Xavier Jordana

Autonomous University of Barcelona | UAB · Department of Animal Biology, Vegetal Biology and Ecology

The Neonatal Line (NNL) of the tooth serves as a unique identifier, allowing us to distinguish whether a child survived birth. This line is essential for assessing the age at death of infants from skeletal remains found in archaeological contexts. Our primary objective is to accurately determine the age of infant intramural in-humations from the Ib...

When dealing with badly preserved cadavers or skeletal human remains, the assessment of death circumstances remains challenging. When forensic evidence cannot be taken from the skin and soft tissue, the information may only be deduced from more resistant elements such as bone. Compared to cranial gunshot injuries, reliable data on ballistic long bo...

Forensic anthropologists play a key role in skeletal trauma analysis and commonly use macroscopic features to distinguish between trauma types. However, this approach can be challenging, particularly in cases of highly comminuted or incompletely recovered fractures. Histological analysis of microscopic fracture characteristics in fractured bones ma...

Forensic anthropologists play a key role in skeletal trauma analysis and commonly use macroscopic features to distinguish between trauma types. However, this approach can be challenging, particularly in cases of highly comminuted or incompletely recovered fractures. Histological analysis of microscopic fracture characteristics in fractured bones ma...

Whereas gunshot injuries in human craniums have been well studied, reliable data on fracture patterns in ballistic long bone trauma remains scarce. Further information useful for forensic trauma interpretation and reconstruction may be retrieved from experimentally produced gunshot fractures. In order to avoid the use of human specimens for experim...

In forensic anthropology, the differential diagnosis between peri- and postmortem bone fractures is mainly based on macroscopic criteria. In contrast, studies focusing on bone histology are very scarce. In a recent publication, we showed that (perimortem) fractures in fresh human bones exhibit a different osteonal microcracking pattern than (postmo...

Current paleodietary studies about the Naviform and Talayotic groups that took place in Minorca (Balearic Islands) during the Late Bronze Age–Early Iron Age (ca.1600–850/800 BC) have suggested a mixed and variable diet, largely depending on terrestrial sources of vegetables and meat. This study explores the nutritional pattern of the individuals bu...

Timing bone fractures is one of the main tasks of a forensic anthropologist, but still an uncertain diagnostic. In the literature, there are many macroscopic methods to distinguish perimortem from postmortem fractures, based on the distinct structural and mechanical properties of fresh and dry bones. However, this differentiation is still challengi...

Ancient written sources show that Roman funerary rituals were relevant along the entire Roman Republic and Empire, as they ensured the protection of deities and the memory of the deceased. Part of these rituals consisted of funerary offerings and banquets that were held on the day of the burial, in festivities and other stipulated days. The faunal...

The Iberians were the people that occupied the Mediterranean region of the Iberian Peninsula between the 7th and 1st centuries BC. They were organized in several tribes or tribal confederacies. The most common funerary practice among Iberian was to the incineration of dead. However, infant skeletal remains have been found buried in some settlements...

After death human body is subject to the processes of autolysis and putrefaction. Notably, the changes in cadaver during decomposition complicate its forensic analysis and particularly the estimation of the post-mortem interval (PMI). The process and rate of decomposition is impacted by various intrinsic and extrinsic factors that vary across count...

Flat feet (pes planus) are considered a postural defect caused by the collapse of the longitudinal arch, producing complete or near-complete contact of the sole of the foot with the ground. Pes planus has been well-studied in clinical literature and paleoanthropology but has not been approached extensively in bioarchaeology. The main difficulty is...

Age-at-death estimation methods are important in forensic anthropology. However, age assessment is problematic due to inter-individual variation. The subjectivity of visual scoring systems can affect the accuracy and reliability of methods as well. One of the most studied skeletal regions for age assessment is the pubic symphysis. Few studies on Sp...

Timing of cranial trauma is challenging in forensic cases and literature on the subject is scarce. This study analysed the macroscopic fracture patterns of perimortem cranial fractures and compared them to experimentally reproduced cranial fractures on dry human craniums. The results showed nine traits associated with fresh cranial fractures: undul...

