[PaleoAnthropology • 2016] Pleistocene Footprints Show Intensive Use of Lake Margin Habitats by Homo erectus groups

Clockwise from upper right: White rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), pelican (Pelecanus), hominin (putative Homo erectus), large wading bird (Ciconiidae or Gruidae), elephant (Elephas or Loxodonta) and medium sized bovid.

Photos: N. Roach/K. Hatala. Silhouettes: phylopic.org,
elephant by T. Michael Keesey (creativecommons.org).

Abstract

Reconstructing hominin paleoecology is critical for understanding our ancestors’ diets, social organizations and interactions with other animals. Most paleoecological models lack fine-scale resolution due to fossil hominin scarcity and the time-averaged accumulation of faunal assemblages. Here we present data from 481 fossil tracks from northwestern Kenya, including 97 hominin footprints attributed to Homo erectus. These tracks are found in multiple sedimentary layers spanning approximately 20 thousand years. Taphonomic experiments show that each of these trackways represents minutes to no more than a few days in the lives of the individuals moving across these paleolandscapes. The geology and associated vertebrate fauna place these tracks in a deltaic setting, near a lakeshore bordered by open grasslands. Hominin footprints are disproportionately abundant in this lake margin environment, relative to hominin skeletal fossil frequency in the same deposits. Accounting for preservation bias, this abundance of hominin footprints indicates repeated use of lakeshore habitats by Homo erectus. Clusters of very large prints moving in the same direction further suggest these hominins traversed this lakeshore in multi-male groups. Such reliance on near water environments, and possibly aquatic-linked foods, may have influenced hominin foraging behavior and migratory routes across and out of Africa.

Geology and Depositional Context

We report here on 481 identifiable fossil tracks (Fig. 1), including 97 hominin footprints, found near the town of Ileret in northwestern Kenya. A small assemblage of hominin and other animal tracks was initially discovered in 200621. The excavation of this site has continued over the past 9 years, and new excavations were conducted in 2013–2014 at three additional targeted localities where hominin prints were also found. Twenty randomly selected test squares also were excavated, totaling 114 m2 of uncovered track surface. These surfaces are located within the Okote Member of the Koobi Fora Formation and are tightly time bracketed between fluvially reworked volcanic tuffs. The Northern Ileret Tuff caps the sequence and is radiometrically dated to 1.51–1.52 Ma, while the underlying Lower Ileret Tuff is dated to 1.53 Ma22,23. Between these tuffs is ~8.5 m of massive and laminated silts interspersed with fine grained, stratified and cross-stratified sands (Fig. 2). This complex is divided near the middle by the Ileret Tuff, dated to 1.52 Ma21.

Neil T. Roach, Kevin G. Hatala, Kelly R. Ostrofsky, Brian Villmoare, Jonathan S. Reeves, Andrew Du, David R. Braun, John W. K. Harris, Anna K. Behrensmeyer and Brian G. Richmond. 2016. Pleistocene Footprints Show Intensive Use of Lake Margin Habitats by Homo erectus groups. Scientific Reports. 6, Article number: 26374. DOI: 10.1038/srep26374

[Herpetology • 2015] Rhacophorus indonesiensis | Katak Pohon Totol • A New Species of Tree Frog Genus Rhacophorus (Amphibia, Anura) from Sumatra, Indonesia

Rhacophorus indonesiensis Hamidy & Kurniati, 2015
Adult male paratype MZB Amph 21847 and a non-vouchered female from Birun, showing nocturnal coloration

photo: Mediyansyah || DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3947.1.3

Abstract

A small-sized tree frog of the genus Rhacophorus is described on the basis of 18 specimens collected from three different localities on Sumatra Island, Indonesia. Rhacophorus indonesiensis sp. nov. is divergent from all other Rhacophorus species genetically and morphologically. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of: the presence of black spots on the ventral surfaces of the hand and foot webbing, an absence of vomerine teeth, a venter with a white kite-shaped marking, raised white spots on the dorsum or on the head, and a reddish brown dorsum with irregular dark brown blotches and distinct black dots. With the addition of this new species, fifteen species of Rhacophorus are now known from Sumatra, the highest number of species of this genus in the Sundaland region. However, with the increasing conversion of forest to oil palm cultivation or mining, the possibility of the extinction of newly described or as yet undiscovered species is of great concern.

Key words: Tree frog, Sundaland, pond-breeding, elephant wallow

 Rhacophorus indonesiensis | Katak Pohon Totol

biologi.LIPI.go.id

Hamidy, Amir & Hellen Kurniati. 2015. A New Species of Tree Frog Genus Rhacophorus from Sumatra, Indonesia (Amphibia, Anura).
Zootaxa. 3947(1): 49-66. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3947.1.3
ResearchGate.net/publication/274899162_A_new_species_of_tree_frog_genus_Rhacophorus_from_Sumatra_Indonesia_(Amphibia_Anura)

http://novataxa.blogspot.com/2011/12/2002-sumatra-java-rhacophorus.html

[Conservation / News • 2013] Global Trade Regulation Group Extends Reach | CITES CoP16

Global Trade Regulation Group Extends Reach 

via http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/

Threatened species of sharks, manta rays, elephants, and rhinoceroses will get some relief thanks to precedent-setting decisions taken at a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) that concluded yesterday in Bangkok.

