ORCID Profile
0000-0002-0452-486X
Current Organisation
Southern Cross University
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Research Topics
In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Top 5 Research Topics
ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)
Archaeology | Archaeological Science | Isotope Geochemistry | Palaeontology (incl. Palynology) | Quaternary Environments | Geology | Geochemistry | Archaeology of Asia, Africa and the Americas | Geochronology | Palaeoclimatology | Geomorphology and Regolith and Landscape Evolution | Evolutionary Biology not elsewhere classified | Evolutionary Impacts of Climate Change |
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Ecosystem Adaptation to Climate Change | Expanding Knowledge in the Earth Sciences | Expanding Knowledge in History and Archaeology | Coastal and Estuarine Land Management | Effects of Climate Change and Variability on Australia (excl. Social Impacts) | Understanding Asia's Past | Understanding Africa's Past | Coastal and Estuarine Soils | Forest and Woodlands Soils | Physical and Chemical Conditions of Water in Fresh, Ground and Surface Water Environments (excl. Urban and Industrial Use) | Understanding Past Societies not elsewhere classified | Health not elsewhere classified | Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity at Regional or Larger Scales
Related Links
Publications
The De Nadale Cave, a single layered Quina Mousterian site in the North of Italy
Publisher: Hugo Obermaier-Gesellschaft, Erlangen
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.7485/QU62_1
A new record of Pristigenys meyeri (Priacanthidae) from Maluku province, eastern Indonesia with a description of the otoliths and a first estimate of age
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 17-12-2020
Surgical amputation of a limb 31,000 years ago in Borneo
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-09-2022
DOI: 10.1038/S41586-022-05160-8
Abstract: The prevailing view regarding the evolution of medicine is that the emergence of settled agricultural societies around 10,000 years ago (the Neolithic Revolution) gave rise to a host of health problems that had previously been unknown among non-sedentary foraging populations, stimulating the first major innovations in prehistoric medical practices 1,2 . Such changes included the development of more advanced surgical procedures, with the oldest known indication of an ‘operation’ formerly thought to have consisted of the skeletal remains of a European Neolithic farmer (found in Buthiers-Boulancourt, France) whose left forearm had been surgically removed and then partially healed 3 . Dating to around 7,000 years ago, this accepted case of utation would have required comprehensive knowledge of human anatomy and considerable technical skill, and has thus been viewed as the earliest evidence of a complex medical act 3 . Here, however, we report the discovery of skeletal remains of a young in idual from Borneo who had the distal third of their left lower leg surgically utated, probably as a child, at least 31,000 years ago. The in idual survived the procedure and lived for another 6–9 years, before their remains were intentionally buried in Liang Tebo cave, which is located in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, in a limestone karst area that contains some of the world’s earliest dated rock art 4 . This unexpectedly early evidence of a successful limb utation suggests that at least some modern human foraging groups in tropical Asia had developed sophisticated medical knowledge and skills long before the Neolithic farming transition.
Rapid response of silicate weathering rates to climate change in the Himalaya
Publisher: European Association of Geochemistry
Date: 20-02-2015
Barium distributions in teeth reveal early-life dietary transitions in primates
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-05-2013
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE12169
A Middle Pleistocene Denisovan molar from the Annamite Chain of northern Laos
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-05-2022
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-022-29923-Z
Abstract: The Pleistocene presence of the genus Homo in continental Southeast Asia is primarily evidenced by a sparse stone tool record and rare human remains. Here we report a Middle Pleistocene hominin specimen from Laos, with the discovery of a molar from the Tam Ngu Hao 2 (Cobra Cave) limestone cave in the Annamite Mountains. The age of the fossil-bearing breccia ranges between 164–131 kyr, based on the Bayesian modelling of luminescence dating of the sedimentary matrix from which it was recovered, U-series dating of an overlying flowstone, and U-series–ESR dating of associated faunal teeth. Analyses of the internal structure of the molar in tandem with palaeoproteomic analyses of the enamel indicate that the tooth derives from a young, likely female, Homo in idual. The close morphological affinities with the Xiahe specimen from China indicate that they belong to the same taxon and that Tam Ngu Hao 2 most likely represents a Denisovan.
