Where were the northern elephant seals? Holocene archaeology and biogeography of Mirounga angustirostris
Driven to the brink of extinction during the nineteenth century commercial fur and oil trade, northern elephant seal (NES, Mirounga angustirostris) populations now exceed 100 000 animals in the northeast Pacific from Alaska to Baja California. Because little is known about the biogeography and ecolo...
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ftcalpoly:oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:ssci_fac-1084 2023-11-12T04:16:39+01:00 Where were the northern elephant seals? Holocene archaeology and biogeography of Mirounga angustirostris Rick, Torben C. DeLong, Robert L. Erlandson, Jon M. Braje, Todd J. Jones, Terry L. Arnold, Jeanne E. Des Lauriers, Matthew R. Hildebrandt, William R. Kennett, Douglas J. Vellanoweth, Rene L. Wake, Thomas A. 2011-11-01T07:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/ssci_fac/82 https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683611400463 https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/context/ssci_fac/article/1084/viewcontent/JonesTL_2011_WhereWereNorthernElephantSeals.pdf unknown DigitalCommons@CalPoly https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/ssci_fac/82 doi:10.1177/0959683611400463 https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/context/ssci_fac/article/1084/viewcontent/JonesTL_2011_WhereWereNorthernElephantSeals.pdf Social Sciences historical ecology human–environmental interactions marine conservation Pacific Coast pinniped Phocidae Social and Behavioral Sciences text 2011 ftcalpoly https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683611400463 2023-10-17T10:11:42Z Driven to the brink of extinction during the nineteenth century commercial fur and oil trade, northern elephant seal (NES, Mirounga angustirostris) populations now exceed 100 000 animals in the northeast Pacific from Alaska to Baja California. Because little is known about the biogeography and ecology of NES prior to the mid-nineteenth century, we synthesize and analyze the occurrence of NES remains in North American archaeological sites. Comparing these archaeological data with modern biogeographical, genetic, and behavioral data, we provide a trans-Holocene perspective on NES distribution and abundance. Compared with other pinnipeds, NES bones are relatively rare throughout the Holocene, even in California where they currently breed in large numbers. Low numbers of NES north of California match contemporary NES distribution, but extremely low occurrences in California suggest their abundance in this area was very different during the Holocene than today. We propose four hypotheses to explain this discrepancy, concluding that ancient human settlement and other activities may have displaced NES from many of their preferred modern habitats during much of the Holocene. Text Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Alaska DigitalCommons@CalPoly (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo) Baja Nes ENVELOPE(7.634,7.634,62.795,62.795) Nes’ ENVELOPE(44.681,44.681,66.600,66.600) Pacific The Holocene 21 7 1159 1166 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
DigitalCommons@CalPoly (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo) |
op_collection_id |
ftcalpoly |
language |
unknown |
topic |
historical ecology human–environmental interactions marine conservation Pacific Coast pinniped Phocidae Social and Behavioral Sciences |
spellingShingle |
historical ecology human–environmental interactions marine conservation Pacific Coast pinniped Phocidae Social and Behavioral Sciences Rick, Torben C. DeLong, Robert L. Erlandson, Jon M. Braje, Todd J. Jones, Terry L. Arnold, Jeanne E. Des Lauriers, Matthew R. Hildebrandt, William R. Kennett, Douglas J. Vellanoweth, Rene L. Wake, Thomas A. Where were the northern elephant seals? Holocene archaeology and biogeography of Mirounga angustirostris |
topic_facet |
historical ecology human–environmental interactions marine conservation Pacific Coast pinniped Phocidae Social and Behavioral Sciences |
description |
Driven to the brink of extinction during the nineteenth century commercial fur and oil trade, northern elephant seal (NES, Mirounga angustirostris) populations now exceed 100 000 animals in the northeast Pacific from Alaska to Baja California. Because little is known about the biogeography and ecology of NES prior to the mid-nineteenth century, we synthesize and analyze the occurrence of NES remains in North American archaeological sites. Comparing these archaeological data with modern biogeographical, genetic, and behavioral data, we provide a trans-Holocene perspective on NES distribution and abundance. Compared with other pinnipeds, NES bones are relatively rare throughout the Holocene, even in California where they currently breed in large numbers. Low numbers of NES north of California match contemporary NES distribution, but extremely low occurrences in California suggest their abundance in this area was very different during the Holocene than today. We propose four hypotheses to explain this discrepancy, concluding that ancient human settlement and other activities may have displaced NES from many of their preferred modern habitats during much of the Holocene. |
format |
Text |
author |
Rick, Torben C. DeLong, Robert L. Erlandson, Jon M. Braje, Todd J. Jones, Terry L. Arnold, Jeanne E. Des Lauriers, Matthew R. Hildebrandt, William R. Kennett, Douglas J. Vellanoweth, Rene L. Wake, Thomas A. |
author_facet |
Rick, Torben C. DeLong, Robert L. Erlandson, Jon M. Braje, Todd J. Jones, Terry L. Arnold, Jeanne E. Des Lauriers, Matthew R. Hildebrandt, William R. Kennett, Douglas J. Vellanoweth, Rene L. Wake, Thomas A. |
author_sort |
Rick, Torben C. |
title |
Where were the northern elephant seals? Holocene archaeology and biogeography of Mirounga angustirostris |
title_short |
Where were the northern elephant seals? Holocene archaeology and biogeography of Mirounga angustirostris |
title_full |
Where were the northern elephant seals? Holocene archaeology and biogeography of Mirounga angustirostris |
title_fullStr |
Where were the northern elephant seals? Holocene archaeology and biogeography of Mirounga angustirostris |
title_full_unstemmed |
Where were the northern elephant seals? Holocene archaeology and biogeography of Mirounga angustirostris |
title_sort |
where were the northern elephant seals? holocene archaeology and biogeography of mirounga angustirostris |
publisher |
DigitalCommons@CalPoly |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/ssci_fac/82 https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683611400463 https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/context/ssci_fac/article/1084/viewcontent/JonesTL_2011_WhereWereNorthernElephantSeals.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(7.634,7.634,62.795,62.795) ENVELOPE(44.681,44.681,66.600,66.600) |
geographic |
Baja Nes Nes’ Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Baja Nes Nes’ Pacific |
genre |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Alaska |
genre_facet |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Alaska |
op_source |
Social Sciences |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/ssci_fac/82 doi:10.1177/0959683611400463 https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/context/ssci_fac/article/1084/viewcontent/JonesTL_2011_WhereWereNorthernElephantSeals.pdf |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683611400463 |
container_title |
The Holocene |
container_volume |
21 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
1159 |
op_container_end_page |
1166 |
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1782333737099329536 |