Mammoths and mylodonts: Exotic species from two different continents in North American Pleistocene faunas

Throughout the Cenozoic, the North American mammalian fauna has been enriched by the appearance of new taxa originating on different continents. During most of the Tertiary, the primary source area of these new taxa was Eurasia with dispersal across some version of the Bering Land Bridge. In the late Pliocene (Blancan) ca. 2.5 mya, the creation of the Panamanian Land Bridge permitted the northward dispersal of species of South American origin including ground sloths. One of these sloths was “Glossotherium” chapadmalense, which in turn gave rise to the Pleistocene species Paramylodon harlani. Mammoths first appear in North America at the beginning of the Irvingtonian ca. 1.9 mya. Despite originating on two different continents, the two species are often found together in North American Pleistocene faunas and shared a common habitat. Both of these lineages are commonly interpreted as grazers, indicative of open grassland habitat, and both of these exotic species shared this habitat with North American endemic species such as horses, also interpreted as grazers. Despite their association in North American faunas, mammoths did not disperse into South America and mylodont sloths were unable to disperse into Eurasia. This suggests there were some aspects of their ecology they did not have in common and there existed a limited zone of conditions that permitted them to share common habitat. There is no evidence that the appearance of either species in North America resulted in the extinction of any native species. The question is how these different species, immigrants and endemics, were able to avoid competition, coexist, and become integrated into a single fauna, thus enriching the overall North American Pleistocene fauna.     

Nothrotheriops sp. (Mammalia,Xenarthra) from the Late Pleistocene of Argentina: implications for the dispersion of ground sloths during the Great American Biotic Interchange

The aim of this contribution is to describe a femur (MCRS 199) assigned to Nothrotheriops sp. from the Late Pleistocene of Santa Fe Province (Argentina), and discuss the implications of this find in the context of the dispersal of ground sloths during the Great American Biotic Interchange. The specimen MCRS 199 is smaller than the femora referred to the North American species Nothrotheriops texanus and Nothrotheriops shastensis but shares several features with these species: (i) shape and position of the greater trochanter, (ii) development of the lesser trochanter, (iii) presence of connection between the third trochanter and the ectepicondyle, (iv) distal third of the femur wider, with ML/DW index of 1.93, and (v) location and relationship of the distal condyles. These similarities allow us to assign MCRS 199 to Nothrotheriops sp. The record of Nothrotheriops sp. from Santa Fe Province chronologically coincides with the earliest records of Nothrotheriops shastensis suggesting a broad geographical distribution of Nothrotheriops during the Late Pleistocene, ranging from 33–36°N (e.g. states of California and Arizona, USA) to 31°S (northern Salado River, Santa Fe Province, Argentina). Thus, Nothrotheriops have dispersed from North America (where Nothrotheriops has early records, Calabrian–Middle Pleistocene) to South America where localities bearing Nothrotheriops are Late Pleistocene in age. In addition, once in South America and probably during the Middle Pleistocene, Nothrotheriops probably gave rise to its sister taxon, Nothrotherium, with records from the Middle Pleistocene (e.g. 223 ka BP, northeastern Brazil) to the Late Pleistocene (e.g. 15 ka BP).     

Calibration of mammoth (Mammuthus) dispersal into North America using rare earth elements of Plio-Pleistocene mammals from Florida

The first appearance of mammoth (Mammuthus) is currently used to define the beginning of the Irvingtonian North American Land Mammal Age at about 1.4 Ma. Thereafter, mammoth fossils are common and widespread in North America until the end of the Pleistocene. In contrast to this generally accepted biochronology, recent reports have asserted that mammoth occurs in late Pliocene (ca. 2.5 Ma) alluvium from the Santa Fe River of northern Florida. The supposedly contemporaneous late Pliocene fossil assemblage from the Santa Fe River that produced the mammoth specimens actually consists of a mixture of diagnostic Blancan (late Pliocene) and late Rancholabrean (latest Pleistocene) species. Fossil bones and teeth of the two mammalian faunas mixed together along the Santa Fe River have significantly different rare earth element (REE) signatures. The REE signatures of mammoth are indistinguishable from those of Rancholabrean mammals, yet they are different from those of diagnostic Blancan vertebrates from these same temporally mixed faunas of the Santa Fe River. Thus, no evidence for late Pliocene mammoth exists in Florida, and mammoth fossils remain reliable biochronological indicators for Irvingtonian and Rancholabrean terrestrial sequences throughout mid- and lower-latitude North America.     

