This thesis explores the ecology of a pre-contact Western Alaskan faunal assemblage, through a combination of zooarchaeological and stable isotope techniques. The permafrost-preserved assemblage was excavated in 2009/10 at Nunalleq (c. AD 1350-1700) on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta by the University of Aberdeen, in collaboration with Qanirtuuq Inc. and the Native village of Quinhagak. Zooarchaeological analysis was conducted to identify the species present at Nunalleq. Analysis of butchery marks suggested patterns of human utilization of faunal resources and data on the age profile of the assemblage provided information on the seasonality of hunting and site occupation. A wide range of marine, freshwater and terrestrial species was observed, with pinnipeds, dogs and caribou particularly frequent. Subsequently, stable isotope analysis (δ13C, δ15N and δ34S) was carried out on 20 species identified at Nunalleq. The application of carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis enabled investigation of the diets and habitats of the various species and their relative positions in the food-web. These data were compared with data from contemporaneous Alaskan sites and modern studies, allowing investigation of diachronic and geographical variability. The dogs, as the only domestic species found in the prehistoric North American Arctic with a unique role between the domestic and the wild, were the focus of an in-depth zooarchaeological and isotopic case study. The comparison of stable isotope data from humans and dogs revealed a similarity in diet and, together with osteological evidence for butchery, indicated the complex role of dogs in human subsistence strategies. Sulphur isotope analysis provided a complementary tool with which to explore isotope variability, and facilitated a consideration of its potential benefits in enhancing the more commonly-used combination of carbon and nitrogen analysis in the interpretation of faunal isotope ecology. The advantages of integrating zooarchaeological and stable isotope data are discussed and future research directions are explored.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2016. / The Palaeontological record of South Africa is remarkable in that it preserves the two major temporal transitions of the Mesozoic: The Triassic–Jurassic boundary (the Elliot Formation) and the earliest depositional stages of the Cretaceous (the Kirkwood Formation). Work within the Elliot Formation has reiterated the importance of this horizon for our understanding of the early evolution and subsequent radiation/diversification of basal sauropodomorph dinosaurs. Moreover, inextricably contained within this radiation is the early evolution of the columnar-limbed, long necked sauropods, the largest terrestrial animals to have ever evolved. The Elliot Formation therefore imparts vital information on the genesis of the group that would become the dominant dinosaurian herbivores throughout most of the Mesozoic. However, several outstanding issues obscure a full understanding of this important radiation. Of primary concern is the complicated taxonomy of the sauropodomorphs of the Upper Triassic lower Elliot Formation and a lack of current consensus as to what precisely constitutes a true sauropod. The latter issue is further complicated by a lack of well-preserved sauropod material prior to the Toarcian. The discovery of new, associated material from both the lower and upper Elliot Formation has direct relevance to both of these concerns. Specifically, although the genus Eucnemesaurus is supported in the current analysis, the bauplan diversity of lower Elliot Sauropodomorpha remains relatively conservative save for the stocky pedal architecture of Blikanasaurus and the autapomorphically robust morphology of a newly rediscovered ilium that is potentially referable to it. Within the upper Elliot Formation, a recently discovered highly apomorphic bone-bed is diagnosed as a new species of sauropod that, in addition to placing the earliest unequivocal sauropods within the basal rocks of the Jurassic, suggests the underlying ecological factors driving the divergence of the derived sauropodan bauplan. In addition to new information provided by the Elliot Formation, two decades’ worth of collecting from the Early Cretaceous Kirkwood Formation affords a long overdue insight into the sauropod fauna occupying southern Gondwana at the outset of the Cretaceous. The surprising diversity of forms recognized from the Kirkwood suggests that the taxonomic decline of Sauropoda previously inferred for the earliest Cretaceous is a product of sampling bias compounded by a generally poor fossil record. However, a lack of absolute dates for the Kirkwood Formation means that the plethora of “Jurassic-type” specimens is potentially explicable via their being contemporaneous with similar Late Jurassic faunas of eastern Africa and North America. / LG2017

A varved sediment sequence spanning the past ~11.0 ka was collected from Lac Noir (45.77N, 75.13W, 168 m a.s.l.) in southwestern Québec. A high-resolution pollen record documents the post-glacial vegetation history of the region over the course of the Holocene. The record shows an initial open spruce woodland, the establishment of the boreal and mixed conifer-hardwood forest into the area, as well as the expansion and contractions of tree populations in response to climate variability during the Holocene. The well known Tsuga decline at Lac Noir lasted 500 years starting at 5.5 ka and it took 1 460 years for hemlock to recover. The highest frequency of fire activity occurred during the early Holocene, and the lowest in the mid-Holocene. The late Holocene saw an increase in fire frequency, which could be attributed to a drier climate in eastern North America during this period. The impact of climate variability, fire disturbances and possible biotic factors on the Lac Noir vegetation are examined.