Globally, rock art is one of the most widely distributed manifestations of past human activity. Previous research, however, has tended to focus on the art rather than artists. Understanding which members of society participated in creating such art is crucial to interpreting its social implications and that of the sites at which it is found. This a...

Few pathological cases have been identified in fossils of small mammals. Here we report the most ancient paleopathological evidence identified in a lagomorph (Ochotonidae, middle Miocene). The tibiofibular bone was macro- and microscopically (uCT) inspected to provide a diagnosis, an etiology, and its possible relationship with the individual’s cau...

The cuboid facet of the navicular bone is an irregular flat surface, present in non-human primates and some human ancestors. In modern humans, it is not always present and it is described as an "occasional finding". To date, there is not enough data about its incidence in ancient and contemporary populations, nor a biomechanical explanation about i...

The Late Antiquity to the Early Middle age transition in the North Eastern Iberian Peninsula was a historical period of cultural, social and political changes. Both Germanics and North African peoples settled in this region in successive migratory waves. The impact of these population movements on the cultural habits of the local population has bee...

This study aims to improve a previous study that reported new traits to characterize a perimortem fracture pattern in human long bones. This second study aims to acquire further knowledge about these perimortem traits, specifically by improving the experimental setting—by using a Blunt Force Trauma Simulator—and increasing the sample size with a to...

La estimación sexual es primordial para la construcción del perfil biológico de los individuos, pero hay factores que alteran la resistencia ósea, impidiendo un correcto diagnóstico en laboratorio. Generalmente, los naviculares mantienen un buen nivel de preservación en contextos arqueológicos y forenses, siendo una buena alternativa para discrimin...

Terre Rosse deposits (upper Miocene; Gargano, Italy) have provided fossil remains of an insular fauna among which the genus Mikrotia (Rodentia) stands out. Several paleobiological studies have already been conducted on this genus, but its body mass has not yet been calculated accurately. The aim of the present work is to reconstruct Mikrotia magna'...

Literature on timing of rib trauma is scarce but remains challenging during forensic cases. This study analysed the macroscopic fracture patterns of perimortem rib fractures and compared them to experimentally reproduced rib fractures on fresh and dry ribs. Six distinctive macroscopic traits were found in ribs that might provide information about t...

Observing pathologies in the fossil record is unusual, but it may be most helpful to the gain of insights into the biology of extinct species. Up to date, some paleopathologies have been described in large vertebrates (dinosaurs, rhinoceros, deer, horses, carnivores, primates, among others) including, inter alia, fractures, infections or tumors. Ho...

The way teeth grow is recorded in dental enamel as incremental marks. Detailed analysis of tooth growth is known to provide valuable insights into the growth and the pace of life of vertebrates. Here, we study the growth pattern of the first lower molar in several extant and extinct species of Equus and explore its relationship with life history ev...

Objectives: The locomotor and manipulative abilities of australopithecines are highly debated in the paleoanthropological context. Australopithecus afarensis and Australopithecus sediba likely engaged in arboreal locomotion and, especially the latter, in certain activities implying manipulation. Nevertheless, their degree of arboreality and the re...

The study of bone growth marks (BGMs) and other histological traits of bone tissue provides insights into the life history of present and past organisms. Important life history traits like longevity or age at maturity, which could be inferred from the analysis of these features, form the basis for estimations of demographic parameters that are esse...

Sexual estimation is fundamental to reconstruct the biological profile of individuals, but postdepositional factors can alter the resistance of the bones preventing accurate diagnosis especially when the skull and the pelvis are absent. Navicular bones usually keep a good level of preservation in archaeological and forensic contexts, being a good a...

The evolution of organismal body size in extant and extinct ecosystems of islands (Island Rule) is receiving much attention at present. Allometric models are a reliable way to predict the weight of extinct species, but are scarce or even absent for some groups of micromammals. To fill the gap, we carried out regression models with extant species of...

Insular gigantism is frequent in fossil and extant micromammals. It is widely assumed to result from increased food availability through expanded dietary niches under decreased interspecific competition. We compared the bone histology of the fossil giant dormouse Hypnomys onycensis (Gliridae) from the Balearic Islands with that of its closest livin...