Measuring Late Quaternary Ursid Diminution in the Midwest

Paleobiologists generally agree that within the past 10,000 yr North American black bears (Ursus americanus) have decreased in body and tooth size. Some researchers infer that diminution was gradual and continuous; thus, one might infer that a specimen is old if it is larger than an average-size modern bear. Ursid remains recovered in the 1950s from Lawson Cave, Missouri, that are larger than some modern bears have been reported to date to the late Pleistocene, but association with modern taxa, taphonomic considerations, and a radiocarbon date of 200 yr B.P. indicate that they are modern. Modern specimens from Lawson Cave and other parts of the American Midwest are relatively large compared to modern North American black bears from other areas, suggesting that many supposed late Pleistocene bears from the area might be modern also.     

Pleistocene vertebrates of the Yukon Territory

Unglaciated parts of the Yukon constitute one of the most important areas in North America for yielding Pleistocene vertebrate fossils. Nearly 30 vertebrate faunal localities are reviewed spanning a period of about 1.6 Ma (million years ago) to the close of the Pleistocene some 10 000 BP (radiocarbon years before present, taken as 1950). The vertebrate fossils represent at least 8 species of fishes, 1 amphibian, 41 species of birds and 83 species of mammals. Dominant among the large mammals are: steppe bison (Bison priscus), horse (Equus sp.), woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), and caribou (Rangifer tarandus) – signature species of the Mammoth Steppe fauna (Fig. 1), which was widespread from the British Isles, through northern Europe, and Siberia to Alaska, Yukon and adjacent Northwest Territories. The Yukon faunas extend from Herschel Island in the north to Revenue Creek in the south and from the Alaskan border in the west to Ketza River in the east. The Yukon holds evidence of the earliest-known people in North America. Artifacts made from bison, mammoth and caribou bones from Bluefish Caves, Old Crow Basin and Dawson City areas show that people had a substantial knowledge of making and using bone tools at least by 25 000 BP, and possibly as early as 40 000 BP. A suggested chronological sequence of Yukon Pleistocene vertebrates (Table 1) facilitates comparison of selected faunas and indicates the known duration of various taxa.     

江西九江中更新世红土物质来源研究

华南地区广泛分布中更新世红土。目前, 对其物质来源尚有争议。九江红土剖面的沉积时代已得到很好限定, 同时由于其沉积连续、地层出露较好, 是开展中更新世红土物质来源研究的理想剖面。通过对九江中更新世红土2件碎屑锆石样品的分析, 共获得177颗谐和锆石U-Pb年龄, 主要峰值集中在新元古代(816 Ma、801 Ma和991 Ma)、古元古代(2019 Ma、2022 Ma和2481 Ma)和新太古代(2502 Ma), 并具有不显著的中生代峰值(135 Ma)。将其与潜在远源和近源物源区的锆石U-Pb年龄组成进行对比, 结果发现中国北方戈壁、沙漠和黄土高原、塔里木盆地、华北平原并不是九江中更新世红土的主要源区。庐山北麓早更新世发育的洪积扇为九江中更新世红土发育提供了充足物质。九江中更新世红土和九江晚更新世黄土的碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄组成存在明显差别, 后者主要来自长江河漫滩的碎屑物质。不同的气候条件主导了九江地区红土和黄土的发育, 二者都受控于青藏高原构造隆升产生的环境变化。     

