Mortality date estimation using fetal pronghorn remains

Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) fetal remains are sometimes recovered from archaeological contexts. Pronghorn have consistent reproductive schedules so their remains may provide information on seasonality of site occupation and number of mortality events. To investigate the reliability of fetal remains for seasonality and mortality event assessment, bone size and tooth eruption were measured in a sample of modern fetal pronghorn remains with known mortality dates. Results indicate a strong correlation between bone size and mortality date, but no significant correlation between tooth eruption level and mortality date. Fetal bone size was used to estimate a late April or early May mortality date at both the Oyster Ridge (48UT35) and Trappers Point (48SU1006) archaeological sites. The number of mortality events at Trappers Point was also investigated. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

藏北无人区的三大动物家族

藏北无人区是野生动物的天然保护区,那里繁衍生息着许多高原特有的珍稀动物。在无人区的动物种类中,最大的群落要数藏羚羊、藏野驴和野牦牛三种。它们是动物王国里名声显赫的“三大家族”。     

草根英雄在孤独中坚守——电影《可可西里》观感

电影《可可西里》是一阙雄浑阳刚的壮烈纪实曲,是一部信仰与生命的挽歌,是一部草根英雄式的、充满悲壮苍凉的悲剧。这部以民间保护藏羚羊的巡山队故事为原型的电影,有许多“震撼”人心之处。以日泰队长为首的巡山队员们虽然是平凡的小人物,没有得到政治意义上的褒扬,更没有什么“英雄勋章”之类的表彰,但他们是我们朴实的百姓的英雄,是草根英雄!     

Estimating age and season of death of pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana Ord) by means of tooth eruption and wear

Age and season of death information for prey animals at archaeological sites can address issues such as season of site occupation and prey hunting or harvesting strategies. Unfortunately, adequate reference information for estimating age and season is lacking for many wild species, including pronghorn antelope. To address this problem, new methods of scoring tooth eruption and wear have been developed and have been applied to a sample of over 500 pronghorn mandibles to obtain improved eruption and wear schedules. One implication of this study is that ‘age class discreteness’ is an unreliable method for demonstrating mass mortality of prey. This study provides a much larger comparative sample than previously available, although larger known‐age mandible samples are still needed for pronghorn and many other wild species. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stone age predation on large African bovids

Crown height measurements are used to establish age distributions for several species of larger bovids represented in faunal samples from the Middle Stone Age (earlier Upper Pleistocene) deposits of the Klasies River Mouth Caves and the Later Stone Age (later Upper Pleistocene/Holocene) deposits of Nelson Bay Cave, South Africa. There are no obvious differences between the sites in the age distributions of the species they share, but there are significant differences in age distributions among species. Two basic patterns are apparent. In the first, characterizing the blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus), roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus), Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer), and giant buffalo (Pelorovis antiquus), the archaeological samples contain numerous very young animals and relatively few prime-age adults. At least in the buffalo samples, there is also a fair representation of old adults. In the second pattern, characterizing the bastard hartebeest (Damaliscus dorcas or D. niro) and especially of the eland (Taurotragus oryx), prime adults are far more prominent relative to younger and older age groups. The first pattern is similar to the natural pattern of attritional mortality that probably characterizes all healthy, stable populations of free-ranging large ungulates, while the second is more reminiscent of the age structure of live herds. The first pattern may reflect hunting focused on individual animals, particularly those whose age made them most vulnerable, while the second may reflect the susceptibility of certain species to driving, so that whole groups could be killed in traps in which differences in age had no meaning.