Article for free - http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1Sbet5otAlXHz0 Research on the biology, especially on life history, of insular endemics is of great importance because they are under specific ecological pressures: low extrinsic mortality and resource limitation. We reconstruct some biological traits of an extinct ochotonid, Prolagus apricenicus fro...

Ipiutak (100BCE-500CE) and Tigara (1200 - 1700CE) are two populations from Point Hope, Alaska. As commonly observed in forager communities, it may be expected males and females to have been involved in markedly different daily activities. Nevertheless, activity-related sexual dimorphism in these populations has been scarcely studied. Using humeral...

Bone histology is a powerful tool to explore the growth patterns of vertebrates. There is a broad consensus that a deeper understanding of bone development in living taxa is still lacking. Here, we aim to explore the ontogeny of the fibrolamellar (FLC) zonal bone of mammals by studying histological sections of the femoral growth series of 84 wild r...

Histological approaches to extant mammalian life histories (LHs) provide the basis for reconstructing LHs of fossil mammals. They are of special interest in lineages such as perissodactyls that played a key role in fossil ecosystems. We studied an ontogenetic series of Equus hemionus (Asiatic wild ass), the most appropriate extant representative of...

Lagomorphs are widespread around the world, but little is known about the biology and ecology of their fossil ancestors. In this case, knowing the body mass of these extinct species is of principal interest because it is correlated with physio-logical, morphological and life history attributes. Moreover, insular fossil rabbits, hares and pikas, whi...

The Pleistocene Palaeoloxodon falconeri from the island of Sicily is the smallest elephant (shoulder height of 1 m) that ever lived. It descends from Palaeoloxodon antiquus (4 m tall) of Middle Pleistocene deposits of mainland Europe. The spectacular change in the size of this insular elephant is considered the most outstanding example of island dw...

Bone histology of the Late Cretaceous small-sized Titanosaur femur from Moli del Baró-2 (Spain). Insights on its growth stage. Introduction: MCD 5031 is an extremely small-sized, left Titanosaur femur from Molí del Baró-2 (Spain).The estimated age of the site is around 68-67 Ma (Late Maastrichtian). This femur has an estimated length of 660cm while...

In a recent paper published in a special issue on ‘Paleontology and Evolution’ of Integrative Zoology (Palombo 2014), the author (Van der Geer 2014) takes a review of the derived traits observed in endemic fossil insular mammals, including body size variation, cranial and postcranial changes, and modifications in dentition.This article is protected...

The greatly diversified locomotor behaviors in the Hominoidea impose different mechanical requirements in the upper limb of each species. As forearm rotation has a major role in locomotion, the skeletal structures involved in this movement may display differences among taxa that reflect functional adaptations. To test this, we use a biomechanical m...

Enamel incremental markings are widely used to reconstruct growth patterns of extinct mammals. However, the likely existence of an allometric relationship between dental morphology and enamel growth suggests that caution is required when making life-history inferences based on these microstructures. In the present study, we aimed to explore the pot...

Growth rate is a fitness component that is determined by intrinsic (e.g. metabolism) and extrinsic (environment) factors, the relative importance of which remains to be ascertained. Vascular and cellular networks of primary compact bone tissue correlate with bone growth rate in vertebrates. Here, we aim to determine the main factor, either intrinsi...

Taphonomy aims to provide a theoretical and methodological frame to understand the transition of biological remains from the moment of death to their recovery, as well as to interpret the funerary gesture of the past societies. In this article, the reconstruction of the taphonomic history of the human remains from Montanissell cave (Lleida) is pres...

The island rule entails a modification of the body size of insular mammals, a character related with numerous biological and ecological variables. From the Miocene to human colonization (Holocene), Mediterranean and Canary Islands were unaltered natural ecosystems, with paleofaunas formed with endemic giant rodents among other mammals. Our aim is t...

Biomechanical models are useful to assess the effect of muscular forces on bone structure. Using skeletal remains, we analyze pronator teres rotational efficiency and its force components throughout the entire flexion-extension and pronation-supination ranges by means of a new biomechanical model and 3D imaging techniques, and we explore the relati...

On island, small mammals become giants, while large ones become dwarfs. This tendency of insular mammals to converge in body size is coined the island rule. The different ecological pressures that govern island ecosystems (low predation and limited resources) do not only trigger changes in body size but also in the species' life history. Up to now,...