Last appearance of Homo erectus at Ngandong, Java, 117,000–108,000 years ago
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-12-2020
DOI: 10.1038/S41586-019-1863-2
Abstract: Homo erectus is the founding early hominin species of Island Southeast Asia, and reached Java (Indonesia) more than 1.5 million years ago
Owning humankind: fossils, humans and archaeological remains
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2020
The age of the hominin fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, and the origins of the Middle Stone Age
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-06-2017
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE22335
Abstract: The timing and location of the emergence of our species and of associated behavioural changes are crucial for our understanding of human evolution. The earliest fossil attributed to a modern form of Homo sapiens comes from eastern Africa and is approximately 195 thousand years old, therefore the emergence of modern human biology is commonly placed at around 200 thousand years ago. The earliest Middle Stone Age assemblages come from eastern and southern Africa but date much earlier. Here we report the ages, determined by thermoluminescence dating, of fire-heated flint artefacts obtained from new excavations at the Middle Stone Age site of Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, which are directly associated with newly discovered remains of H. sapiens. A weighted average age places these Middle Stone Age artefacts and fossils at 315 ± 34 thousand years ago. Support is obtained through the recalculated uranium series with electron spin resonance date of 286 ± 32 thousand years ago for a tooth from the Irhoud 3 hominin mandible. These ages are also consistent with the faunal and microfaunal assemblages and almost double the previous age estimates for the lower part of the deposits. The north African site of Jebel Irhoud contains one of the earliest directly dated Middle Stone Age assemblages, and its associated human remains are the oldest reported for H. sapiens. The emergence of our species and of the Middle Stone Age appear to be close in time, and these data suggest a larger scale, potentially pan-African, origin for both.
Unexpected Convergent Evolution of Nasal Domes between Pleistocene Bovids and Cretaceous Hadrosaur Dinosaurs
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.CUB.2015.12.050
Abstract: The fossil record provides tangible, historical evidence for the mode and operation of evolution across deep time. Striking patterns of convergence are some of the strongest ex les of these operations, whereby, over time, similar environmental and/or behavioral pressures precipitate similarity in form and function between disparately related taxa. Here we present fossil evidence for an unexpected convergence between gregarious plant-eating mammals and dinosaurs. Recent excavations of Late Pleistocene deposits on Rusinga Island, Kenya, have uncovered a catastrophic assemblage of the wildebeest-like bovid Rusingoryx atopocranion. Previously known from fragmentary material, these new specimens reveal large, hollow, osseous nasal crests: a craniofacial novelty for mammals that is remarkably comparable to the nasal crests of lambeosaurine hadrosaur dinosaurs. Using adult and juvenile material from this assemblage, as well as computed tomographic imaging, we investigate this convergence from morphological, developmental, functional, and paleoenvironmental perspectives. Our detailed analyses reveal broad parallels between R. atopocranion and basal Lambeosaurinae, suggesting that osseous nasal crests may require a highly specific combination of ontogeny, evolution, and environmental pressures in order to develop.
Dating the skull from Broken Hill, Zambia, and its position in human evolution
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-2020
Ionization efficiencies of alanine dosimeters and tooth enamel irradiated by gamma and X-ray sources
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2012
Integrating palaeocaves into palaeolandscapes: An analysis of cave levels and karstification history across the Gauteng Malmani dolomite, South Africa
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2019
Dental data challenge the ubiquitous presence of Homo in the Cradle of Humankind
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 05-07-2022
Abstract: The origins of Homo , as well as the ersity and biogeographic distribution of early Homo species, remain critical outstanding issues in paleoanthropology. Debates about the recognition of early Homo , first appearance dates, and taxonomic ersity within Homo are particularly important for determining the role that southern African taxa may have played in the origins of the genus. The correct identification of Homo remains also has implications for reconstructing phylogenetic relationships between species of Australopithecus and Paranthropus , and the links between early Homo species and Homo erectus . We use microcomputed tomography and landmark-free deformation-based three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to extract taxonomically informative data from the internal structure of postcanine teeth attributed to Early Pleistocene Homo in the southern African hominin-bearing sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Drimolen, and Kromdraai B. Our results indicate that, from our s le of 23 specimens, only 4 are unambiguously attributed to Homo , 3 of them coming from Swartkrans member 1 (SK 27, SK 847, and SKX 21204) and 1 from Sterkfontein (Sts 9). Three other specimens from Sterkfontein (StW 80 and 81, SE 1508, and StW 669) approximate the Homo condition in terms of overall enamel–dentine junction shape, but retain Australopithecus -like dental traits, and their generic status remains unclear. The other specimens, including SK 15, present a dominant australopith dental signature. In light of these results, previous dietary and ecological interpretations can be reevaluated, showing that the geochemical signal of one tooth from Kromdraai (KB 5223) and two from Swartkrans (SK 96 and SKX 268) is consistent with that of australopiths.
