Mariano Jesús Tapia, Jose Ignacio Cuitiño, Eduardo Guillermo Ottone
et al.
During the Early Miocene (ca. 23–16 Ma), Patagonia underwent pronounced climatic reorganisations that influenced distribution patterns and biodiversity across terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Here, we explore the response of the floras from south-western Patagonia to the climatic shifts that occurred during the early Burdigalian (ca. 20 Ma–18 Ma), just before the onset of the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO), which took place between 17 Ma and 15 Ma. Using fossil spores and pollen grains recovered from the El Chacay Formation (south-western Patagonia), we found a ~ 50% increase in diversity from ~ 20 Ma to ~ 18 Ma. The major difference between the two ages lies in the number of rare species (singletons and doubletons) according to our non-asymptotic standardisation analysis. The increasing trend in richness mirrors the re-appearance of many plant species with predominantly tropical and subtropical current distributions (e.g. Cupania, Ilex, Arecaceae) that had severely declined from the high latitudes during the cooling trend of the Oligocene-Miocene Transition (~ 23 Ma). Overall, the recovered assemblages point to the dominance of closed-canopy forests although the record of open vegetation elements — that would later expand — became evident. Our finding reveals that plant richness increased prior to the onset of the MCO, though not reaching the peak levels observed during this climatic optimum.
Loren E. Babcock, Daniel F. Kelley, John B. Krygier
et al.
Natural history collections serve science and society in a variety of ways. Collections of geological, including paleontological, materials are of special importance in the 21st century, as they serve not only as repositories for scientific research specimens, but are also used in teaching, outreach, and engaging the public in science. These collections link us to our scientific, technological, and cultural history, and help to inspire the next generations of scientists and technologists. In addition, they provide inspiration for creative works. They also have an important role in informing public policy and national security, as geological materials are fundamental to the global economy. Examples from universities, museums, and government agencies in central Ohio, USA, help to illustrate the myriad ways that geological collections are relevant to modern society, and provide continuing, critical benefits. These examples reinforce the need to ensure the long-term support of collections.
Historical ecology draws on a broad range of information sources and methods to provide insight into ecological and social change, especially over the past ∼12000 yr. While its results are often relevant to conservation and restoration, insights from its diverse disciplines, environments, and geographies have frequently remained siloed or underrepresented, restricting their full potential. Here, scholars and practitioners working in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments on 6 continents and various archipelagoes synthesize knowledge from the fields of history, anthropology, paleontology, and ecology with the goal of describing global research priorities for historical ecology to influence conservation. We used a structured decision-making process to identify and address questions in 4 key priority areas: (1) methods and concepts, (2) knowledge co-production and community engagement, (3) policy and management, and (4) climate change impacts. This work highlights the ways that historical ecology has developed and matured in its use of novel information sources, efforts to move beyond extractive research practices and toward knowledge co-production, and application to management challenges including climate change. We demonstrate the ways that this field has brought together researchers across disciplines, connected academics to practitioners, and engaged communities to create and apply knowledge of the past to address the challenges of our shared future.
<p>The first part of this article gives an overview of influential comics and
graphic novels on paleontological themes from the last 12 decades.
Through different forms of representation and narration, both clichés
and the latest findings from paleontological research are presented in
comics in an entertaining way for a broad audience. As a result, comics are
often chroniclers of 20th century scientific history and contemporary
paleoart.</p>
<p>The second part of this article deals with the development of the bilingual
graphic novel <i>EUROPASAURUS – Life on Jurassic Islands</i>, which communicates knowledge from universities and
museums to the public. This non-verbal comic presents the results of a
paleontological research project on a Late Jurassic terrestrial biota from
northern Germany in both a scientifically accurate and an easily
understandable way, based on the way of life of various organisms and their
habitats. Insights into the creative process, the perception of the book by
the public, and ideas on how to raise public awareness of such a project are
discussed.</p>
A diverse and well-preserved microphytoplankton assemblage is reported from a measured section
of Frasnian–Famennian (Upper Devonian) Padeha and Bahram Formations in Shahzadeh Mohammad
area, northwestern Kerman, southeast Iran. The palynoflora assemblage contains 17 genera and 23 species of
acritarchs, chitinozoa, scolecodont and rich miospore taxa. 57 species (25 genera) of miospores were identified
and 5 assemblage biozones were defined from the Shahzadeh Mohammad section. The miospore composition
is similar to neighboring localities in Southern and Northern Iran, but it shows significant similarities with
palynoflora from more distant localities, e.g. Saudi Arabia, Western Australia or Algeria. This implies a close
relationship between the Iranian platform and other areas of the Northern Gondwana and southern Laurentia
Domain during the late Devonian. The investigated section was deposited in a shallow marine environment with
tropical conditions during the Frasnian-Famennian period.
Jon Camuera, María J. Ramos-Román, Gonzalo Jiménez-Moreno
et al.
Abstract The Iberian Peninsula is located at the intersection between the subtropical and temperate climate zones and the paleoclimate records from this region are key to elucidate the varying humidity and changing dominance of atmospheric circulation patterns in the Mediterranean-North African region in the past. Here we present a quantitative hydroclimate reconstruction for the last ca. 200 kyr from southern Iberian Peninsula based on pollen data from the Padul lake sediment record. We use the newly developed Scale-normalized Significant Zero crossing (SnSiZer) method to detect not only the statistically significant precipitation changes but also to estimate the relative magnitude of these oscillations in our reconstruction. We identify six statistically significant main humid phases, termed West Mediterranean Humid Periods (WMHP 1–6). These humid periods correlate with other West/Central Mediterranean paleohydrological records, suggesting that similar climatic factors affected different areas of the Mediterranean. In addition, the WMPHs are roughly coeval with the African Humid Periods (AHPs) during high seasonality, suggesting the same North Atlantic ocean-atmospheric dynamics and orbital forcing as main drivers of both areas. In contrast, during low seasonality periods, the West Mediterranean still appears to be affected by the westerlies and the local Mediterranean rainfall systems with moderate-to-high precipitation, whereas West Africa was characterized by droughts.
Guanhan Chen, Xinying Zhou, Mutalibjon Khasannov
et al.
Abstract The region of Transoxiana underwent an early agricultural-demographic transition leading to the earliest proto-urban centers in Central Asia. The agronomic details of this cultural shift are still poorly studied, especially regarding the role that long-generation perennials, such as grapes, played in the cultivation system. In this paper, we present directly dated remains of grape pips from the early urban centers of Sapalli and Djarkutan, in south Uzbekistan. We also present linear morphometric data, which illustrate a considerable range of variation under cultivation that we divide into four distinct morphotypes according to pip shape. While some of the pips in these two assemblages morphologically fall within the range of wild forms, others more closely resemble modern domesticated populations. Most of the specimens measure along a gradient between the two poles, showing a mixed combination of domesticated and wild features. We also point out that the seeds recovered from the Djarkutan temple were, on average, larger and contained more affinity towards domesticated forms than those from domestic contexts. The potential preference of morphotypes seems to suggest that there were recognized different varieties that local cultivators might aware and possibly propagating asexually.