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Au lieu de Revue de Paléobiologie ville de Genève il faut changer en:
Les grands bovidés de l’Igue du Gral (Sauliac-sur-Célé, Lot, France)et les bisons de la fin du Pléistocène
Change Revue de Paléobiologie ville de Genève, need to write the good title :
Les grands bovidés de l’Igue du Gral (Sauliac-sur-Célé, Lot, France)et les bisons de la fin du Pléistocène
here enclosed the pdf
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thnaks to modify the reference of the paper with the correct title
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It was found in marine sediments in the Alboran Sea during the Pleistocene. Septate, brown, around 32x15 micrometers, with perforations scattered across the surface, and two apical pori.
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reminds of Bispora
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see picture
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This is acritarch, there is no doubt about it
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These bones come from a Pleistocene archaeological site located in Timor-Leste near Lake Ira Lalaro. Freshwater and marine fish remains have already been identified at this site. We have a few ideas that are not very conclusive. If you have any clues, don't hesitate. Thanks !
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Thanks for your answer. We actually found what it is!
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..
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Obrigado Heitor (deduzo que és brasileiro).
O problema surgiu na datações de Paleolitorais submersos a profundidades entre 5 e 20m, com idades radiocarbono de 30.000 a > 45000BP. `Parece claro que durante o Plistocénico o mar flutuou para cima e para baixo, pelo que as rochas foram sujeitas intermitentemente a carbono atmosférico e marinho, o que naturalmente deve contaminar as datações. Obrigado pelo comentário. Abração.
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Along the North American Pacific Northwest and West Coasts, what is the strongest archaeological evidence for a late Pleistocene human colonization of the Americas from 14,000-13,000 cal BP?
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Genetic evidence, particularly Y-chromosome phylogenies, rules out the scenario of multiple pre-14 kya migrations that you are positing (unless you think #s 1-6 left no descendants, which is possible if improbable). You are looking at those archeological sites uncritically.
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I have a colleague that has ammassed impressive knowledge and collections of Pleistocene Bovivni from North America. Who can I put him in touch with to sample these 'sub-fossils'?
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Try with Diversity 2018, 10, 65; doi:10.3390/d10030065 by
Thierry Grange 1, Jean-Philip Brugal 2,†, Laurence Flori 3,† ID , Mathieu Gautier 4,†, Antigone Uzunidis 2,† and Eva-Maria Geigl
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Dear all,
I am working on the biostratigraphy of Pleistocene sediments from the high latitude region in south-east Indian ocean sediments. Kindly suggest me any book or articles in which the above-mentioned foraminifera are discussed. The articles on the zonation will more be appreciated.
Thank You
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I remember that one time I came across a publication, where a frequent occurrence of M1 with the supplementary loop was mentioned. It might have been the Holsteinian of Netherlands (not for sure). Now I need it, but I forgot whose the publication was
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Thank you!
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Bonnichen R. Pleistocene bone technology in the Beringian refugium. National museums of Canada. Ottawa, 1979
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Hi I have a number of δ13C (from AMS dating) values for the same species of freshwater gastropods in Indonesia, that show different δ13C values in the Holocene and Pleistocene and I want to understand why this is happening. I have tried to research what can cause changes in δ13C but I am turning up results about human diets and differences between terrestrial, freshwater, and marine plants. I have come across nothing to explain why the values would be changing in one species over time.
The results are uncorrected samples dated c. 9-10,000 BP with δ13C = -11, while uncorrected Pleistocene samples dated to between c. 17-25,000 BP have δ13C = -6.
These values do not correlate with how I understood δ13C values to behave. If freshwater plants are meant to have a general value between -35 and -25 then shouldn't a gastropod that lives 100% in that environment have a similar δ13C? and shouldn't that be broadly stable over time too?
I would really appreciate if someone could point out the obvious thing I am missing or point me towards an explanation as I would really like to understand why I am seeing these different results.
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Imprecision may relate to a similar process of pole reversals, magnetic breakdown and enrichment of 13C ~ 42,000 year ago, and the flux of ionizing radiation?
Cooper,, A., Turney, C.S. M., Palmer, J., Hogg, McGlone, M. Wilmshurst. J., 2021, A global environmental crisis 42,000 years ago., Science, Vol. 371, Issue 6531, p. 811-818. DOI: 10.1126/science.abb8677nrichment
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Our study group is looking for a geochronological lab where to date Pleistocene (<1 Myr old) Alunite generated by hydrothermal alteration of volcanic systems. This mineralogical phase were identified by XRD at Azufre and Toconce volcanoes, northern Chile
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Dear Harold
Thanks for your answer and the paper.