湖南杨二洞更新世晚期动物群研究

湖南花垣县杨二洞化石点位于沅江上游,动物群种类包括有6目26种,动物群时代为晚更新世末期。杨二洞小型哺乳动物化石材料较多。有些小型哺乳动物在我国更新世时期首次发现,如大爪长尾鼩、大黑伏翼、大齿鼠等。杨二洞动物群在我国西南地区更新世末期的材料之中,具有较为突出的森林性特征,反映出湘西北更新世末期具有南亚热带森林古环境。动物群综合研究发现,小家鼠、褐家鼠在中更新世晚期分别产生于中国东北和长江下游,其中小家鼠在更新世晚期经华北向长江流域及其以南扩散,褐家鼠在更新世较晚时期分别向华北和岭南扩散。晚更新世以来,有较多小哺乳动物出现了从低海拔向高海拔山区进行生境转移的现象,这种生境转移对认识大熊猫生态演变有重要参考。杨二洞堆积物特征反映,沅江上游晚更新世末期时河床侵蚀性下切明显,地貌变化显著。     

Pleistocene oceanographie changes indicated by deep sea benthic foraminifera in the northern Indian Ocean

An attempt has been made to understand the Pleistocene bottom water history in response to the paleoclimatic changes in the northern Indian Ocean employing quantitative analyses of deep sea benthic foraminifera at the DSDP sites 219 and 238. Among the 150 benthic foraminifera recorded a few species show dominance with changing percent frequencies during most of the sequence. The dominant benthic foraminiferal assemblages suggest that most of the Pleistocene bottom waters at site 219 and Early Pleistocene bottom waters at site 238 are of North Indian Deep Water (NIDW) origin. However, Late Pleistocene assemblage at site 238 appears to be closely associated with a water mass intermediate between North Indian Deep Water (NIDW) and Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). Uvigerina proboscidea is the most dominant benthic foraminiferal species present during the Pleistocene at both the sites. A marked increase in the relative abundance ofU. proboscidea along with less diverse and equitable fauna during Early Pleistocene suggests a relative cooling, an intensified oceanic circulation and upwelling of nutrient rich bottom waters resulting in high surface productivity. At the same time, low sediment accumulation rate during Early Pleistocene reveals increased winnowing of the sediments possibly due to more corrosive and cold bottom waters. The Late Pleistocene in general, is marked by relatively warm and stable bottom waters as reflected by low abundance ofU. proboscidea and more diverse and equitable benthic fauna. The lower depth range for the occurrence ofBulimina aculeate in the Indian Ocean is around 2300 m, similar to that of many other areas.B. aculeata also shows marked increase in its abundance near the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary while a sudden decrease in the relative abundance ofStilostomella lepidula occurs close to the Early/Late Pleistocene boundary.     

Late Pliocene Glyptodontinae (Xenarthra,Cingulata, Glyptodontidae) of South and North America: Morphology and paleobiogeographical implications in the GABI

Knowledge of the main aspects of the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI) concerning the glyptodontine Glyptodontidae (Xenarthra) is very scarce. A bidirectional dispersal process was recently proposed for this clade, with the presence of the North American genus Glyptotherium Osborn recognized in latest Pleistocene sediments of northern South America (Venezuela and Brazil). However, the earliest stages of this paleobiogeographical process remain poorly understood, mainly because of the limited fossil record on this clade in late Pliocene sediments. The goals of this contribution are: a) to present and describe the first record of a glyptodontine glyptodontid from the late Pliocene of northern South America, tentatively assigned to a new species of Boreostemma Carlini et al. (Boreostemma? sp. nov); and b) to analyze its paleobiogeographical implications with respect to the GABI. This new material was recovered from the San Gregorio Formation (late Pliocene, prior the GABI) in northern Venezuela, where it is represented by several osteoderms of the dorsal carapace. A comparison among the three known late Pliocene glyptodontine glyptodontids of a) southern South America (Paraglyptodon), b) northern South America (Boreostemma), and c) southern North America ("Glyptotherium"), reveals a series of shared characters between (b) and (c), not present in (a). The most important of these shared characters in (b) and (c) are: all the osteoderms present a great development of the central figure, which is always larger than the peripherals; the sulcus that delimits the central and peripheral figures is narrower and shallower; and all the osteoderms present are relatively thin. This evidence suggests that the lineage of Glyptodontinae which participated in the GABI and subsequently diversified in North America originated in northern South America. Moreover, the evident morphological differences between these glyptodontines with respect to the southern South American forms show a significant separation of both lineages since at least latest Miocene-early Pliocene.     