Potential and limits of combining studies of coarse- and fine-grained sediments for the coastal event history of a Caribbean carbonate environment
Publisher: Geological Society of London
Date: 08-08-2013
DOI: 10.1144/SP388.4
Seasonal migration of marsupial megafauna in Pleistocene Sahul (Australia–New Guinea)
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 27-09-2017
Abstract: Seasonal two-way migration is an ecological phenomenon observed in a wide range of large-bodied placental mammals, but is conspicuously absent in all modern marsupials. Most extant marsupials are typically smaller in body size in comparison to their migratory placental cousins, possibly limiting their potential to undertake long-distance seasonal migrations. But what about earlier, now-extinct giant marsupial megafauna? Here we present new geochemical analyses which show that the largest of the extinct marsupial herbivores, the enormous wombat-like Diprotodon optatum , undertook seasonal, two-way latitudinal migration in eastern Sahul (Pleistocene Australia–New Guinea). Our data infer that this giant marsupial had the potential to perform round-trip journeys of as much as 200 km annually, which is reminiscent of modern East African mammal migrations. These findings provide, to our knowledge, the first evidence for repetitive seasonal migration in any metatherian (including marsupials), living or extinct, and point to an ecological phenomenon absent from the continent since the Late Pleistocene.
Two Late Pleistocene human femora from Trinil, Indonesia: Implications for body size and behavior in Southeast Asia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.JHEVOL.2022.103252
Abstract: Late Pleistocene hominin postcranial specimens from Southeast Asia are relatively rare. Here we describe and place into temporal and geographic context two partial femora from the site of Trinil, Indonesia, which are dated stratigraphically and via Uranium-series direct dating to ca. 37-32 ka. The specimens, designated Trinil 9 and 10, include most of the diaphysis, with Trinil 9 being much better preserved. Microcomputed tomography is used to determine cross-sectional diaphyseal properties, with an emphasis on midshaft anteroposterior to mediolateral bending rigidity (I
Radiocarbon-dating adhesive and wooden residues from stone tools by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS): Challenges and insights encountered in a case study
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2015
Thermal behaviour of organic radicals and paramagnetic centres in chert: A case study of Bergeracois brown chert, Dordogne, France
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2014
An early modern human presence in Sumatra 73,000-63,000 years ago
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-2017
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE23452
Abstract: Genetic evidence for anatomically modern humans (AMH) out of Africa before 75 thousand years ago (ka) and in island southeast Asia (ISEA) before 60 ka (93-61 ka) predates accepted archaeological records of occupation in the region. Claims that AMH arrived in ISEA before 60 ka (ref. 4) have been supported only by equivocal or non-skeletal evidence. AMH evidence from this period is rare and lacks robust chronologies owing to a lack of direct dating applications, poor preservation and/or excavation strategies and questionable taxonomic identifications. Lida Ajer is a Sumatran Pleistocene cave with a rich rainforest fauna associated with fossil human teeth. The importance of the site is unclear owing to unsupported taxonomic identification of these fossils and uncertainties regarding the age of the deposit, therefore it is rarely considered in models of human dispersal. Here we reinvestigate Lida Ajer to identify the teeth confidently and establish a robust chronology using an integrated dating approach. Using enamel-dentine junction morphology, enamel thickness and comparative morphology, we show that the teeth are unequivocally AMH. Luminescence and uranium-series techniques applied to bone-bearing sediments and speleothems, and coupled uranium-series and electron spin resonance dating of mammalian teeth, place modern humans in Sumatra between 73 and 63 ka. This age is consistent with biostratigraphic estimations, palaeoclimate and sea-level reconstructions, and genetic evidence for a pre-60 ka arrival of AMH into ISEA. Lida Ajer represents, to our knowledge, the earliest evidence of rainforest occupation by AMH, and underscores the importance of reassessing the timing and environmental context of the dispersal of modern humans out of Africa.