I know that ia the problem with Alunite, but there are not other minerals to be dating.
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Hello everyone. I am studying the shape changes among postcranial specimens of different Pleistocene large Bovids (Bison-Bos), and I need to analyse the (2-D) curve data that I have aquired in TPSdig2 across specific bone structures (e.g. ventral side of distal phalanx), of which some are very complex (e.g. distal end of metapodials etc). What procedure should I follow for the analysis? Can I use PAST or some other open software? Thank you for your time and consideration.
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Hello,
I don't know exactly, but there is a description about the outlines in the Help menu of the tpsDig2 programme. Based on it, maybe you can correct the mandible outlines with the pen icon.
Sorry, but I haven't used this function yet...
All the best,
Piroska
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I'm interested in patterns of Palaeoenvironmental variability in the Senegal Valley during the Middle and Upper Pleistocene, particularly in the lower valley after the confluence with the Faleme River. However, I am having trouble finding modern sources of information, and many older sources are not available on-line. Can anyone help direct me to available/key resources that document patterns of environmental variability in the Senegal Valley?
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ممكن اعرف الحقبة التاريخية لهذا العصر الذي اشرت اليه
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Did they survive after the Eemian and for how long? The actual question would be if they were still around in the Brörup interstadial (MIS 5c) and how much the Brörup fauna differed from the Eemian one (MIS 5e)? Vice versa, when did the mammoth-dominated fauna first appear in Central Europe after the Eemian? In MIS 5b or earlier? Thanks in advance, Micha
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I only have information about the elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) of Eemian in Minsk section. I'm sending it.
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I feel like there has to be a database, but I can"t seem to find it. Thanks for your suggestions. All the best, Micha
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Hello Martin,
Thanks a million. I did know the publication but had no idea, there was a download section.
All the best,
Micha
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Please help me in the identification of this well preserved fossil plant found in Tufa . Thank you in advance !
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Jean-Jacques Châteauneuf Thnak you very much for your comment. Best regards.
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Are you aware of publications describing subaerial accumulation of loesses and soil formation on Pleistocene glaciers (for example, Laurentide Ice Sheet, Fenno-Scandian ice sheet), above ice? Maybe within the marginal zones of glaciers?
I have long heard from a colleague that there is such an article, but I can not find it. It seems that this article says that loess deposits could have accumulated on the glacier. There were soils and plants on these loesses. Thanks to this, the giant flat glaciers were not deprived of life. An interesting hypothesis. I would really like to know the details. Maybe someone knows this articles?
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Hi, I am not aware of a specific article about loess accumulated on a pleistocene glacier. However, such an environment definitely exists in central Yukon (Canada). For a similar situation, see this analysis of glacier-ice buried since the late-pleistocene ( ). Their, the permafrost is discontinuous, the supraglacial sediments were reworked and the overlaying actual vegetation is probably a stunted spruce muskeg.
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Dear researchers
Does any one have following articles;
1.Wadia, DN. 1951. The trasitional passage of pliocene into pleistocene in northwestern sub Himalayas. 18th international geological congress proceedings. 11:43-48.
2.Ganjoo RK. On the evolution of elephants in Indian subcontinent and their ecological implications. Proceedings. 1st South Asian Geological Congress. 27:46-51.
3.Badam GL. 1979.Pleistocene fauna of India.
Thanks and Kind Regards
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Respected Sir
A bundle of Thanks. I requested the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dheradun.
Kind Regards
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There is only so much blood to be wrung from a stone. Projectile points and bifacial flaked stone technology, in general,
cannot by themselves elucidate the culture history of pioneering New World populations. Too little is knowable about behavior, society, and religion by reference to flaked stone artifacts only. In this nicely crafted paper the author pushes the limit about what can be learned from flaked stone points. Clearly, it is time to take a new tack -- to use other data sets to address questions that need answering.
Sites that can teach us about Clovis social behavior and ritual behavior exist. We do not have to belabor flaked stone artifacts. Proboscidean kill and butchery sites with organic preservation and an abundant record of Clovis behavior await reporting. Let us turn to them and give projectile points a rest!
