelvis); thus, this represents the first major study to attempt to improve kill-off profiles using collagen fingerprinting. We also show that the collagen extracted from dentine is equally amenable to the proposed methodology as bone collagen.