Detailed protocol for an accurate non-destructive direct dating of tooth enamel fragment using Electron Spin Resonance
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Date: 27-09-2013
DOI: 10.2478/S13386-013-0132-7
Abstract: In the context of human evolution, fossil remains are too valuable to be destroyed and any alteration should be kept to a minimum. The newly developed protocol on fossil fragments has open the gate for ‘virtually’ non-destructive ESR (Electron Spin Resonance) direct dating of human remains. The method allows the separation of unstable and interfering signals that were responsible for large dose underestimation. While a complete investigation of the ESR signal remains a complex task and requires numerous hours of manipulations, a rapid dose assessment protocol can be achieve without compromising the accuracy nor the integrity of the s le. The new protocol should be used for future dating regardless of the possibility of measuring powder.
Obsidian economy on the Cauria Plateau (South Corsica, Middle Neolithic): New evidence from Renaghju and I Stantari
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2018
Growth patterns of three bivalve species targeted by the Ocean Cockle Fishery, southern New South Wales: Eucrassatella kingicola (Lamarck, 1805); Glycymeris grayana (Dunker, 1857); and Callista (Notocallista) kingii (Gray, 1827)
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 08-12-2017
The age of Homo naledi and associated sediments in the Rising Star Cave, South Africa
Publisher: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Date: 09-05-2017
DOI: 10.7554/ELIFE.24231
Abstract: New ages for flowstone, sediments and fossil bones from the Dinaledi Chamber are presented. We combined optically stimulated luminescence dating of sediments with U-Th and palaeomagnetic analyses of flowstones to establish that all sediments containing Homo naledi fossils can be allocated to a single stratigraphic entity (sub-unit 3b), interpreted to be deposited between 236 ka and 414 ka. This result has been confirmed independently by dating three H. naledi teeth with combined U-series and electron spin resonance (US-ESR) dating. Two dating scenarios for the fossils were tested by varying the assumed levels of 222Rn loss in the encasing sediments: a maximum age scenario provides an average age for the two least altered fossil teeth of 253 +82/–70 ka, whilst a minimum age scenario yields an average age of 200 +70/–61 ka. We consider the maximum age scenario to more closely reflect conditions in the cave, and therefore, the true age of the fossils. By combining the US-ESR maximum age estimate obtained from the teeth, with the U-Th age for the oldest flowstone overlying Homo naledi fossils, we have constrained the depositional age of Homo naledi to a period between 236 ka and 335 ka. These age results demonstrate that a morphologically primitive hominin, Homo naledi, survived into the later parts of the Pleistocene in Africa, and indicate a much younger age for the Homo naledi fossils than have previously been hypothesized based on their morphology.
Geoarchaeological and 3D visualisation approaches for contextualising in-situ fossil bearing palaeokarst in South Africa: A case study from the ∼2.61 Ma Drimolen Makondo
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2018
Timing of Neanderthal occupations in the southeastern margins of the Massif Central (France): A multi-method approach
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2021
A reassessment of the age of the fauna from Cumberland Bone Cave, Maryland, (middle Pleistocene) using coupled U-series and electron spin resonance dating (ESR)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 16-06-2020
DOI: 10.1017/QUA.2020.30
Abstract: The deposits in Cumberland Bone Cave (Allegany County, Maryland) preserved one of the most taxonomically erse pre-radiocarbon Pleistocene faunas in the northeastern United States. The site has long been recognized as an important record of Pleistocene life in the region, but numerical age control for the fauna was never developed, and hypotheses for its age have been based upon biochronological assessments of the mammalian fauna. We used fossil teeth and preserved sediment housed in museum collections to obtain the first numerical age assessment of the fauna from Cumberland Bone Cave. Coupled U-series Electron Spin Resonance (US-ESR) was used to date fossil molars of the extinct peccary, Platygonus sp. The age estimates of two teeth gave ages of 722 ± 64 and 790 ± 53 ka. Our results are supported by previously unpublished paleomagnetic data generated by the late John Guilday, and by plotting length-width of the first molar (m1) of Ondatr a (muskrats) from Cumberland Bone Cave on the chronocline of Ondatr a molar evolution in North America. Our age assessments are surprisingly close to the age estimate previously proposed by Charles Repenning, who based his age on a somewhat complicated model of speciation and morphotype evolution among arvicoline rodents.