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We might be beating a dead horse....but it's the only horse we have. Identifying what influences the number and intricacy of hominid material culture for the acquisition and processing of food - dominate our main source of information. Artifacts that were used for purposes other than subsistence only increased in frequency more or less 100,000 years ago, but subsistence-related artifacts make up a substantial portion of the archaeological record into the Holocene. The implications of this dominance is that to understand the evolution of hominid material culture, we have to understand the evolution of hominid subsistence technology. While I'll agree the continued infatuation of all things Clovis -especially bifacially related - may limit researchers field of vision. This in turn leads to most of the published research on post-LGM North America to be centered on the hunting and prey choice based only on a small number of confirmed sites with a lithic assemblage that actually have the "Clovis" type bifaces - which in most cases - we can only infer a megafuana prey association. Meanwhile, the osseous points that are also more or less represented at the same Clovis sites (as well as some pre-Clovis sites) can also be inferred as to having a close association with megafaunal remains - lack the romanticism most archaeologist have for the sexy Clovis point. I will admit to an over-exuberance when finding any part of a fluted point out in the field - but as my research demonstrates - flaked stone points aren't the only way to kill (or beat) the horse. That being said, archaeologists focus on projectile point weaponry in hunter-gatherer toolkits because that technology (lithic, bone, or composite) is the key to understanding our ancestors motivations. The points used to kill that horse was the vehicle that drove them to the prehistoric grocery store for their most needed resources like clothing, tools, containers, shelter materials, (etc. etc.) not just for a meal. So basically, sorry you newbies are bored with the constant flow of research on projectile points. Try to learn how to knapp one - then try hunting with one. The insights you gain will explain the reason why archaeologists keep beating the dead horse.
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I interested to comprehend the tectonic set up of Pleistocene terraces.
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Dear Mr. Saha,
the term terrace needs to be geomorphologically and in view of the coastal regime in Bangladesh defined and constrained more properly . In the present form , no precise answer can be given.
H.G.Dill
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I am interested in any published data on how percentage of different age stages (juveniles, subadults ...) change depending on the type of the taphocoenoses etc?
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contact to Prof. Rajeev patnaik, dept. of Geology, Chandigarh University ( India)as he is working on siwalik rodents set up the bichronology of Siwalik rodents.
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I belong to a research team of archaeologists from the Univeristy of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) that works in the Liberated Territories of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
One of the aspects of our research focuses on the analysis of the palaeoenviroment in this region during the Pleistocene.
We've obtained some OSL samples from palaeodunes and we would like to know if someone knows a dating laboratory with experience in the analysis of this sort of environments or has worked with samples form the Sahara desert.
Thank you very much.
Link to the website of the project: http://www.kultursahar.org/
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Dear Joseba,
Professor David S.G. Thomas at Oxford
has decades of experience applying OSL in that region.
Best wishes,
Nathan
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I have been searching for some articles which may address the problem mentioned above. I could find some excellent papers dealing with origin of red beds in sand dunes but hardly any dealing with fluvial deposits of Holocene or Late Pleistocene.
Any help in this regard is welcomed.
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Dr Jérôme Juilleret additions to the photo nicely highlight the depositional and post-depositional events of this sequence. Although the oxidation can be caused by several processes, in profiles such as this, it has been my experience in the western U.S., southern Italy, Jordan and Iran, that they occur under conditions of fluctuating water table, and their location in a profile is often linked to zones of lateral movement of ground water across a sedimentary profile due to the presence of zones of increased grain size. These more permeable units allow more rapid movement ground water. When these units occur at the top of the ground water table, oxidation also commonly occurs. The variable occurrence of these units in your profile more than likely record different levels of your water table
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Dear Researchers
I have recently collected leptobos / its relatives from Pinjor Formation of Siwaliks; can we make comparative study?
Regards
Akbar
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wonderful
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This sand body is located on the southern edge of the Pannonian Basin, on the southern slopes of the Papuk Mountain, and the age is Pleistocene, approximately 1.6 million years. The sand is medium to coarse grained with 2-31% of gravel. It contains a lot of fossil remains (fish bones, dolphin bones) from a nearby older sediments (Pliocene and Badenian). No structures were found on site that would help us to determine sedimentary environment.
Could it be a quick slope movement of sediment triggered by earthquake?
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Dear Dr. Banak,
You may be on the right track but for an in-depth analysis I would like to know some more information, e.g.:
1. Where is this rock positioned along the paleoslope? What rocks are up- and down-slope?
2. What is its upper and lower contact like?
3. How did it debouch and what is its aerial distribution like?
4. What is its extension downslope?
5. You did not see any structural and textural variation.
Are there any lateral facies changes? Currently I am speculating on massing wasting processes in an alluvial to colluvial regime.