In mammals that grow up more slowly and live longer, replacement teeth tend to appear earlier in sequence than in fast growing mammals. This trend, known as 'Schultz's Rule', is a useful tool for inferring life histories of fossil taxa. Deviations from this rule, however, suggest that in addition to the pace of life history, ecological factors may...

In mammals that grow up more slowly and live longer, replacement teeth tend to appear earlier in sequence than in fast growing mammals. This trend, known as 'Schultz's Rule', is a useful tool for inferring life histories of fossil taxa. Deviations from this rule, however, suggest that in addition to the pace of life history, ecological factors may...

The knowledge of the life histories of wild mammals is of crucial importance in the field of conservation management. The endangered status of many species calls for faster data collection that can be used in risk assessment and, ultimately, for designing conservation policies. This study is pioneering the potential of bone histology to provide dat...

The relationship between the mechanical loading undergone by a bone and its form has been widely assumed as a premise in studies aiming to reconstruct behavioral patterns from skeletal remains. Nevertheless, this relationship is complex due to the existence of many factors affecting bone structure and form, and further research combining structural...

Longitudinal rotation of the forearm (pronosupination) is an essential component of human manipulative tasks. The efficiency of this movement is dependent not only on the rotatory muscles but also on several morphological and structural features of the upper limb. In a recent study, we observed that the size and orientation of the humeral medial ep...

A recent discovery of Iron Age burials (Pazyryk culture) in the Altai Mountains of Mongolia may shed light on the mode and tempo of the generation of the current genetic east-west population admixture in Central Asia. Studies on ancient mitochondrial DNA of this region suggest that the Altai Mountains played the role of a geographical barrier betwe...

Alignment of clone sequences. (PDF)

Description of primers used and their references. (DOCX)

Ancient and current populations used in comparative analysis. References corresponds to reference number in the manuscript. (DOC)

Pronosupination is a component of the hominoid orthograde corporal plane that enables primates to execute efficient and sure locomotion in their habitat and is an essential movement for the development of manipulative capacities. We analyze human variability in the rotational efficiency of the pronator teres muscle by applying the biomechanical mod...

Cyclical growth leaves marks in bone tissue that are in the forefront of discussions about physiologies of extinct vertebrates. Ectotherms show pronounced annual cycles of growth arrest that correlate with a decrease in body temperature and metabolic rate; endotherms are assumed to grow continuously until they attain maturity because of their const...

Mummified nervous tissue is very rarely found in ancient remains and usually corresponds to corpses which were frozen or preserved in bogs, conditions which limit tissue autolysis and bacterial degradation. Here, we show the unusual finding of spontaneously mummified brain tissue from several individuals from the little known megalithic talaiotic c...

Here, we test whether the increase in tooth height in insular endemics results from the expansion of the dietary niche under resource limitation, as widely considered, or whether it represents an investment in dental durability in response to the selection for extended longevity under low levels of extrinsic mortality. We tested these hypotheses in...

It is widely assumed that mechanical loads underwent by bones during life are related to muscular development, but there is a lack of quantifiable evidences in this sense. The purpose of this study is to explain how humeral diaphyseal shape is modified by muscular development. Moreover, we aim to determine what upper-limb muscles are more relevant...

Ancient populations have commonly been thought to have lived in small groups where extreme endogamy was the norm. To contribute to this debate, a genetic analysis has been carried out on a collective burial with eight primary inhumations from Montanissell Cave in the Catalan pre-Pyrenees. Radiocarbon dating clearly placed the burial in the Bronze A...

Abstract Though bone histology has become a powerful tool to reconstruct life history strategies and physiology in living and extinct reptiles and amphibians, it is of limited use in mammals. Dormice (Myoxidae) are good candidates for assessing the relation between bone microstructure and life history due to their long life span, marked physiologic...

Hard tissue histology is a valuable tool to reconstruct life history traits in fossil ungulates. We estimated certain fitness components (age at weaning, age at maturity, life span and generation time) in two fossil bovids that evolved under different selective regimes, the insular Myotragus balearicus and the continental Gazella borbonica. Our res...