Ocean alkalinity enhancement – avoiding runaway CaCO3 precipitation during quick and hydrated lime dissolution
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 08-2022
Abstract: Abstract. Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) is a method that can remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and counteract ocean acidification through the dissolution of alkaline minerals. Currently, critical knowledge gaps exist regarding the dissolution of different minerals suitable for OAE in natural seawater. Of particular importance is to understand how much alkaline mineral can be dissolved before secondary precipitation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) occurs, since secondary CaCO3 precipitation reduces the atmospheric CO2 uptake potential of OAE. Using two types of mineral proposed for OAE, quick lime (CaO) and hydrated lime (Ca(OH)2), we show that both ( µm of diameter) dissolved in seawater within a few hours. No CaCO3 precipitation occurred at a saturation state (ΩA) of ∼5, but CaCO3 precipitation in the form of aragonite occurred above an ΩA value of 7. This limit is lower than expected for typical pseudo-homogeneous precipitation, i.e. in the presence of colloids and organic matter. Secondary precipitation at low ΩA (∼ 7) was the result of heterogeneous precipitation onto mineral surfaces, most likely onto the added CaO and Ca(OH)2 particles. Most importantly, runaway CaCO3 precipitation was observed, a condition where significantly more total alkalinity (TA) was removed than initially added. Such runaway precipitation could reduce the OAE CO2 uptake efficiency from ∼ 0.8 mol of CO2 per mole of added TA down to 0.1 mol of CO2 per mole of TA. Runaway precipitation appears to be avoidable by dilution below the critical ΩA threshold of 5, ideally within hours of the mineral additions to minimise initial CaCO3 precipitation. Finally, OAE simulations suggest that for the same ΩA threshold, the amount of TA that can be added to seawater would be more than 3 times higher at 5 ∘C than at 30 ∘C. The maximum TA addition could also be increased by equilibrating the seawater to atmospheric CO2 levels (i.e. to a pCO2 of ∼ 416 µatm) during addition. This would allow for more TA to be added in seawater without inducing CaCO3 precipitation, using OAE at its CO2 removal potential.
Contemporaneity of Australopithecus , Paranthropus , and early Homo erectus in South Africa
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 03-04-2020
Abstract: Fossil hominins from South Africa are enriching the story of early human evolution and dispersal. Herries et al. describe the geological context and dating of the hominin-bearing infilled cave, or palaeocave, at a site called Drimolen in South Africa (see the Perspective by Antón). They focus on the age and context of a recently discovered Homo erectus sensu lato fossil and a Paranthropus robustus fossil, which they dated to ∼2.04 million to 1.95 million years ago. This makes Drimolen one of the best-dated sites in South Africa and establishes these fossils as the oldest definitive specimens of their respective species ever discovered. The age confirms that species of Australopithecus, Paranthropus , and early Homo overlapped in the karst of South Africa ∼2 million years ago. Science , this issue p. eaaw7293 see also p. 34
Elemental signatures of Australopithecus africanus teeth reveal seasonal dietary stress
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-07-2019
Author response: The age of Homo naledi and associated sediments in the Rising Star Cave, South Africa
Publisher: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Date: 17-03-2017
MCDoseE 2.0 A new Markov Chain Monte Carlo program for ESR dose response curve fitting and dose evaluation
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2018
Characterization of pre-Columbian artefacts in situ through handheld portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry: the case of ceramics from the Mochica site of San José de Moro (Peru)
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-11-2016
Extinction of eastern Sahul megafauna coincides with sustained environmental deterioration
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-05-2020
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-020-15785-W
Abstract: Explanations for the Upper Pleistocene extinction of megafauna from Sahul (Australia and New Guinea) remain unresolved. Extinction hypotheses have advanced climate or human-driven scenarios, in spite of over three quarters of Sahul lacking reliable biogeographic or chronologic data. Here we present new megafauna from north-eastern Australia that suffered extinction sometime after 40,100 (±1700) years ago. Megafauna fossils preserved alongside leaves, seeds, pollen and insects, indicate a sclerophyllous forest with heathy understorey that was home to aquatic and terrestrial carnivorous reptiles and megaherbivores, including the world’s largest kangaroo. Megafauna species ersity is greater compared to southern sites of similar age, which is contrary to expectations if extinctions followed proposed migration routes for people across Sahul. Our results do not support rapid or synchronous human-mediated continental-wide extinction, or the proposed timing of peak extinction events. Instead, megafauna extinctions coincide with regionally staggered spatio-temporal deterioration in hydroclimate coupled with sustained environmental change.