With kind regards
H.G.Dill
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We found these fossils on outcrop of Late Pleistocene deposits (clay) in southwestern coast of Novaya Zemlya archipelago (Yuzhny island, Moller bay). Also, this outcrop are rich for molluscs’ shells (genuses: Tridonta, Mya, Hiatella).
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Dear Obianuju P. Umeji, thanks a lot for your answer. As I understand, our last three samples are Gryphaea’s operculums.
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Pleistocene remains such as woolly mammoth bones have been found in some quarries in southern Indiana. Do these fossils in quarry settings indicate a high energy depositional environment, perhaps from glacial meltwater overland flow or floods of some sort? How many such finds exist from quarry locations? What is the range of such finds?
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Dear Joanne,
I presume sand or/and gravel is excavated in the quarries you mentioned. Such sediments are indicative of a medium to high energy depositional environment, which implies high accumulation rates. This leads to fast burial of bones, which are protected from surface weathering agents.
That's why gravel and sand are good for storing large mammal remains that are not easily fragmented by hydraulic transport in a high-energy setting. In southern Romania, most mammoth fossil remains are found in sands and gravels, but there are also some found in loess - not that many, however, since it would take a high rate of sedimentation to cover large bones in aeolian dust.
Coming back to quarry deposits - sand and gravels are not necessarily deposited from glacial meltwater or floods. Regular fluvial deposits can do the trick just as well.
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Hello! What could be a reason for disapperance of diatoms, when sponge spicules are still present, as they are from the same material SiO2?
Thanks in advance
Max
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Max:
As pointed out by Andrew, first ensure that Diatoms and Sponges are present continuously in your section. Have a look at this link for understanding relative dissolution biogeochemistry of Sponge and Diatoms.
Best
Syed
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  1. I've found a humerus in a river bed. I'm not sure, but I think it's from a rhino. Could this bone be assigned as a genus ?
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In all rivers around the world you can always find single bones. The bone seems undoubtedly old but an accurate dating will be difficult and costly.
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I am working on the fossils of holocene sediments in bengal basin.
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Thank you Jennifer for your help. Do you know the name of journal pl? Regards
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I've attached a pdf with 4 ostracod photos.  The sample comes from an "ostracod ironstone", thought to be Early Paleozoic, Mackenzie Mountains, western Northwest Territories Canada. The nesting is the curiosity. Thanks.
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Terry,
In the most striking example of nesting I notice that there there appears to be fine clastic sediment between each molt stage. The main set of nested valves in the previous set may be in opposite orientation to the largest one. Also, if you look at all of the material, most of it is not nested. It suggests to me that sometimes the valves are moved around a bit and they, occasionally, just fit together.
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I am interested in whether or not there is any evidence of historical distributions of extant seabird groups in the North, particularly in relation to glacial recession, but have not been able to locate any specific sources for this information.
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Here are a couple of potentially useful papers (Miller; Sexson), although they are somewhat small-scale and focused on very recent (late 20th/early 21st CE) climate change and glacial melting effects; I suspect other more recent papers can be found on the topic. More broadly and historically...there must be something related to either the recent Little Ice Age (~1400-1800 C.E./A.D.) or the last major Ice Age (< 20,000 B.C.E.) - I assume more what you are interested in - but I haven't found it. I've found a couple sources on the former for Antarctic and sub-Tropical birds species (e.g., a 1000-year time series in the 3rd attached file, numerous penguin studies...) - let me know if these might be of interest.
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I am working on population genetics of typical wetland species in the northeast Germany. 
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Thank you very much for your replies. I am working now with Oenanthe aquatica and Lycopus europaeus. For these species I have 10 markers following Favre-Bac et al 2014. But I will start with Iris pseudocarus soon and I don't know how to design microsats for this species. Lab protocols would be useful! Thank you Michael :)
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There are a lot of wide ranges of Arc-collision stage age and Gondwana collision age!!      