Rising demand for shark fins, shark meat, and manta ray gills is on an unsustainable trajectory according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Earlier this week, a CITES committee approved what is called an Appendix II listing for five shark species and two species of rays, all of which are considered endangered or vulnerable by IUCN. Appendix II covers species that might face extinction if current trends continue, and CITES allows international trading of these species only if there are controls ensuring their survival in the wild. (An Appendix I listing—intended for species threatened with extinction—outlaws international commercial trading.)

The committee's decision survived a challenge during the closing plenary session on 14 March. Both IUCN and the World Wildlife Fund called the decision "historic."

"There has been an impasse for a number of years over whether or not CITES could further move into the listing of commercially valuable marine species that all the evidence suggests are being harvested unsustainably," says Simon Stuart, who chairs the IUCN's Species Survival Commission.

Those opposed to the changes argued that regional fisheries management organizations should address the threats to sharks and rays. But the stocks "have not been managed sustainably," Stuart says. He acknowledges that enforcement will be a challenge. He thinks that CITES should work in concert with regional organizations to manage the fisheries in a sustainable way based on scientific input.

Enforcement was the key issue in the decisions on ivory and rhino horns. Parties to the convention, as participating countries are called, decided to initiate a process requiring China, Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Uganda, Tanzania, and Vietnam to develop plans to crack down on illegal ivory and rhino horn trading. "CITES is ready to get tough on the countries that are the focus of the illegal [ivory] trade," Stuart says.

Over the course of the 12-day meeting, delegates agreed on tighter controls over the trading of tropical timber and on some species of tortoise and freshwater turtles. They also decided to ban international commercial trade in the critically endangered freshwater sawfish. But a call to tighten restrictions on trading in polar bear hides, claws, and teeth put forward by the United States and supported by Russia was defeated after opposition from Canada, Denmark (Greenland), and Norway.

The final score at the 12-day meeting was 55 proposals accepted, nine rejected, and six withdrawn. "Overall, we are pretty pleased," Stuart says. One concern is that "the science isn't being followed as closely as it should be," he says.

The next CITES meeting will be held in South Africa in 2016.

Global Trade Regulation Group Extends Reach -  http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2013/03/global-trade-regulation-group-ex.html 

[Conservation • 2013] Elephants in the Dust: The African Elephant Crisis

Elephants in the Dust - The African Elephant Crisis

 Available online: http://www.grida.no/publications/rr/elephants/

The African elephant, the largest remaining land mammal on the planet, is facing the greatest crisis in decades. Reports of mass elephant killings in the media vividly illustrate the situation across many African elephant range States. This Rapid Response Assessment provides an overview of the current state of the African elephant alongside recommendations for action to ensure its protection.

Surges in poaching, the illegal ivory trade and accelerating habitat and range loss have put African elephant populations at risk. This Rapid Response Assessment provides an overview of the status of elephants, poaching and illegal ivory trafficking along the entire ivory trade supply chain.

Findings presented here were obtained from a range of  sources, including The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) Programme, the Ele  phant Trade Information System (ETIS), the IUCN/SSC African Ele  phant Specialist Group (AfESG), the African and Asian Elephant Database, the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), expert consultations and a range of other sources.

__________________________

Elephant poaching doubled & illegal ivory trade tripled in recent years  

Enhanced law Enforcement, international collaboration and reducing demand required to avert crisis

— Populations of elephants in Africa continue to be under severe threat as the illegal trade in ivory grows - with double the numbers of elephants killed and triple the amounts of ivory seized, over the last decade.

According to a new report entitled “Elephants in the Dust – The African Elephant Crisis”, increasing poaching levels, as well as loss of habitat are threatening the survival of African elephant populations in Central Africa as well as previously secure populations in West, Southern and Eastern Africa.

........................

http://www.cites.org/eng/news/pr/2013/20130306_ivory.php

[PaleoMammalogy • 2012] Early evidence for complex social structure in Proboscidea from a late Miocene trackway site in the United Arab Emirates | Seven-million-year-old footprints from the Arabian Desert provide the oldest known evidence of how elephant ancestors interacted socially

Simulated oblique view of the 7-million year old Mleisa1 trackways with digitized Stegotetrabelodon elephants inserted.

By Mauricio Anton.

Abstract

Many living vertebrates exhibit complex social structures, evidence for the antiquity of which is limited to rare and exceptional fossil finds. Living elephants possess a characteristic social structure that is sex-segregated and multi-tiered, centred around a matriarchal family and solitary or loosely associated groups of adult males. Although the fossil record of Proboscidea is extensive, the origin and evolution of social structure in this clade is virtually unknown. Here, we present imagery and analyses of an extensive late Miocene fossil trackway site from the United Arab Emirates. The site of Mleisa 1 preserves exceptionally long trackways of a herd of at least 13 individuals of varying size transected by that of a single large individual, indicating the presence of both herding and solitary social modes. Trackway stride lengths and resulting body mass estimates indicate that the solitary individual was also the largest and therefore most likely a male. Sexual determination for the herd is equivocal, but the body size profile and number of individuals are commensurate with those of a modern elephant family unit. The Mleisa 1 trackways provide direct evidence for the antiquity of characteristic and complex social structure in Proboscidea.