Earliest evidence for surgical amputation
Publisher: Research Square Platform LLC
Date: 12-04-2022
DOI: 10.21203/RS.3.RS-1531456/V1
Abstract: The prevailing view regarding the evolution of medicine is that the emergence of agricultural societies around 10,000 years ago (the ‘Neolithic Revolution’) gave rise to a host of health problems that were previously unknown among non-sedentary foraging populations, stimulating the first major innovations in prehistoric medico-socio-cultural practices1,2. Such changes included the development of more advanced surgical procedures, with the oldest known indication of an ‘operation’ formerly held to consist of a farmer with a surgically utated arm from a Neolithic site in France, dating to around 7,000 years ago3. This accepted case of utation would have required comprehensive knowledge of human anatomy and considerable technical skill and has thus been viewed as the earliest evidence in world history for a complex medical act3. Here, however, we report the discovery of skeletal remains from Borneo of a young in idual who had their lower left leg surgically utated, probably as a child, at least 31,000 years ago. The in idual survived the surgical procedure, living for at least another six to nine years before intentional burial within Liang Tebo cave—located in East Kalimantan, in a limestone karst area that hosts some of the world’s earliest dated rock art4. This unexpectedly early evidence for successful limb utation implies that modern human foraging groups had developed sophisticated medical knowledge and skills long before the Neolithic farming transition.
Exploring the phylogeny of the marattialean ferns
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-05-2020
DOI: 10.1111/CLA.12419
Abstract: The eusporangiate marattialean ferns represent an ancient radiation with a rich fossil record but limited modern ersity in the tropics. The long evolutionary history without close extant relatives has confounded studies of the phylogenetic origin, rooting and timing of marattialean ferns. Here we present new complete plastid genomes of six marattialean species and compiled a plastid genome dataset representing all of the currently accepted marattialean genera. We further supplemented this dataset by compiling a large dataset of mitochondrial genes and a phenotypic data matrix covering both extant and extinct representatives of the lineage. Our phylogenomic and total-evidence analyses corroborated the postulated position of marattialean ferns as the sister to leptosporangiate ferns, and the position of Danaea as the sister to the remaining extant marattialean genera. However, our results provide new evidence that Christensenia is sister to Marattia and that M. cicutifolia actually belongs to Eupodium. The apparently highly reduced rate of molecular evolution in marattialean ferns provides a challenge for dating the key phylogenetic events with molecular clock approaches. We instead applied a parsimony-based total-evidence dating approach, which suggested a Triassic age for the extant crown group. The modern distribution can best be explained as mainly resulting from vicariance following the breakup of Pangaea and Gondwana. We resolved the fossil genera Marattiopsis, Danaeopsis and Qasimia as members of the monophyletic family Marattiaceae, and the Carboniferous genera Sydneia and Radstockia as the monophyletic sister of all other marattialean ferns.