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Dear Osama: well, so you are indeed referring to the Neoproterozoic-Eocambrian Panafrican Orogeny, as seen in Eastern Africa (Mozambique Belt), South Africa (Cape Belt) southern Brazil, Antarctica, Australia, India and elsewhere. The timing of such a large tectonic event in not restricted whatsoever, it took more than 100 Ma to assemble Gondwanaland from various Paleozoic continental blocks, volcanic arcs, and alocthonous terranes generated by the rifting of supercontinent Rodinia. We don't have any recognizable Panafrican-aged rocks in Venezuela (only some detritic zircons show the age range 650-550 Ma), in this continent the event affected mostly southern Brazil, where it is called Braziliano Orogeny, coeval with similar events and belts in Nigeria-Niger. Information about these events can be found in the magazine Gondwana Research, to which I suppose you can access (we cannot access it here, it is simply prohibitive...).  Regards, Sebastian.
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I see different approximate timings of the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (ranging 56-55 Ma) in the literature.What is the most accurate internationally accepted timing and duration of PETM?
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GTS 2012 (Gradstein et al. 2012) is currently the golden standard of geological time. In the Paleogene chapter by Vandenberghe et al. (2012) you will find that the base of the PETM (= base of Ypresian) is situated at 55.84 Ma. The duration of the PETM is about 170-200 ky. Yet, this is not very well constrained as there is no strict definition of the (rather gradual) end of the PETM and/or the associated carbon isotopic excursion (CIE). 
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I'm searching for rodents and insectivores in the Pliocene of Belgium. There only seem to be records from the Paleogene and Pleistocene
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Francien:
This link and the references therein might be helpful:
Best
Syed
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Actually I am thinking about the mode of formation of Pleistocene red clay in Bangladesh.
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Dr Professor,
the Barind Tract Formation is most probaly combination beween sedimentation (alluvium) and rubifaction, consequently the red clay are paleosol.
Have a look to:
M. Shafiqul Alam, Eddy Keppens, Roland Paepe, The use of oxygen and carbon isotope composition of pedogenic carbonates from pleistocene palaeosols in NW Bangladesh, as palaeoclimatic indicators, Quaternary Science Reviews, Volume 16, Issue 2, 1997, Pages 161-168, ISSN 0277-3791, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(96)00044-3.
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Dear all, I have some marine gastropod fossils from Sangiran Central Java Indonesia which more than 75% of the collection were found in Recent/Quarter period; the sediment was classified as Pleistocene. I wonder if somebody here could suggest me please on where and how much the cost to radio-date their geological age, perhaps their 87Sr/86Sr ration or else? as I am not at all familiar in that field. Cheers.
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Norma:
You may find this link useful:
Best
Syed
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Elphidium gunteri has been identified in Plio-Pleistocene sediments in the Salton Basin. I'm attempting to determine whether or not this species arrived via a marine incursion from the Gulf of California. (The other possibility is avian transport.)
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I would like to know whether any individual belonging to any extinct or extant bird species is conserved in any museum or other place worldwide. Would like to know about genetic studies on this material.
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Thanks a lot Andrey, I would manage to do that
Regards
Carlos
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(From Pleistocene in Southeast Asia)
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Thank you very much Mrs. Shannon for link about fosil shark teeth. I'll try to learn it :)
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The clay assemblage in Qaidam basin is mainly composed by illite, chlorite and smectite (including mixed layer minerals) with low content of kaolinite since Pleistocene. While the abonormally high content of smectite occured in core clay-rich sediments at ~12ka, and the thickness of the core sediments is about 50 cm. The lithofacies features of the core is mainly composed by the lower part (below ~50m in depth) of clay and dark peat and the upper part of halite, halite with silt and silty clay.
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Hello Weiliang Miao,
Although the attached review article (chapter) is about clay minerals in soils per se, that's where most clay minerals are formed (which may then be recycled in geosystems), and it has a section on the formation of  smectites. The article is: Churchman, G.J., Lowe, D.J. 2012. "Alteration, formation, and occurrence of minerals in soils". In: Huang, P.M.; Li, Y; Sumner, M.E. (eds) “Handbook of Soil Sciences. 2nd edition. Vol. 1: Properties and Processes”. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp.20.1-20.72. ( If it hasn't uploaded properly please go to my ResearchGate site where it is available (in final MS form) or get a copy of the Handbook 2nd ed.)
The previous comments about bentonites and weathered volcanic ash need to be considered closely - a recent review 2016  by Warren D. Huff  "K-bentonites: a review" in American Mineralogist, Volume 101, pages 43–70, on these might be useful as well (in helping explain smectite formation). 
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I need the refference points for "post-holes looking" features in the Nile Valley
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Hi,
Thank You very much for help! If You could scan that paper and send to me - I would be much grateful! Actually, I've already submitted a paper concerning my finds (after reviews, waiting for the proofs - Antiquity), but any other evidence will be wellcomed!