There is general agreement that a range of paleodepths and environments are represented in the individual shell units of the middle Pliocene to earliest Pleistocene Tamiami Formation of southwest Florida, but maximum depths remain poorly constrained. Here, benthic Foraminifera abundances are used as a paleoenvironmental proxy to compare the upper Tamiami from quarries in Sarasota, Florida to Recent modern coastal, bay, and reef habitats of Florida, the Grand Cayman Islands, and Puerto Rico, ranging in depth from 0 to 55 meters. I used: (1) ordination techniques, including detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and cluster analysis, to compare upper Tamiami foraminiferal assemblages with potential modern analogs; (2) Ammonia-Elphidium (AEI) and FORAM (FI) indices to reconstruct past oxygen levels and environmental stress levels, respectively; and (3) diversity indices and rarefaction to investigate habitat-specific diversity change through time.Results indicate that the upper Tamiami units represent several distinct environments. APAC quarry, Fruitville Member Unit 4 samples group in DCA and cluster analyses with modern shallow, tropical, mangrove-proximate lagoon samples from Puerto Rico; AEI values of both Unit 4 and these lagoonal samples are consistent with high nutrients. APAC quarry, Fruitville Member Unit 3 and Pinecrest Member units 5 and 7, however, group with tropical shallow, open coast environments up to 12 m in depth and have relatively low FORAM indices suggesting stress and AEI values comparable to modern mesotophic, shelf habitats. SMR samples group with modern mangrove environments from White Water Bay at depths approximately 0 to 0.3 m, with FORAM and AEI indices indicating low oxygen and possibly high nutrients. Species richness measured by individual rarefaction in the fossil units is highest in the lowest APAC units sampled and progressively declines in younger APAC units, while SMR beds have the lowest richness of all fossil samples. The lower portion of Unit 7 contains the highest richness of all fossil and modern units, while other fossil units have either lower or comparable richness, diversity, and evenness when compared to modern habitat analogs as identified in cluster and DCA analyses. Thus, there is no clear evidence for wide-scale decline in foraminiferal biodiversity from the Plio-Pleistocene to now. Significantly, the identification of modern habitat analogs for the upper Tamiami units make it possible to compare biodiversity trends in other fauna (e.g., mollusks) thought to have experienced significant extinction.

No description available.

Actualistic, sedimentological, and experimental approaches to the study of vertebrate trace taphonomy in the Kenya Rift Valley have permitted the characterization and even quantification of factors that influence trace morphology and preservation potential in semi-arid lake margins. Several important taphonomic factors were identified from the modern lake-marginal sediments of saline, alkaline Lake Bogoria and freshwater Lake Baringo in the Baringo-Bogoria basin (1º N and 36º E). The investigation of these factors, considering vertebrate ecology and sedimentology of the deposits, together with the study of early and later diagenetic processes that cement substrates, provided a framework for the paleoecological interpretation of three Pleistocene fossil footprint localities, also in the Baringo-Bogoria basin. The most important taphonomic factors appear to be related to the semi-arid climate (e.g., high evaporation:precipitation ratio), frequent lake level changes, the closed nature of the lake basins, bedrock geology (mainly volcaniclastic) within the catchment, and the chemical composition of lake and pore waters. Notable factors that cause the alteration, destruction, and stabilization of traces include efflorescent salt crystallization, which may temporarily cement substrates or destroy traces during crystal growth in the capillary fringe; substrate wetting and drying, which can induce soil-crusting and the shrinking and swelling of smectitic clays; and the presence of benthic microbial mats and biofilms, which may temporarily stabilize substrates or contribute to their early cementation by mediating carbonate precipitation. Experiments to quantitatively and statistically test the effects of salt efflorescence, the rate and temperature of substrate drying (e.g., sun-baking), and swelling and non-swelling clays supported field observations. Preservational processes interpreted from Pleistocene footprint-bearing sediments include the early cementation of substrates by carbonates (e.g., calcite), and during prolonged, stable dry phases, the precipitation of zeolitic cements and Mn- and Fe-oxide minerals. ****PLEASE NOTE: This thesis is formatted to be printed double-sided.