Testing the savannah corridor hypothesis during MIS2
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2018
On sourcing obsidian assemblages from the Mediterranean area: analytical strategies for their exhaustive geochemical characterisation
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2017
Using X-Ray As An Irradiation Source For Direct ESR Dating of Fossil Teeth
Publisher: Research Square Platform LLC
Date: 15-11-2021
DOI: 10.21203/RS.3.RS-1062274/V1
Abstract: In this paper we have tested the potential application of X-rays as an irradiation source in Electron Spin Resonance dating of tooth enamel. Both modern and fossil s les were used to assess the feasibility of dose estimations using this alternative irradiator. Equivalent doses obtained with gamma-rays on fossil powder enamel was frequently less than the doses obtained on fragments using only X-rays. It is believed that a combination of NOCORs (non-orientated CO 2 - radicals) and local internal dose discrepancy may be the origin of the difference. Here, we show that testing penetration attenuation for each in idual irradiation source is required to accurately estimate the maximum enamel thickness and produce reliable protocols. The use of a known laboratory additive dose allows the calculation of an absorption equivalent coefficient between gamma-rays and X-rays. We conclude that X-rays are an alternative irradiation source for ESR dating protocols, however, limitations remain in particular with alpha efficiency.
ESRfrag: A new suite of open access programs for the efficient handling of Electron Spin Resonance spectra of enamel fragments
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2022
Temporal overlap of humans and giant lizards (Varanidae; Squamata) in Pleistocene Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2015
Trophic ecology of a Late Pleistocene early modern human from tropical Southeast Asia inferred from zinc isotopes
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2021
DOI: 10.1016/J.JHEVOL.2021.103075
Abstract: Tam Pà Ling, a cave site in northeastern Laos, has yielded the earliest skeletal evidence of Homo sapiens in mainland Southeast Asia. The reliance of Pleistocene humans in rainforest settings on plant or animal resources is still largely unstudied, mainly due to poor collagen preservation in fossils from tropical environments precluding stable nitrogen isotope analysis, the classical trophic level proxy. However, isotopic ratios of zinc (Zn) in bioapatite constitute a promising proxy to infer trophic and dietary information from fossil vertebrates, even under adverse tropical taphonomic conditions. Here, we analyzed the zinc isotope composition (
Using X-rays as an irradiation source for direct ESR dating of fossil teeth
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2022
Chenier-type ridges in Giralia Bay (Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia) - Processes, chronostratigraphy, and significance for recording past tropical cyclones
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2018
Sourcing obsidian: a new optimized LA-ICP-MS protocol
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-10-2016
Cyclic elemental signatures suggest nursing adaptations to food stress in Australopithecus africanus,
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 10-06-2020
AMS dating of ancient plant residues from experimental stone tools: A pilot study
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2014
Reply to: Common orthopaedic trauma may explain 31,000-year-old remains
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-03-2023
Early presence of Homo sapiens by 86-68 kyrs in Southeast Asia at Tam Pà Ling cave, Northern Laos.
Publisher: Research Square Platform LLC
Date: 16-01-2023
DOI: 10.21203/RS.3.RS-2410300/V1
Abstract: The timing of the first arrival of Homo sapiens in East Asia from Africa and the degree to which they interbred with or replaced local archaic populations is controversial. Previous discoveries from Tam Pà Ling cave (Laos) identified H. sapiens in Southeast Asia by 46 kyr. We report on a new frontal bone (TPL 6) and slightly older tibial fragment (TPL 7) discovered in the deepest layers of TPL. Bayesian modeling of luminescence dating of sediments and U-series and combined U-series-ESR dating of mammalian teeth reveals a depositional sequence spanning ~ 86 kyr. TPL 6 confirms the presence of H. sapiens by 70 ± 3 kyr, and TPL 7 extends this range to 77 ± 9 kyr, supporting an early dispersal of H. sapiens into Southeast Asia. Geometric morphometric analyses of TPL 6 suggest descent from a gracile immigrant population rather than evolution from or admixture with local archaic populations.