Greetings,
Piotr Osypiński
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Hi, molecular clock rates are widely used to link genetic divergence in invertebrates to vicariance; for example, geological events in the Pleistocene, or earlier in the Miocene. My question is how far back in time is appropriate for (invertebrate) mtCOI dating analysis? Is the Mesozoic too far back in time?  (btw, I realise the use of mtCOI molecular clock rates are controversial)
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Riddle and Hafner (chapter 7 in Biogeography in a changing world, Ed. Ebach and Tangney 2007) compiled a graph showing keyword search on ISI web of science using "phylogeograph" and geological time, and had produced some results for "Cretaceous". However, there are considerably more results for Holocene-Miocene than Oligocene to Cretaceous. Pleistocene has the modal peak. 
Although this does not answer why there are not many phylogeographic studies for Oligocene-Cretaceous events, which is a question I am also wondering, I hope this is helpful to you.
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I would like to get age constraints on the deposition of fluvial sediments in a river deposit in the Kenya Rift. Age estimates are Mid to Late Pleistocene. The sources are mostly basaltic, trachytic and phonolitic lava flows. Quarz content is fairly low, so I'm guessing OSL won't be the method of choice. Any ideas?
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I would suggest post-IR IRSL K-feldspar dating: worked fine for the Middle to Late Pleistocene Rhine in The Netherlands. 
More info on the technique can also be found at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jakob_Wallinga
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I have read about several hypothesis to explain the development of agriculture in many parts of the world by the end and soon after the Pleistocene. Does anyone tested/studied the following: the over-hunting of megafauna resulted in ephemeral and localized food surpluses and, soon after, population pressure, which by their turn leaded to the experimentation with wild plants and more investment of time in cultivation resulting in the development of agriculture?
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The human impact on Pleistocene megafauna is not clear at all.
See Lorenzen et al., 2011 paper in Nature :
Despite decades of research, the roles of climate and humans in driving the dramatic extinctions of large-bodied mammals during the Late Quaternary period remain contentious. Here we use ancient DNA, species distribution models and the human fossil record to elucidate how climate and humans shaped the demographic history of woolly rhinoceros, woolly mammoth, wild horse, reindeer, bison and musk ox. We show that climate has been a major driver of population change over the past 50,000 years. However, each species responds differently to the effects of climatic shifts, habitat redistribution and human encroachment.
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Trying to track down any mention of ground bone points from LSA East African contexts without much luck!
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Thanks guys. I've contacted a bunch of people and general consensus is there is very little/none published on unbarbed points from East Africa. So I'll just have to compare the material I have to Southern African assemblages! Thanks again!
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Now I'm working on with fossil fish remains of the genus Esox (Esocidae) from the heterochronous strata of Southeastern Europe in the range of Late Miocene - Pleistocene. Infomation about the qualitative and quantitative composition of the extinct pikes is very important for me. How many species are described? Which of them are valid? I will be very thankful for the correct information on this topic!
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Hello, Olexandr
I found this list. It's a older, from 1984, but still (file name is article of source).
Best regards, Matija
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We found a well preserved fossil fish in older Pleistocene lacustrine sediments composed of clastic varves. If there is anyone who can help, please, contact me !
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Hello!
I've seen quite a few papers on this topic on the Olexandr Kovalchuk's page.
You can have a look at his ResearchGate profile and publications, and maybe contact him and see if he's interested:
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We are looking for a multidisciplinary team to carry out geological, chronological and environmental studies on stratigraphical sequences reaching at least 20 m deep. Our initial evaluations suggest that the deposits may present a continuous chronostratigraphical sequence dating from around 1.5 Myrs. The two volcanic structures are in a closed depression context linked to soil subsidence at the base of their lava emission centers. This situation is due either to the collapse of the craters under the weight of the lava or to the retraction of the lava during its cooling phase. These depression structures functioned as sediment traps which have yielded archaeological surface remains attributable to the Middle Pleistocene and through to the Holocene. They are located in the south of France, in the Baumes volcanic complex (communes of Caux, Nizas, Pézenas, Lezignan-la-Cebe ...). Exceptional sediment traps, the exhaustive study of these infillings would be a major asset for the paleoenvironmental restitution of the sector and more broadly of Western Europe since 1.5 Ma.
Please contact me if you are interested and I will be able to provide you with more information.
