Distinguishing the taphonomic signature of wolves from humans and other predators on small prey assemblages
Abstract The study of human subsistence strategies in prehistoric hunter-gatherer communities is essential to understanding the evolution of human behaviour. An important topic of interest is the expansion of dietary breadth, resulting in the procurement of a larger number of small game species. How...
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crspringernat:10.1038/s41598-020-64716-8 2023-05-15T15:50:29+02:00 Distinguishing the taphonomic signature of wolves from humans and other predators on small prey assemblages Lloveras, Lluís Nadal, Jordi Fullola, Josep Maria Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad Departament d'Innovació, Universitats i Empresa, Generalitat de Catalunya Departament d'Innovació, Universitats i Empresa, Generalitat de Catalunya 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64716-8 http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-64716-8.pdf http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-64716-8 en eng Springer Science and Business Media LLC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY Scientific Reports volume 10, issue 1 ISSN 2045-2322 Multidisciplinary journal-article 2020 crspringernat https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64716-8 2022-01-04T12:19:14Z Abstract The study of human subsistence strategies in prehistoric hunter-gatherer communities is essential to understanding the evolution of human behaviour. An important topic of interest is the expansion of dietary breadth, resulting in the procurement of a larger number of small game species. However, to make accurate interpretations of human subsistence, the correct identification of the agents responsible for archaeofaunal assemblages is crucial, and actualistic studies that establish the taphonomic signature of the different predators are indispensable. Despite being one of the most ubiquitous carnivores in prehistoric archaeological sites, the role of wolves ( Canis lupus ) as agents responsible for small-prey accumulations has never been examined. The aims of this study are to analyse the taphonomic patterns left by wolves on rabbit remains and to put forward a series of criteria that can help distinguish assemblages produced by this carnivore from those accumulated by people or by other predators. Our results reveal that wolves ingest and consume the whole rabbit carcass, with the consequence that all rabbit remains accumulated by wolves come from the scats. The referential framework provided in this study will make it possible to discriminate wolves as agents of fossil rabbit accumulations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Springer Nature (via Crossref) Scientific Reports 10 1 |
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Springer Nature (via Crossref) |
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English |
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Multidisciplinary |
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Multidisciplinary Lloveras, Lluís Nadal, Jordi Fullola, Josep Maria Distinguishing the taphonomic signature of wolves from humans and other predators on small prey assemblages |
topic_facet |
Multidisciplinary |
description |
Abstract The study of human subsistence strategies in prehistoric hunter-gatherer communities is essential to understanding the evolution of human behaviour. An important topic of interest is the expansion of dietary breadth, resulting in the procurement of a larger number of small game species. However, to make accurate interpretations of human subsistence, the correct identification of the agents responsible for archaeofaunal assemblages is crucial, and actualistic studies that establish the taphonomic signature of the different predators are indispensable. Despite being one of the most ubiquitous carnivores in prehistoric archaeological sites, the role of wolves ( Canis lupus ) as agents responsible for small-prey accumulations has never been examined. The aims of this study are to analyse the taphonomic patterns left by wolves on rabbit remains and to put forward a series of criteria that can help distinguish assemblages produced by this carnivore from those accumulated by people or by other predators. Our results reveal that wolves ingest and consume the whole rabbit carcass, with the consequence that all rabbit remains accumulated by wolves come from the scats. The referential framework provided in this study will make it possible to discriminate wolves as agents of fossil rabbit accumulations. |
author2 |
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad Departament d'Innovació, Universitats i Empresa, Generalitat de Catalunya Departament d'Innovació, Universitats i Empresa, Generalitat de Catalunya |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lloveras, Lluís Nadal, Jordi Fullola, Josep Maria |
author_facet |
Lloveras, Lluís Nadal, Jordi Fullola, Josep Maria |
author_sort |
Lloveras, Lluís |
title |
Distinguishing the taphonomic signature of wolves from humans and other predators on small prey assemblages |
title_short |
Distinguishing the taphonomic signature of wolves from humans and other predators on small prey assemblages |
title_full |
Distinguishing the taphonomic signature of wolves from humans and other predators on small prey assemblages |
title_fullStr |
Distinguishing the taphonomic signature of wolves from humans and other predators on small prey assemblages |
title_full_unstemmed |
Distinguishing the taphonomic signature of wolves from humans and other predators on small prey assemblages |
title_sort |
distinguishing the taphonomic signature of wolves from humans and other predators on small prey assemblages |
publisher |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64716-8 http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-64716-8.pdf http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-64716-8 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
Scientific Reports volume 10, issue 1 ISSN 2045-2322 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64716-8 |
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Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
10 |
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1 |
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1766385443248537600 |