Late Pleistocene and Holocene small- and large-mammal faunas from the Northern Urals

Data from the mammal fauna of the North Urals during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene are synthesised. Analysis of differentiation the degree of small- and large-mammal faunas during this time has been undertaken. Only differences of mammal species composition were significant between the Late Pleistocene and Holocene complexes, and within these complexes, the distinction between faunas was insignificant. The transition from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene complex small-mammal faunas occurred in the Middle Late Valdai due to expansion of the forest species. In large-mammal faunas, the process was recorded later (in Dryas 3-Early Holocene) because of the extinction of some species and others that changed their areas of occupation.     

Biostratigraphic correlation of Pleistocene marine deposits and sea levels,Atlantic coastal plain of the southeastern United States

Marine ostracodes from 50 localities were studied to determine the age and elevation of Pleistocene sea levels in the Atlantic coastal plain from Maryland to northern Florida. Using ostracode taxon and concurrent ranges, published planktic biostratigraphic, paleomagnetic, and radiometric data, ostracode assemblage zones representing early (1.8-1.0 my), middle (0.7-0.4 my), and late (0.3-0.01 my) Pleistocene deposition were recognized and used as a basis for correlation. Ostracode biofacies signifying lagoonal, oyster bank, estuarine, open sound, and inner sublittoral environments provided estimated ranges of paleodepths for each locality. From these data the following minimum and maximum Pleistocene sea-level estimates were determined for the southeastern coastal plain: late Pleistocene, 2–10 m from Maryland to northern Florida; middle Pleistocene, 6–15 m in northern South Carolina; early Pleistocene, 4–22 m in central North Carolina, 13–35 m in southern North Carolina, and 6–27 m in South Carolina. Climatically induced glacio-eustatic sea-level fluctuations adequately account for the late Pleistocene sea-level data, but other factors, possibly differential crustal uplift, may have complicated the early Pleistocene record.     

Possible ice-rafted erratics in late Early to early Middle Pleistocene shallow marine and coastal deposits in northeast Norfolk, UK

Erratic clasts with a mass of up to 15 kg are described from preglacial shallow marine and coastal deposits (Wroxham Crag Formation) in northeast Norfolk. Detailed examination of their petrology has enabled them to be provenanced to northern Britain and southern Norway. Their clustered occurrence in coastal sediments in Norfolk is believed to be the product of ice-rafting from glacier incursions into the North Sea from eastern Scotland and southern Norway, and their subsequent grounding and melting within coastal areas of what is now north Norfolk. The precise timing of these restricted glaciations is difficult to determine. However, the relationship of the erratics to the biostratigraphic record and the first major expansion of ice into the North Sea suggest these events occurred during at least one glaciation between the late Early Pleistocene and early Middle Pleistocene (c. 1.1–0.6 Ma). In contrast to the late Middle (Anglian) and Late Pleistocene (Last Glacial Maximum) glaciations, where the North Sea was largely devoid of extensive marine conditions, the presence of far-travelled ice-rafted materials implies that earlier cold stage sea-levels were considerably higher.     