Je cherche une équipe pluri-disciplinaire pour l'étude géologique, chronologique et environnementale sur des séquences stratigraphiques de minimum 20 m de profondeur susceptibles de recouvrir une chronologie continue depuis 1,5 Ma. Il s'agit de deux structures volcaniques en dépression fermées dues à l’affaissement de sol à l’aplomb de centres d’émission de lave soit liées à un effondrement des structures du cratère sous le poids de la lave soit à la rétractation de la matière lors du refroidissement de la lave. Ces structures dépressionnaires ont fonctionné comme des pièges sédimentaires et livrent des éléments archéologiques en surface depuis le pléistocène moyen jusqu’à l’holocène. Elles sont localisées dans le sud de la France, dans le complexe volcanique des Baumes (communes de Caux, Nizas, Pézenas, Lézignan-La-Cèbe ...). Pièges sédimentaires exceptionnels, l’étude exhaustive de leur remplissage serait un atout majeur pour la restitution paléo-environnementale de ce secteur et plus largement de l’Europe de l’ouest depuis 1.5 Ma.
Merci de me contacter pour de plus amples renseignements.
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Chere Laurence,
j'ai travaille un peu plus au Sud and le pleistocene ancien dans des sequences volcaniques de l'Escandorgue et avec une approche multidisciplinaire. Je serais tres heureuse de reprendre des travaux sur ce sujet avec votre equipe. Dans mon equipe a Londres nous pouvons faire de la geologie, stratigraphie, palynologie et macrorestes. Toutefois nous n'avons pas la possibilite de faire du paleomagnetisme et de datations, mais je pourrais facilement revigorer mes anciens contactes.
N'hesitez pas a me contacter: suzanne.leroy@brunel.ac.uk
Quelques references utiles
Leroy S.A.G., Arpe K. and Mikolajewicz U., 2011. Vegetation context and climatic limits of the Early Pleistocene hominin dispersal in Europe. Quaternary Science Reviews 30: 1448-1463.
Brugal J.-P., Ambert P., Bandet Y., Leroy S., Roiron P., Suc J.-P. et Vernet J.-L., 1990. Mammifères et végétaux du maar pliocène final de Nogaret (Escandorgue, Hérault, France). Géobios, 23, 2: 231-247.
Leroy S., Ambert P., and Suc J.-P., 1994. Pollen record of the Saint-Macaire maar (Hérault, southern France): a Lower Pleistocene glacial phase in the Languedoc coastal plain. Rev. Palaeobot. Palyn. 80: 149-157.
Leroy S.A.G. and Roiron P., 1996. Final Pliocene macro and micro floras of the paleovalley of Bernasso (Escandorgue, France). Review of Palaebot. and Palynol. 94: 295-328.
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I want to study the formation process of freshwater icthyofauna on the south of Eastern Europe during the Late Cenozoic. First of all, I want to learn how it is possible to extract DNA of extant bony fishes, and after that - start to extract DNA of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene samples. How can I do this? I will be very thankful to everyone for the comments and advice on methodology.
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Prof. Filip Volckaert of the K.U.Leuven was the first to extract DNA from ancient fish bones on material from Apamea (syria) and Sagalassos (turkey); you can find his mail address via the university
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The two atlases from Late Pleistocene gravel deposits of the Magdeburg region, northern Germany, have been assigned to the auerochs (Bos primigenius) but look quite different. Are there any criteria to rule out that one of them actually belonged to the steppe bison (Bison priscus)?
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Dear Michael,
I do not have access to complete or partial skeletons of Bos primigenius or Bison priscus, so the following observations are only made based on differenced mentioned in literature between the atlases of two extant bovids that are the closest to the species mentioned above: Bos taurus and, respectively, Bison bison. The morphology of the atlas in the extant species may not be identical to the one seen in the extinct taxa, but, since they belong to the same genus (Bos taurus and Bos primigenius; Bison bison and Bison priscus), I think they can be used as a pretty good proxy.
There are two atlases in the pdf you attached. I will refer to the one that is lighter in colour as A1, and to the darker one as A2.
The main reference I suggest you check out is:
Olsen, S. J. 1960. Postcranial skeletal characters of Bison and Bos, Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University 35(4).
When referring to differences in the morphology of the atlas, Olsen points out three important features in separating the two genera: the shape of the neural canal, the shape of the transverse processes ("wings" as he refers to them), and the shape of the anterior notch (I'm sending you part of the paper by private message - you can read more about the differences there).