Keywords: Proboscidea, social structure, trackways, late Miocene, Arabia

In the footsteps of prehistoric elephants

Seven-million-year-old footprints from the Arabian Desert provide the oldest known evidence of how elephant ancestors interacted socially.

The Mleisa 1 site in the United Arab Emirates features exceptionally long trackways of a single herd of at least 13 elephant individuals. The herd walked through mud and left footprints that hardened, were buried, and then re-exposed by erosion. Analysis of trackway stride lengths reveals the herd contained a diversity of sizes, from adults to a young calf, making this the earliest direct evidence of social structure in prehistoric elephants ever discovered. 

An international team from Germany, France, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates published the study in Biology Letters on February 22, 2012 . Primary author Faysal Bibi is a researcher at the Institut International de Paléoprimatologie, Paléontologie Humaine : Évolution et Paléoenvironnements in Poitiers, France, and the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany. Coauthors are Brian Kraatz, assistant professor of anatomy at Western University of Health Sciences; Nathan Craig, assistant professor of anthropology at Pennsylvania State University; Mark Beech, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority; Mathieu Schuster, research associate, Université de Strasbourg, France; and Andrew Hill, professor of anthropology, Yale University.

“Basically, this is fossilized behavior,” says Bibi, “This is an absolutely unique site, a really rare opportunity in the fossil record that lets you see animal behavior in a way you couldn’t otherwise do with bones or teeth.”

Not only were the prehistoric elephants herding, but a 260m-long trackway of a solitary male at the same site indicates they also differentiated into solitary and social groups, and that these might have been sex-segregated just like in elephants today. In living elephants, adult females lead the herds while males disperse at sexual maturity and come back only to mate; such behavior is also suggested at the Mleisa 1 site.

a reconstruction of the Mleisa 1 herd, based upon Stegotretrabelodon as the track maker.

Art: Mauricio Antón

“The Mleisa 1 fossil trackways are the most extensive ever recorded for mammals,” said William Sanders, a paleontologist at the University of Michigan who was not involved in the study. “Bibi et al.’s analysis is an exemplary and comprehensive example of what can be garnered from ancient footprints.”

Mleisa 1 is one of the largest trackway sites in the world, covering an area of 5 hectares. Though the site had been known for some time, it was only when the scientists photographed it from the air that its significance became clear.

“Once we saw it aerially, it became a much different and clearer story,” Kraatz said. “Seeing the whole site in one shot meant we could finally understand what was happening.”

Close up of the kite aerial photomosaic showing the main trackway section at Mleisa 

Co-author Nathan Craig used a camera-mounted kite to take hundreds of aerial photos that were then digitally stitched together to form a highly accurate photomosaic of the site [viewable here: http://gigapan.org/gigapans/78542].

Mleisa 1 is one of many fossil sites of the Baynunah Formation, a sequence of mostly riverdeposited sands that is widely exposed over the Al Gharbia region of Abu Dhabi Emirate. Most Baynunah sites have yielded fossilized bones showing a diversity of animals lived in the Arabian Peninsula in the late Miocene Epoch, between 6 and 8 million years ago. The Baynunah rocks and fossil indicate that at this time, a river system came across the Arabian Peninsula through what is today the United Arab Emirates. The freshwater ecosystem supported a thriving African-like fauna during that time. The river subsequently dried up and those animals disappeared with that river system, including the elephant ancestors whose prints are preserved at Mleisa 1. The Baynunah Formation sites in Abu Dhabi Emirate are the only such fossil sites known from this time period from the entire Arabian Peninsula.

"The trackways are visually stunning.” says co-author Andrew Hill. “It is quite obvious to anyone, without any technical knowledge, that these are the footprints of very large animals, and to learn that they are over 6 Ma old presents a visitor with the sensation of walking back in time, across a Miocene landscape where elephants might have strolled by just a little time before."

Marching desert elephants, Damarland, Namibia

by Michael Poliza (2006). 

This herd is crossing the dry and flat plains of the Namib desert in the early morning hours, headed for a watering hole. 7 million years ago, the elephants at Mleisa1 would have looked very similar from the air except that Mleisa was muddy, which meant the elephants left deep footprints that then hardened and preserved for us to see today. 

Bibi, F., Kraatz, B., Craig, N., Beech, M., Schuster, M., and Hill, A. 2012. Early evidence for complex social structure in Proboscidea from a late Miocene trackway site in the United Arab Emirates. Biology Letters. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.1185

http://mleisa1.wordpress.com/

http://mleisa1.wordpress.com/additional-media

#UAE #Stegotretrabelodon / Oldest ever #elephant tracks. . . perfectly preserved after seven million years http://bit.ly/yw0gxC @MailOnline 

http://www.earthtimes.org/scitech/footprints-bring-fossil-elephants-life/1840/