Middle Pleistocene bivalves of the İznik lake basin (Eastern Marmara, NW Turkey) and a new paleobiogeographical approach

?znik Lake is a tectonically originated basin mainly controlled by the E–W trending middle strand of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) system. Pleistocene sediments occurring in front of the faults are well exposed both in the northern and in the southern shorelines of the basin. In this study, two endemic brackish water bivalve species, Didacna subpyramidata Pravoslavkev 1939 and Didacna nov. sp. were found in the oldest terrace of the northern Pleistocene sequence. Having characterized morphology, these species serve as stratigraphic indicators in the regional Pleistocene stratigraphy of the Ponto-Caspian region, and thus are well correlated to the assemblages of the early Khazarian subhorizon (Middle Pleistocene). Hence, these data demonstrate that the early Khazarian brackish water sea covered the study area. Additionally, a model for the formation of the basin is proposed: the ?znik lake basin was a gulf of the former Marmara Sea in the early Khazarian, connecting the Marmara to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The subsequent regional prograding uplifts, main dextral strike-slip fault and many normal faults of the NAF Zone cut off the marine connections to the basin, leading to its present location and topographic level.     

Inferences about winter temperatures and summer rains from the late Quaternary record of C4 perennial grasses and C3 desert shrubs in the northern Chihuahuan Desert

Late Quaternary histories of two North American desert biomes—C₄ grasslands and C₃ shrublands—are poorly known despite their sensitivity and potential value in reconstructing summer rains and winter temperatures. Plant macrofossil assemblages from packrat midden series in the northern Chihuahuan Desert show that C₄ grasses and annuals typical of desert grassland persisted near their present northern limits throughout the last glacial–interglacial cycle. By contrast, key C₃ desert shrubs appeared somewhat abruptly after 5000 cal. yr BP. Bioclimatic envelopes for select C₄ and C₃ species are mapped to interpret the glacial–interglacial persistence of desert grassland and the mid‐to‐late Holocene expansion of desert shrublands. The envelopes suggest relatively warm Pleistocene temperatures with moist summers allowed for persistence of C₄ grasses, whereas winters were probably too cold (or too wet) for C₃ desert shrubs. Contrary to climate model results, core processes associated with the North American Monsoon and moisture transport to the northern Chihuahuan Desert remained intact throughout the last glacial–interglacial cycle. Mid‐latitude effects, however, truncated midsummer (July–August) moisture transport north of 35° N. The sudden expansion of desert shrublands after 5000 cal. yr BP may be a threshold response to warmer winters associated with increasing boreal winter insolation, and enhanced El Niño–Southern Oscillation variability. Published in 2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Provenance and depositional environments of Quaternary sediments from the western North Sea Basin

As the majority of the data on Quaternary sediments from the North Sea Basin are seismostratigraphical, we analysed the Elsterian Swarte Bank Formation, the Late Saalian Fisher Formation and the Late Weichselian (Dimlington Stadial) Bolders Bank Formation in order to determine genesis and provenance. The Swarte Bank Formation is a subglacial till containing palynomorphs from the Moray Forth and the northeastern North Sea, and metamorphic heavy minerals from the Scottish Highlands. The Fisher Formation was sampled from the northern and central North Sea. In the north, it is interpreted as a subglacial till, with glaciomarine sediments cropping out further south. These sediments exhibit a provenance signature consistent with the Midland Valley of Scotland, the Eocene of the North Sea Basin, the Grampian Highlands and northeast Scotland. The Bolders Bank Formation is a subglacial till containing palynomorphs from the Midland Valley of Scotland, northern Britain, and a metamorphic heavy‐mineral suite indicative of the Grampian Highlands, Southern Uplands and northeast Scotland. These data demonstrate that there was repeated glaciation of the North Sea Basin during the Middle and Late Pleistocene, with ice sheets originating in northern Scotland. There was no evidence for a Scandinavian ice sheet in the western North Sea basin. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Proglacial damlakes in eastern Transbaikalia: New insight into the Pleistocene paleogeography

Paleogeographic reconstructions for the Samarovo, Taz, Murukta, and Sartan glaciations reveal the formation conditions of proglacial lakes dammed by ice in intermontane depressions and valleys of large rivers in eastern Transbaikalia. Middle-Late Pleistocene climate change is reconstructed using spore-pollen spectra from Pleistocene sediments in northern Transbaikalia. The age and lifetime of proglacial lakes are constrained by radiocarbon, thermoluminescence, and varve chronology of their bottom sediments in the periglacial zone. The lake levels remain recorded in sediments produced by deposition and erosion along the former lake shores, as well as in morphology and lithology variations of terminal moraines. A large proglacial lake, with a maximum level of 1020 m, occupied vast areas in Transbaikalia and its surroundings during the Samarovo glaciation. After the glaciers degraded, the Amur River system expanded into the area of closed lake basins in the southeastern Baikal region, including North China and Mongolia. The obtained results have implications for the Middle-Late Pleistocene history of lake deposition.     

