New specimens of a fossil ostrich from the Miocene of Kenya

Fossilised hind limb bones from the late Middle Miocene (approximately 14 million-year-old [MYA]) Fort Ternan, Kadianga West and Ngorora localities in Western Kenya indicate the presence of a new representative of the ostrich genus Struthio. These new fossils represent some of the oldest known records for Struthio yet described, slightly younger than Struthio coppensi, from the Lower Miocene of Namibia. Because the four sub-species of the modern-day ostrich (Struthio camelus camelus, Struthio camelus australis, Struthio camelus massaicus, and Struthio camelus molybdophanes) inhabit the plains of Africa, and as recently as the 1940s, a fifth sub-species was also present in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia (Struthio camelus syriacus), records of Struthio from Kenya and Namibia testify to the much wider distribution of these cursorial birds in the relatively recent past. This is further supported by the very high frequency of ostrich eggshell fragments found across Africa and Eurasia, which vastly outweighs the amount of skeletal material uncovered over the last century.     

Histological bone structure of Lower Cretaceous dinosaurs from southwest Istria (Croatia)

Recently discovered dinosaur bones in submerged near-shore deposits of southwest Istria include one vertebra, one femur, and two rib fragments. They all show well-developed vascularization. The large amounts of primary bone tissue in the vertebral and femoral compacta as well as in one rib fragment suggest that they belong to sub-adult animals which were growing rapidly. The structure of a second rib fragment differs in that it consists of secondary bone. The absence of lines of arrested growth is evident in all investigated bones. This suggests a sustained manner of bone deposition.     

用天文方法建立商后期甲骨文年代序列的新途径—解析殷历月法

利用对具有月龄特征的历谱规律的研究成果，以推定甲骨文的绝对年代，从而提供了建立商后期甲骨文年代序列的新方法，并给出了13版卜辞的例证，通过分析殷历月的结构，得出殷历中“二癸月”和“四癸月”的月首分别为首甲日和首癸日，初步归纳出殷历月法，月首为初三，月长等于逆望月周期，建立固定，且找到建立丑之例，置闰规律未知，已存在年终，年中置闰两种闰法。     

中国古代牧业社会骨制品的初步考察:以新疆巴里坤石人子沟遗址为例

考古遗址出土骨制品的研究对于揭示古代社会的动物资源获取和利用、手工业生产、社会组织结构等问题具有重要意义.国内骨制品研究目前多集中在农业区域,这些研究为探讨新石器时代至青铜时代的动物使用及其与社会发展、早期国家形成的关系等问题作出了重要贡献.然而,针对牧业社会骨制品的考察十分缺乏.新疆哈密地区巴里坤草原分布有大量古代牧业文化遗址,石人子沟遗址(43°31′12.8″~43°34′28.9″N,93°13′44.8″~93°16′49.1″E)是其中一处青铜时代晚期至铁器时代早期的大型聚落.本文从动物考古学视角研究该遗址2006年至2011年发掘出土的426件骨制品.结果显示,石人子沟遗址骨制品的原料主要为以羊(Ovis aries/Capra hircus)、马(Equus caballus)为主的家养动物和以鹿(Cervidae)为主的野生动物,其中羊的比例最高(69.7%),鹿(13.8%)、马(2.3%)次之,这与中原地区青铜时代农业文化遗址的骨制品多以牛为原料的情况明显不同.羊在骨制品原料中占绝对多数且大量使用羊距骨制品的现象是对石人子沟遗址以牧业为主的生业经济方式的直接反映.石人子沟遗址不同类型骨制品的制作各具特点,但整体表现出"省时省力"的特点,即对使用部位细致打磨,对非使用部位仅做简单处理.与中原地区商周时期大型制骨作坊规范化、规模化、产业化的骨器生产不同,石人子沟遗址未见专门的制骨场所,骨制品生产的操作链条也并不完整.遗址的骨制品生产可能是以家庭为单元进行的,产品的专业化、精细化程度也相对较低.该研究填补了我国古代牧业文化遗址出土骨制品动物考古学专门研究的空白,为进一步探究我国古代不同区域、不同生业经济基础下的制骨手工业面貌提供了重要资料.     

废弃鱼骨中蛋白质的提取分离及酶解工艺研究

以蛋白提取率和多肽分子质量分布为评价指标,采用不同提取方法和不同蛋白酶对废弃鱼骨蛋白质的提取和酶解工艺进行了研究。结果表明,高压蒸煮法提取的鱼骨蛋白质中蛋白含量为86.15%,蛋白提取率为16.76%,明显高于恒温水浴和热回流提取法。中性蛋白酶酶解的多肽中蛋白含量为88.46%,多肽比例高达95%以上,明显高于其他三种酶。先利用高压提取法提取蛋白质,再利用中性蛋白酶酶解蛋白质制备多肽,可降低酶用量,该方法为多肽工业化生产提供参考及新思路。     

Mechanism of Na and K Substitutions in Bioapatite Within Salty Area

正Introduction Na and K are two most important cations in salty water,and also are two typical ions in animals’body fluids.The mineral,bioapatite,is a form of carbonated hydroxylapatite,which makes up over 50 wt.%of bones     

Oxygen isotope measurements of mammoth and reindeer skeletal remains: an archive of Late Pleistocene environmental conditions in Eurasian Arctic

58 samples of fossil mammoth and reindeer teeth and bones of various ages and coming from different locations were studied for the oxygen isotopic composition of their phosphate. Samples from Siberia have interstadial (Marine Isotope Stage 3), stadial (MIS 2), late-glacial and post-glacial ages. Russian and Ukrainian samples refer to the late-glacial and transitional (between the interstadial and glacial stages) time. The δ¹⁸O of palaeoenvironmental waters were calculated from the δ¹⁸O_p obtained from fossil samples by means of the isotope equations calibrated on modern specimens of elephants and deer respectively. The δ¹⁸O_w obtained are generally lighter than those measured nowadays in the same areas and not far from those measured on ice cores of Holocene age, the isotopic differences being not greater than a few δ units. The calculated values are also in fairly good agreement with some isotopic values obtained from Siberian permafrost samples. According to the results obtained it seems that the elephant and deer equations can be reasonably used respectively in the case of fossil mammoth and deer skeletons to evaluate environmental palaeowaters.     