Using Benford’s law to investigate Natural Hazard dataset homogeneity
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-07-2015
DOI: 10.1038/SREP12046
Abstract: Working with a large temporal dataset spanning several decades often represents a challenging task, especially when the record is heterogeneous and incomplete. The use of statistical laws could potentially overcome these problems. Here we apply Benford’s Law (also called the “First-Digit Law”) to the traveled distances of tropical cyclones since 1842. The record of tropical cyclones has been extensively impacted by improvements in detection capabilities over the past decades. We have found that, while the first-digit distribution for the entire record follows Benford’s Law prediction, specific changes such as satellite detection have had serious impacts on the dataset. The least-square misfit measure is used as a proxy to observe temporal variations, allowing us to assess data quality and homogeneity over the entire record and at the same time over specific periods. Such information is crucial when running climatic models and Benford’s Law could potentially be used to overcome and correct for data heterogeneity and/or to select the most appropriate part of the record for detailed studies.
Early presence of Homo sapiens in Southeast Asia by 86–68 kyr at Tam Pà Ling, Northern Laos
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-06-2023
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-023-38715-Y
Abstract: The timing of the first arrival of Homo sapiens in East Asia from Africa and the degree to which they interbred with or replaced local archaic populations is controversial. Previous discoveries from Tam Pà Ling cave (Laos) identified H. sapiens in Southeast Asia by at least 46 kyr. We report on a recently discovered frontal bone (TPL 6) and tibial fragment (TPL 7) found in the deepest layers of TPL. Bayesian modeling of luminescence dating of sediments and U-series and combined U-series-ESR dating of mammalian teeth reveals a depositional sequence spanning ~86 kyr. TPL 6 confirms the presence of H. sapiens by 70 ± 3 kyr, and TPL 7 extends this range to 77 ± 9 kyr, supporting an early dispersal of H. sapiens into Southeast Asia. Geometric morphometric analyses of TPL 6 suggest descent from a gracile immigrant population rather than evolution from or admixture with local archaic populations.
A multi-proxy approach to exploring Homo sapiens' arrival, environments and adaptations in Southeast Asia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-10-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-021-99931-4
Abstract: The capability of Pleistocene hominins to successfully adapt to different types of tropical forested environments has long been debated. In order to investigate environmental changes in Southeast Asia during a critical period for the turnover of hominin species, we analysed palaeoenvironmental proxies from five late Middle to Late Pleistocene faunas. Human teeth discoveries have been reported at Duoi U’Oi, Vietnam (70–60 ka) and Nam Lot, Laos (86–72 ka). However, the use of palaeoproteomics allowed us to discard the latter, and, to date, no human remains older than ~ 70 ka are documented in the area. Our findings indicate that tropical rainforests were highly sensitive to climatic changes over that period, with significant fluctuations of the canopy forests. Locally, large-bodied faunas were resilient to these fluctuations until the cooling period of the Marine Isotope Stage 4 (MIS 4 74–59 ka) that transformed the overall biotope. Then, under strong selective pressures, populations with new phenotypic characteristics emerged while some other species disappeared . We argue that this climate-driven shift offered new foraging opportunities for hominins in a novel rainforest environment and was most likely a key factor in the settlement and dispersal of our species during MIS 4 in SE Asia.
Zinc isotopes in Late Pleistocene fossil teeth from a Southeast Asian cave setting preserve paleodietary information
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 18-02-2020
Abstract: Dietary habits, especially meat consumption, represent a key aspect in the behavior and evolution of fossil hominin species. Here, we explore zinc (Zn) isotope ratios in tooth enamel of fossil mammals. We show discrimination between different trophic levels and demonstrate that Zn isotopes could prove useful in paleodietary studies of fossil hominin, or other mammalian species, to assess their consumption of animal versus plant resources. We also demonstrate the high preservation potential of pristine diet-related Zn isotope ratios, even under tropical conditions with poor collagen preservation, such as the studied depositional context in Southeast Asia. However, assessing the preservation of original δ 66 Zn values is required for each fossil site as diagenesis may vary across and even within taphonomic settings.
Unexpected Convergent Evolution of Nasal Domes between Pleistocene Bovids and Cretaceous Hadrosaur Dinosaurs
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2016
Incisor enamel microstructure of West Indian caviomorph hystricognathous rodents (Octodontoidea and Chinchilloidea)
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-10-2022
Wintertime stress, nursing, and lead exposure in Neanderthal children
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 05-10-2018
Abstract: Elemental records in teeth reveal prehistoric seasons of Neanderthal birth, weaning, childhood illness, and neurotoxic exposures.
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