加勒比板块边缘中新生代构造古地理特征及演化

加勒比板块边缘带包括西缘中美洲古陆块及火山岛弧、北缘大安的列斯岛弧带、东缘小安的列斯岛弧带和南缘南美板块北部4个部分,其沉积充填特征存在明显差异。加勒比板块边缘接受沉积时间由西向东逐渐变晚,其中中美洲古陆块以碳酸盐岩及火山碎屑岩充填为主,大安的列斯岛弧带及南美板块北部地区以碳酸盐岩—碎屑岩混合沉积充填为特征,中美洲火山岛弧带与东缘小安的列斯岛弧带以火山碎屑岩充填为主,造成这种沉积充填差异的主要原因是构造演化控制下的加勒比地区的古地理特征不同。加勒比板块及其周缘地区的构造古地理演化共经历4个阶段:(1)侏罗纪裂谷期,泛大陆的裂解使得南、北美板块边缘发育裂谷相;(2)白垩纪被动陆缘期,古加勒比海槽的进一步打开使得南、北美板块边缘发育被动大陆边缘浅海相;(3)晚白垩世—始新世碰撞造山期,加勒比板块与南、北美板块的碰撞拼合作用使得加勒比板块南、北缘均从海相转变为碰撞造山陆相;(4)始新世以来的分异期,随着古加勒比海槽的消亡和北缘碰撞拼合的结束,加勒比板块东缘及西缘的火山岛弧带进一步发育,而北缘及南缘继续发育陆相沉积。     

REVISION OF THE PLEISTOCENE STRATIGRAPHY IN KYUSHU FOR INTERPROVINCIAL CORRELATION

For the basis of interprovincial correlation the Pleistocene formations and volcanics in Kyushu were re-examined stratigraphically and the revised results are presented here. The following five areas were chosen for the stratigraphic revision; they are the Oita district, Nalcatsu district, southern half of Nagasaki Prefecture, marginal area of northern Kagoshima Bay, and the Miyazaki district. The Pleistocene formations and volcanic rocks are extensively developed in the above-mentioned areas and those in the respective areas serve as the standard section for a part of the Pleistocene stratigraphy. Consequently the systematic study on the geology in these areas gives a general outline of the stratigraphic correlation of the Pleistocene units in Kyushu. — Author.     

米兰科维奇冰期旋回理论:挑战与机遇

米兰科维奇理论认为,北半球高纬夏季太阳辐射变化是驱动第四纪冰期旋回的主因。这个理论的核心是单一敏感区的触发驱动机制,即北半球高纬气候变化信号被放大、传输进而影响全球。最近,由于大量高分辨率及精确定年的气候变化记录的获得,从以下4个方面构成了对米氏理论的挑战:1)一些低纬地区并没有明显的10万年冰量周期,而是以2万年岁差周期为主,表明北半球冰盖的扩张、收缩变化并没有完全控制低纬区的气候变化;2)在最近几次冰消期时,南半球和低纬区的温度增高,要早于北半球冰盖的融化,表明冰消期的触发机制并非是北半球高纬夏季太阳辐射;3)大气CO₂浓度在第2冰消期的增加同南极升温相一致,表明该时大气CO₂浓度增加亦有可能早于北半球冰盖消融;4)南半球的末次冰盛期有可能早于北半球。这就说明单一敏感区触发驱动机制已难以圆满解释所有观察事实,天文因素控制下轨道尺度气候变化机制研究正面临理论突破的新需求和新机遇。