Search Results (8)

In this study, we developed a game related to Palaeoloxodon huaihoensis to enhance public interest in learning about its ecology. The game integrates education and entertainment elements at four interactive levels “See Sea Bones,” “Assembling Organs,” “Bacterias Cleaner,” and “Painting Elephant” to allow players to explore the fossil structure, internal organs, and historical background of Palaeoloxodon huaihoensis. In the design process, we incorporated the design–play–experience framework and the gameplay–purpose–scope (GPS) model to balance entertainment and education. To evaluate the effectiveness of the developed game, a questionnaire survey on a Likert scale was conducted with 180 participants visiting the National Museum of Natural Science, Taiwan. The results indicated that the majority of the players were satisfied with the game’s design and content, particularly in terms of its ability to stimulate creativity. This research demonstrated the potential of games in museum education and provides insights for future optimization. Full article

Dental wear analyses of extinct animals offer key insights into their dietary preferences and in turn contribute substantially to palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, leading to more accurate interpretations about past ecosystems. This study employs dental mesowear analysis on Pliocene and Pleistocene elephants and mammoths from several localities in Northern Greece (Ptolemais Basin, Mygdonia Basin, Drama Basin, and the Neapolis-Grevena Basin), aiming to classify them into three main dietary categories (browsers, mixed-feeders, grazers) and investigate potential niche partitioning. The method relies on documenting the wear pattern of molar surfaces through angle measurements on the enamel ridges, which reflect the average annual diet of the examined taxon and in turn the annual ecological conditions of the studied area. Prior to the palaeodietary study and in order to ensure the taxonomic attribution of the examined specimens, a taxonomic review was conducted which confirmed the presence of the mammoths Mammuthus rumanus, Mammuthus meridionalis (southern mammoth), and Mammuthus trogontherii (steppe mammoth), and the European straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus. Dental mesowear results indicate a grazing diet for M. (cf.) rumanus, a mainly browsing diet for M. meridionalis but mixed-feeding to grazing for the subspecies Mammuthus meridionalis vestinus, a grazing one for M. trogontherii, and a wide diet spectrum for P. antiquus, including browsing, mixed-feeding and grazing, depending on the locality. This study expands our knowledge on the palaeoecology of Greek proboscideans and further highlights the importance of mesowear analysis on proboscidean teeth for palaeodietary and palaeoenviromental inferences. Full article

The timing, cause, and magnitude of mammalian extinctions during the African Middle Pleistocene remain largely unresolved. The demise of Elephas/Palaeoloxodon recki, a lineage that had a great geographic and temporal span, represents a particularly enigmatic case of megafaunal extinction. Previous studies of Early Pleistocene fossil material have proposed that this lineage was a strict C₄-grazer, with its dietary specialization causing its extinction during a period of climatic instability that coincided with the Late Acheulean. Others have associated its disappearance with overhunting by hominins during the same period. We contribute to this debate by analyzing carbon and oxygen isotope data from the tooth enamel of late Early and Middle Pleistocene Palaeoloxodon specimens from various localities in the Afar Rift. To contextualize the isotopic data of Palaeoloxodon within its broader ecosystem, we also provide data from non-elephant species. Carbon isotope values indicate that while C₄ plants dominated diets, varying amounts of C₃ vegetation were also consumed throughout this period. Oxygen isotope values reflect an initial focus on stable water sources that were later broadened to include transient sources. Serially sampled teeth of P. cf. recki recki from Late Acheulean contexts in the Megenta research area show no significant seasonal shifts in δ¹³C or δ¹⁸O values, even during a period of heightened climatic instability regionally. Taken together, our results suggest that Palaeoloxodon was capable of flexibility in diet and drinking habits which belies its morphological specializations. Our results do not support the idea that an inability to adapt to climatic instability caused the extinction of P. recki recki during the Late Acheulean. There is also currently no solid evidence that hominin hunting activities were the cause. However, we cannot discount the potential cumulative impact of climatic-induced environmental pressures and advancements in hominin hunting technologies during the early Middle Stone Age on the eventual extinction of the Palaeoloxodon lineage during the Middle–Late Pleistocene interface. Full article

