Ancient reptile tracks in the Pyrenees may include evidence of new type of footprint

A large set of tracks made by archosauromorphs in the Pyrenees mountain range may include a new type of footprint made by reptiles that lived 247 million years ago, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.

A large set of tracks made by archosauromorphs in the Pyrenees mountain range may include a new type 
of footprint made by reptiles that lived 247 million years ago, according to a study 
[Credit: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona/PLOS]

The Permian mass extinction resulted in the loss of 90 percent of species. The environmental and climactic conditions hindered the recovery of vertebrate species following this devastating event.

To investigate which vertebrates lived during beginning of the Mesozoic Era, which followed the Permian extinction, Mujal and colleagues examined trace fossils of vertebrates in the Pyrenees mountains in Catalonia from approximately 247 to 248 million years ago. The researchers made 3D models and created silicone molds of these ephemeral fossils, enabling them to preserve the fossils in scientific collections.

Tracks of Prorotodactylus mesaxonichnus [Credit: Eudald Mujal et al./PLOS]

The researchers identified that most tracks were made by archosauromorphs, the ancestors of crocodiles and dinosaurs. The majority were small, about half a meter in length, although a few specimens were longer than three meters.

The researchers also identified a new footprint, Prorotodactylus mesaxonichnus, and the new fossil evidence from the Pyrenean tracks suggests that at least the Pyrenean Prorotodactylus genus is related to archosauromorphs, rather than being a dinosauromorph as previously thought from other records.

Fossil assemblage, paleoenvironment and biochronologic interval [Credit: Eudald Mujal et al./PLOS]

The authors suggest that the abundance of archosauromorph fossils in the Pyrenees provides evidence that archosauromorphs may have played a large role in vertebrate recovery following the Permian mass extinction. Further research could explore how the archosauromorph lineage may have evolved and spread following this time period.

"Trace fossils are evidence that archosauromorphs dominated the fluvial environments of the Catalan Pyrenees during the Triassic vertebrate recovery, early after the end-Permian mass extinction," says Mujal.

Source: PLOS [April 19, 2017]

byUnknown

in Europe, Fossils, Palaeontology, Southern Europe, Spain

April 19, 2017

Ancient reptile tracks in the Pyrenees may include evidence of new type of footprint

A large set of tracks made by archosauromorphs in the Pyrenees mountain range may include a new type of footprint made by reptiles that live...

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Ancient trade in ostrich eggs investigated

Archaeologists and scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Durham and the British Museum are using cutting edge technology to crack a conundrum surrounding the ancient trade in ostrich eggs.

Carved ostrich egg from Isis Tomb, Vulci (Etruria), BM1850, 0227.6 
[Credit: T. Hodos/Trustees of the British Museum]

Decorated ostrich eggs were traded as luxury items from the Middle East to the Western Mediterranean during the Iron Age (1200-300 BC).

Several beautiful examples -- both intact and in fragments -- have been part of the British Museum's collection since the nineteenth century.

The eggs were engraved, painted and occasionally embellished with ivory, precious metals and faience fittings. They were found in elite contexts from Spain to Iraq.

The research team wants to find out where the eggs were laid and whether the birds laying them were wild or captive.

Dr Tamar Hodos, Reader in Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Bristol's Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, said: "Apart from noting their presence as unusual vessels in funerary and celebratory settings, surprisingly little is known about where they actually come from or who decorated them, much less how they circulated."

Carved and painted ostrich egg showing hoplites, BM1850, 0227.9 
[Credit: Trustees of the British Museum]

Using the British Museum's collection of ostrich eggs from the Mediterranean and Middle East, isotopic analyses of strontium, oxygen and carbon in the eggshells are being used to investigate where the eggs were laid and whether the ostriches were captive or wild, by detecting what and where the mother was eating and drinking during ovulation.

Detailed study of the eggshells' intricate decoration via scanning electron microscopy will allow the research team to compare carving techniques, helping them understand how they were created.

Dr Alexandra Fletcher, Curator in the Middle East Department at the British Museum, said: "We really want to find out more about how this trade worked. Were eggs gathered from nests in the wild, given that this was a potentially dangerous activity? Or is it possible that ostriches were kept in captivity to ensure the luxury trade had a supply of eggs readily available?"

The question of captivity is an important one. Images on objects such as cylinder seals from the same period show ostriches as dangerous and fierce creatures.

Ostrich eggshell fragment ready to be analysed under the Scanning Electron Microscope 
[Credit: A. Fletcher/Trustees of the British Museum]

One has an ancient king strangling an ostrich while the bird kicks him in the stomach, for example. It seems, however, that some members of these ancient societies were adept at catching and handling dangerous beasts.

The famous Assyrian reliefs at the British Museum show that royal 'lion hunts' were staged affairs. Captured lions were released from cages directly into the path of their hunters. Could the ostriches also have been captive creatures?

It is hoped that the information held in the ostrich eggshells themselves will tell us more about how they were obtained, decorated and traded, which will in turn reveal more about both the people who supplied these luxury goods and those who coveted them.

Source: University of Bristol [April 12, 2017]

byUnknown

in Archaeology, Europe, Iraq, Italy, Middle East, Spain

April 12, 2017

Ancient trade in ostrich eggs investigated

Archaeologists and scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Durham and the British Museum are using cutting edge technology to crack ...

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Genetic study sheds light on the diversity and evolution of mammoths

Near the end of the Pleistocene epoch, populations of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) were distributed across parts of three continents, from western Europe and northern Asia through Beringia to the Atlantic seaboard of North America. Nonetheless, questions about the connectivity and temporal continuity of mammoth populations and species remain unanswered. Scientists have now used state-of-the-art sequencing techniques to analyze the mitochondrial genomes of the remainings of 143 mammoths.

As with elephants today, female mammoths did not change groups and stayed where they were born. The samples analyzed
 in this study include those of two mammoths that were found where Madrid is now located [Credit: Thinkstock]

This study, published in Scientific Reports, includes the mitochondrial genomes of 54 mammoth fossils that have been sequenced for the first tie. This has allowed to increase the number of specimens coming from Europe, since until now there were none of this zone. Among the new specimens, stand out the two most western mammoths never analyzed. These mammoths come from the Aldehuela site in Getafe, and their DNA has been extracted from fossils preserved in the Museum of Origins in Madrid.

Thanks to the analysis of the 143 mitochondrial genomes, all the mammoths of that period have been divided into three great lineages. "Up until now we have detected three differentiated populations, one of them in continental Europe", explains Lalueza-Fox, a researcher at the Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Barcelona, a joint center of the CSIC and the Pompeu Fabra University. Thus, this study allows to obtain a more complete picture of global genetic diversity and the evolution of mammoths.

The results of the study suggest that male mammoths were the ones who left the group to go and look for partners in the other herds. As is currently the case with elephants, this means that the females remained in the group where they were born. "This fact would explain why mitochondrial DNA, which is exclusively transferred through the maternal route, is very geographically structured in these fossils," concludes Lalueza-Fox.

On the other hand, it has been possible to see that the genetic variation does not correspond with the paleontological interpretation that the fossils would suggest. The researchers suggest this lack of correlation is due to crosses of the woolly mammoths with other types of mammoths, such as steppe mammoths, or other coexisting species.

Source: Instituto de Biología Evolutiva [April 02, 2017]

byUnknown

in Early Mammals, Evolution, Genetics, Spain

April 02, 2017

Genetic study sheds light on the diversity and evolution of mammoths

Near the end of the Pleistocene epoch, populations of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) were distributed across parts of three cont...

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