Based on his description, A1 appears, in my opinion, to show the features mentioned by Olsen as typical for Bison, whereas A2 is more similar to Bos.
It is, of course, only a first impression, which needs to be confirmed by comparison to more Bos and Bison specimens (both extant and extinct), but it seems to me that both Bos primigenius and Bison priscus are present in your collection.
There are more relevant differences between Bos and Bison in the morphology of limb bones. Do you have any bovid limb bones from the same sites?
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The order in which teeth are replaced may give information on phylogeny and life-history variables (Schultz's Rule), but also environment. Specifically, it might show whether the permanent premolars erupted before the M1 erupted or is in wear is important.
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Yes, I know, and I did it for the fossil baboon Paradolichopithecus arvernensis. I hoped that somebody had done the same for Megaloceros, but this seems not the case, I'm afraid.
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Looking at a collection of molars from Middle Pleistocene (Saalian) to Late Pleistocene (Weichselian) gravel pits of northern Germany, I found some that are clearly distinct from the usual Mammuthus primigenius teeth, especially in their somewhat larger width of enamel lamellae (around 1.8 cm). Do these rather represent the steppe mammoth (M. trogontherii) or the straight-tusked elephant (E. antiquus)? Distinction criteria?
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Dear Michael,
The specimens you ask about are indeed clearly distinct from M. primigenius, but they are difficult to assign to E. antiquus or M. trogontherii, first of all because the two species are not clearly separable morphometrically (their measurements overlap), and secondly because these particular specimens are not complete.
The first two specimens (the posterior parts of upper molars) do, however show some features that suggest there is more probable they belong to E. antiquus:
- the wear figures ins the plates that are not in an advanced degree of wear. In E. antiquus, these figures show a typical "dot-dash-dot" pattern (. - .), whereas in M. trogontherii, the pattern is more likely "dash-dot-dash". Looking at the molars from your picture, a "dot-dash-dot" pattern is visible in both upper molars in the 3rd-4th and, respectively 2nd plate preserving the occlusal surface (counting from front to back).
- in the more worn plates, the middle part of the wear figure is more spaced (there is more space between the enamel crests of the same plate near the midline of the tooth). This is also a trend more common in E. antiquus.
- the enamel is quite folded, which happens more in the case of E. antiquus.
- the plates are more tightly packed in E. antiquus (the space in-between the plates, filled with cement, is not that wide). Mind you, this is quite common in all elephantids in the posterior part of the molars.
The criteria mentioned above are not absolute (they may also occur on some M. trogontherii molars), but, in my opinion, they hint towards E. antiquus.
The last molar is an extremely worn lower M3, and most of its features are not visible any more - I wouldn't venture on assigning it to any of the two Middle Pleistocene elephantids. More than that, it also shows an anomaly - one of the plates splits laterally into two (it appears as Y-shaped) - and anomalous teeth might differ a bit from typical ones.
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I'm looking for the paper of Matsumoto (1924) in which the genus was established, the paper in which Palaeoloxodon raised up to rank of genus e and so on. Can you help me?
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Especially Betula, Pinus, Corylus, Quercus, Tilia, Ulmus, Alnus, Carpinus, Fagus. From where did each of them come when they successively reappear in the Holocene pollen records of Middle Europe?
From Iberia? Italy? The balkans? Anatolia? The levante? The Mediterranean region in general? East Europe? Central Asia? What is known about their refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum and migration paths thereafter?
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Dear Michael,
Please check these papers also:
Bhagwat SA, Willis KJ: Species persistence in northerly glacial refugia of Europe: a matter of chance or biogeographical traits? J Biogeogr 2008, 35:464–482.;
Petit RJ, Brewer S, Borda´cs S, Burg K, Cheddadi R, et al. (2002) Identification of refugia and post-glacial colonisation routes of European white oaks based on chloroplast DNA and fossil pollen evidence. For Ecol Manage 156: 49–74.
Magri D, Vendramin GG, Comps B, Dupanloup I, Geburek T, Gomory D,
Latalowa M, Litt T, Paule L, Roure JM, Tantau I, van der Knaap WO, Petit RJ,
de Beaulieu JL: A new scenario for the Quaternary history of European
beech populations: palaeobotanical evidence and genetic
consequences. New Phytol 2006, 171:199–221.
Generally, you will get the direction of the arrows if you read both population genetic and pollen papers. Especially the Fagus and Pinus arrows should not originate from the Balkans, but from further north! See relevant publications.