This research presents an in-depth analysis of large mammal remains first discovered in 1932 in the archaeological area of ancient Rome, central Italy, during the work for the opening of Via dell’Impero (VFI). This work describes the faunal assemblage, its current preservation status, and uses tephrochronology to assess its age. Additionally, it provides paleoecological insights into the evolution of the mammalian fauna in Latium, central Italy, from MIS 13 to MIS 7. Analysis of the fossils updates the identification previously proposed by De Angelis d’Ossat, confirming the presence of Palaeoloxodon antiquus, Cervus elaphus, and Bos primigenius. However, in contrast to the previous author, the hippopotamus remains are assigned to Hippopotamus cf. antiquus, and a second deer is identified as Dama sp.. Furthermore, gnawing marks on the hippopotamus femur suggest the presence of a middle-sized carnivore. Tephrochronological investigation was conducted on pumice retrieved from the VFI fossiliferous layer and ash extracted from sediments adhering to the fossil surfaces. The major element composition of the glass from all pumice/ash samples shows a strong affinity with the Vico β unit, allowing correlation with the Fucino record and constraining the deposition of the VFI fossiliferous level between <406.5 ± 1.3 ka and >405.7 + 1.5/−1.6 ka. Radiometric dating is particularly useful for large mammal faunas of MIS 11-MIS 7, a period lacking significant faunal renewals, as Latium mammalian faunas are often dominated by species (elephants, red deer, aurochs) with broad chronological ranges. Full article

Recent investigations in the upper Lower–Middle Pleistocene deposits of the Megalopolis Basin (Greece) led to the discovery of several sites/findspots with abundant faunal material. Here, we provide an updated overview including new results on the micro- and macro-mammal fauna. Important new discoveries comprise partial hippopotamus skeletons from Marathousa 1 and the new Lower Pleistocene site Choremi 6, as well as a second partial elephant skeleton from Marathousa 1, including a complete tusk and the rarely found stylohyoideum. Based on the first results from the newly collected micromammals, we discuss age constraints of the sites, and we provide biostratigraphic/biochronologic remarks on key mammal taxa for the Middle Pleistocene of Greece and southeastern Europe. The presence of mammals highly dependent on freshwater for their survival, together with temperate-adapted ones in several stratigraphic layers of the basin, including those correlated with glacial stages, when conditions were colder and/or drier, indicate the capacity of the basin to retain perennial freshwater bodies under milder climatic conditions, even during the harsher glacial periods of the European Middle Pleistocene, and further support its refugial status. Yet, the smaller dimensions of the Megalopolis hippopotamuses may represent a response to the changing environmental conditions of the epoch, not optimal for hippopotamuses. Overall, the Megalopolis Basin comprises a unique fossil record for southeastern Europe and provides valuable insights into the Middle Pleistocene terrestrial ecosystems of Europe, and hominin adaptations in particular. Full article

This paper presents a list of >100 publicly known late Quaternary proboscidean sites that have certain or possible traces of hominin utilization in Africa, Europe, and Asia, along with a sample of references, chronometric or estimated ages, and brief descriptions of the associated materials and bone modifications. Summary discussions of important sites are also presented. Lower Palaeolithic/Early Stone Age hominins created far fewer proboscidean site assemblages than hominins in later Palaeolithic phases, in spite of the time span being many times longer. Middle Palaeolithic/Middle Stone Age hominins created assemblages at eight times the earlier hominin rate. Upper Palaeolithic/Later Stone Age hominins created site assemblages at >90 times the rate of Lower Palaeolithic hominins. Palaeoloxodon spp. occur in nearly one third of the sites with an identified or probable proboscidean taxon and Mammuthus species are in nearly one half of the sites with identified or probable taxon. Other identified proboscidean genera, such as Elephas, Loxodonta, and Stegodon, occur in few sites. The sites show variability in the intensity of carcass utilization, the quantity of lithics bedded with bones, the extent of bone surface modifications, such as cut marks, the diversity of associated fauna, and mortality profiles. Full article