Paleolimnological investigations of anthropogenic environmental change in Lake Tanganyika: IV. Lacustrine paleoecology

Fossil invertebrates from cores collected in Lake Tanganyika provide a record of probable nearshore ecological response to recent watershed deforestation and sediment erosion in several East African watersheds. We compared paleoecological profiles (primarily from ostracodes) from watersheds spanning a range of sizes and present-day deforestation disturbance levels to understand the timing and magnitude of faunal changes, and their relationship in time to terrestrially-derived disturbance indicators. Profiles from the Lubulungu and Nyasanga/Kahama Rivers (Tanzania) provide a record of faunal variability in watersheds that are currently undisturbed with respect to deforestation. These records indicate continuous faunal turnover through time. However, this pattern of turnover is accompanied by relatively high levels of diversity throughout the record, with no wholesale extinction events. Ostracode taphonomic data and other fossil abundance data from the Lubulungu area provide strong evidence in support of at least two episodes of lower lake levels, associated with episodes of Late Holocene aridity. Records from deltas of disturbed watersheds at the Kabesi River (Tanzania) and those of Northern Burundi all show a combination of profound and abrupt faunal turnover, in some cases accompanied by local extinction and establishment of a few dominant taxa. At the Mwamgongo River delta, fed from a very small, disturbed watershed, species turnover was subtler. In disturbed watershed cores showing abrupt faunal changes the transitions mostly occurred in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, predating the major mid-20th century increase in sediment mass accumulation rates, with the latter only correlated with changing fossil abundance and flux. However, the earlier faunal community changes are contemporaneous with both palynological and geochemical changes in the core profiles indicative of changing land-use patterns. This suggests that lacustrine ecosystem response to deforestation was a two-stage process, with an earlier phase of response to changing quality of sediments or dissolved matter being discharged from the watershed, and a subsequent phase responding to increased quantity of sediment.     

湖北郧西白龙洞遗址骨化石表面痕迹研究

湖北省郧西县白龙洞古人类遗址属于中更新世早期,发掘出表面带有痕迹的骨化石标本。使用肉眼裸视观察法、低倍显微观察法、高倍显微观察法、三维扫描数字模型技术等多种观测分析法进行综合研究,鉴定出痕迹种类包括人工改造痕迹和其他动物改造痕迹。人工改造痕迹包括锤击痕迹、切割痕迹、砍斫痕迹、戳刺痕迹等,其中锤击痕迹主要出现在骨器表面(用于骨器制造),其他痕迹则出现在多种骨骼部位的残片上(可能由狩猎、屠宰、分割和剥皮行为产生)。动物改造痕迹包括食肉目动物啃咬痕、偶蹄目动物踩踏痕、啮齿目动物啃咬痕等。其中制造啃咬痕的啮齿目动物中,可能包括有豪猪、竹鼠和鼠科动物等。人工改造痕迹的研究对认识当时人行为模式提供了具体证据,如当时人对洞穴占据使用形式、骨质工具制造与使用、狩猎与分食行为(狩猎工具与剥皮技巧)等。本研究对其他动物改造痕迹也作了必要分析,如豪猪与鼠科动物的不同啃啮形态等。该遗址研究、鉴定出的多种痕迹标本,以及多种鉴定、分析方法的使用等,显示出古人类遗址中痕迹标本的复杂性,以及多种研究方法的必要性。三维扫描数字模型技术,是国内在该领域研究方法中的首次使用。     

A quantitative study of the degradation of whale bone lipids: Implications for the preservation of fatty acids in marine sediments

The degradation and preservation affecting the biomarker record of ancient metazoa are not fully understood. We report on a five month experiment on the fate of fatty acids (FAs) during the degradation of recent whale vertebrae (Phocoena phocoena). Whale bones were analysed for extractable FAs and macromolecularly bound n-acyl compounds. Fresh bone showed extractable FAs dominated by 16:1ω7c, 16:0, 18:1ω9c and 18:0. Calculated degradation rate constant (k) values showed a rapid decrease in FA concentration, with k values higher for unsaturated than for saturated compounds (0.08/day for 18:1ω9c, 0.05/day for 16:0). The appearance or increased abundance of distinctive methyl branched (e.g. i/ai-15:0 and -17:0, 10Me-16:0) and hydroxy FAs (e.g. 10OH-16:0 and 10OH-18:0) were observed, providing clear evidence for the microbial degradation of bone organic matter and an input of lipids from specialised bacteria. Catalytic hydropyrolysis (HyPy) of demineralised extraction residues released up to 0.13% of the total n-C₁₆ and n-C₁₈ moieties in the degraded bones. This revealed that only a small, yet sizeable, portion of bone-derived fatty acyl units was sequestered into (proto)kerogen during the earliest stages of degradation.