Actualistic, sedimentological, and experimental approaches to the study of vertebrate trace taphonomy in the Kenya Rift Valley have permitted the characterization and even quantification of factors that influence trace morphology and preservation potential in semi-arid lake margins. Several important taphonomic factors were identified from the modern lake-marginal sediments of saline, alkaline Lake Bogoria and freshwater Lake Baringo in the Baringo-Bogoria basin (1º N and 36º E). The investigation of these factors, considering vertebrate ecology and sedimentology of the deposits, together with the study of early and later diagenetic processes that cement substrates, provided a framework for the paleoecological interpretation of three Pleistocene fossil footprint localities, also in the Baringo-Bogoria basin. The most important taphonomic factors appear to be related to the semi-arid climate (e.g., high evaporation:precipitation ratio), frequent lake level changes, the closed nature of the lake basins, bedrock geology (mainly volcaniclastic) within the catchment, and the chemical composition of lake and pore waters. Notable factors that cause the alteration, destruction, and stabilization of traces include efflorescent salt crystallization, which may temporarily cement substrates or destroy traces during crystal growth in the capillary fringe; substrate wetting and drying, which can induce soil-crusting and the shrinking and swelling of smectitic clays; and the presence of benthic microbial mats and biofilms, which may temporarily stabilize substrates or contribute to their early cementation by mediating carbonate precipitation. Experiments to quantitatively and statistically test the effects of salt efflorescence, the rate and temperature of substrate drying (e.g., sun-baking), and swelling and non-swelling clays supported field observations. Preservational processes interpreted from Pleistocene footprint-bearing sediments include the early cementation of substrates by carbonates (e.g., calcite), and during prolonged, stable dry phases, the precipitation of zeolitic cements and Mn- and Fe-oxide minerals. ****PLEASE NOTE: This thesis is formatted to be printed double-sided.

This dissertation is a palynological examination of the Mayan archaeological site at Blue Creek, northwestern Belize. This study uncovers more than 4,500 years of environmental and agricultural history of the region, which can be related to human incursion, habitation and plant use, abandonment, and reoccupation of the region. After an historical and ecological overview of the study site, there follows an explanation of procedures for collecting, sampling, processing, identifying, and counting the fossil pollen from the area. Evidence from archaeology, paleoecology, and physical anthropology is used to construct a model for the first entry of humans into the Maya area. Examinations are made of Archaic Period paleoecology and the cultural developments that set the stage for the advancement of Maya culture. Next, the physical environment of Blue Creek is explored, and its stability is assessed. This information leads to an assessment of the possibility of drought or soil degradation during the height of Mayan civilization, and contributes to the current understanding of the Maya Collapse at Blue Creek. Mayan agricultural methodologies are explained, and the changes to traditional production systems that resulted from European colonization are described. A model of agricultural development is proposed. The plant taxa identified in the Laguna Verde pollen core are listed and described. Finally, the Laguna Verde pollen core is interpreted in terms of the vegetation associations and environmental conditions represented by each stratum. This dissertation is a palynological examination of the Mayan archaeological site at Blue Creek, northwestern Belize. This study uncovers more than 4,500 years of environmental and agricultural history of the region, which can be related to human incursion, habitation and plant use, abandonment, and reoccupation of the region. After an historical and ecological overview of the study site, there follows an explanation of procedures for collecting, sampling, processing, identifying, and counting the fossil pollen from the area. Evidence from archaeology, paleoecology, and physical anthropology is used to construct a model for the first entry of humans into the Maya area. Examinations are made of Archaic Period paleoecology and the cultural developments that set the stage for the advancement of Maya culture. Next, the physical environment of Blue Creek is explored, and its stability is assessed. This information leads to an assessment of the possibility of drought or soil degradation during the height of Mayan civilization, and contributes to the current understanding of the Maya Collapse at Blue Creek. Mayan agricultural methodologies are explained, and the changes to traditional production systems that resulted from European colonization are described. A model of agricultural development is proposed. The plant taxa identified in the Laguna Verde pollen core are listed and described. Finally, the Laguna Verde pollen core is interpreted in terms of the vegetation associations and environmental conditions represented by each stratum.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, August, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of the Geophysical Sciences, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.