The phenomenon of insular dwarfism in proboscideans is particularly well represented on the Siculo-Maltese Palaeoarchipelago, an island group on which a species complex of palaeoloxodont elephants evolved during the Middle-Late Pleistocene. This likely included three species from Malta, four from Sicily (and possibly its palaeo-islands), and one from Favignana Island, ranging in size from the 1 m-tall Palaeoloxodon falconeri to continental-sized 4m-tall P. antiquus. However, our understanding of the causes for extreme differences in body size among insular samples in such a small geographic region is still limited. Here, I document the full range in size of elephants from the palaeoarchipelago, and discuss the reasons for size differences on the three islands in time and space in relation to predation, competition, resource limitation, accelerated life history, and duration of isolation. Differences in size between larger and smaller Sicilian elephants from Luparello Fissure, as well as possibly also in P. ex gr. P. mnaidriensis from Puntali Cave, San Teodoro Cave, and Favignana Island, may relate to the duration of isolation, or alternatively environmental stressors associated with the Last Glacial Maximum in the case of the Favignana elephant. Additionally, small but significant differences in size observable in Middle Pleistocene P. ex gr. P. falconeri from different localities on Sicily, as well as in Maltese P. ‘melitensis’ may also relate to duration of isolation, highlighting the need for better geochronological data in order to better distinguish macro-ecological causes driving body size change from more subtle effects relating to duration of isolation. Full article

At 37°24′ N 22°8′ E, the Megalopolis Basin lies in the central Peloponnese Peninsula, southwestern Greece. In the Megalopolis Basin at ~350 m amsl, the Paleolithic site, Marathousa 1, sits within a palustrine/lacustrine clastic package between Lignite Seams III and II, that both likely correlate with interglacial periods. At Marathousa 1, immediately below Lignite Seam III, lies a clayey-silty sand layer with a horizon rich in molluscs ranging from ~20–40 cm thick. About 0.8–1.3 m below the shell-rich horizon (SRH), lacustrine silty to muddy sands rich in organic matter yielded Paleolithic lithic artefacts associated with Middle Pleistocene fauna, some with cut marks and possible bone knapping, found within palustrine/lacustrine clastic deposits. Since ESR (electron spin resonance) can date teeth and molluscs aged >2 Ma, two bivalve samples, AM66 and AM65, five subsamples from a cervid molar, AT39, and one subsample from another cervid molar, AT68, were independently dated by ESR from Marathousa 1. To calculate the ages, time-averaged cosmic and time- and volumetrically-averaged sedimentary dose rates were calculated using past water depths and sedimentation rates as determined from paleontological and geological criteria. Found in the SRH in Layer UA2, AM66 and AM65 averaged 488 ± 37 ka, which correlates with MIS 13a. Because the bivalves sat stratigraphically above the artefacts and mammalian fossils, their ages constrain the ESR ages for the teeth deposited below. Lying on the unconformity at the base of Layer UA3c with UA4, and its correlative unconformity at the Layer UB4c/UB5 boundary, sat the dated teeth from large mammals. Because the bones in the Palaeoloxodon antiquus skeleton lay in quasi-anatomical association, the likelihood for fossil reworking on the Layer UB3c/UB4 surface is low. Isochron analysis suggests that using a U uptake model with p = 2 provides the most accurate ages for AT39. With p = 2, AT39 dates to 503 ± 13 ka, while AT68 dates to 512 ± 34 ka. Nonetheless, two to three more teeth and molluscs should be dated to confirm these ages, when more samples suitable for ESR dating are found. Both tooth ages correlate well with early MIS 13, an interglacial period with cooler mean global temperatures compared to MIS 11 or 9. Assuming that the archaeological site formed in one event, rather than as a palimpsest, the data suggest that hominins processed elephant and other faunal carcasses along the shores of a shallow lake or marsh in the Megalopolis Basin at 503 ± 12 ka. Between the two horizons dated here, their sedimentation rate averaged 4.8 ± 1.8 to 7.8 ± 2.9 cm/ka. Full article