Avian taphonomy: observations at two Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) breeding colonies and their implications for the fossil record

Actualistic studies on vertebrate taphonomy have centred on mammals, and to a much lesser extent on flying birds. Members of the Spheniscidae are anatomically specialized making it problematic to make direct inferences from previous taphonomic work. Modern bone assemblages from two Spheniscus magellanicus breeding colonies on the southern Atlantic coast of continental Patagonia, Argentina, were surveyed on foot along linear transects, and features were determined that are useful in interpreting the fossil record. Present day bone accumulations have specific properties resulting from penguin anatomy and osteology as well as from the composition of the vertebrate community and regional environmental conditions. Most salient are the high spatial density of bones, the dominance of Spheniscidae remains over those of other vertebrates, the high percentage of disarticulated bones, the predominance of limb bones, the low frequencies of carnivore bone modifications, and the abundance of fractured bones. Many of these features observed in the modern assemblages can be identified in fossil avian bone deposits.     

BC省左手安详，右手喧嚣

BC省是个简称,要记住其全称还是件很费脑筋的事一不列颠哥伦比亚省（British Columbia）。BC省面积不小,可北边借大一片土地几乎无人居住,反倒是温哥华岛周边的几个城市：温哥华、维多利亚和惠斯勒成了全省的精华。这三个地方距离不算远且各有特色,温哥华的悠闲惬意,维多利亚的古朴风情,惠斯勒的现代个性,都是值得一住再住的好地方。如果时间有限,各自分配两天给这几个遇然有别的城市吧,左手安详,右手喧嚣,这样的时空转换,只要几个小时就能神奇完成。     

Phytolith evidence for hearths and beds in the late Mousterian occupations of Esquilleu cave (Cantabria,Spain)

Esquilleu cave site has provided a moderately well preserved archaeological cave deposit from the Late Pleistocene in the Cantabrian area. Phytolith quantification, identification and determination of the refractive index have been carried out, together with FTIR analyses, from sediment samples collected in the profile. The comparison of the data obtained with the previous micromorphological results allows us to make inferences about the site formation processes and the Neanderthals use of the cave. Phytolith results show the presence of grass leaves nearby the hearth suggesting the repetitive existence of a bedding zone on the same area. Neanderthal behavioral patterns should be revised on the light of high resolution analyses, since diagenetic processes can obscure the existence of differentiated activity areas in the site.     

Disparities in entrepreneurial activity and attitude across EU countries

The levels and characteristics of entrepreneurship differ widely across EU countries and regions. Taking as reference data provided by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor on entrepreneurial activity and entrepreneurial attitude, this paper analyses the disparities in entrepreneurship indicators among EU member countries in 2007 and 2013, highlighting the most significant changes that occurred during the Great Recession. Some of the major indices of inequality are calculated (Gini, Theil and Atkinson) and the change in the Gini coefficient between these two years is additively decomposed into mobility and progressivity components. Overall, we find that cross-national inequalities tend to increase in the procyclical aspects of entrepreneurial activity and attitude, while they tend to decrease in the countercyclical aspects. For entrepreneurial activity indicators, we reveal that heterogeneity increases in indicators such as opportunity-driven entrepreneurial activity and total entrepreneurial activity, while necessity-driven entrepreneurial activity becomes more homogeneous across countries. Regarding entrepreneurial attitudes, disparities among countries decrease in all indicators, except in perceived opportunities, for which cross-national inequality grows considerably during the crisis period.