Carnivores and their prey in the Wezmeh Cave (Kermanshah, Iran): a Late Pleistocene refuge in the Zagros

Mashkour, Marjan; Monchot, Hervé; Trinkaus, Erik; Reyss, Jean-Louis; Biglari, Fereidoun; Bailón, Salvador; Heydari, Saman; Abdi, Kamyar

doi:10.1002/oa.997

Cited by 35 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…A lion jaw was found in the Neolithic site (3000–3500 BC) of Qabrestan (24), in the Qavvin plain near the Caspian Sea (Maschkour 2001). Bones were also found in the Neolithic sites of Tai‐Iblis (25; 3000–3500 BC; Bökönyi 1967 in Mashkour et al. 2009), Mahr Alis (26; 3000–3500 BC; Maschkour, personal communication) and Takht‐i‐Suleiman (1500 BC; 27) near the Urmia lake (Vila 1998).…”

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Past and present distribution of the North African–Asian lion subgroup: a review

Schnitzler¹

2011

Mammal Review

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1. The North African-Asian lion subgroup, which is composed of two subspecies, the Barbary lion, Panthera leo leo, and the Asian lion, P. l. persica, was nearly exterminated during the last centuries. The remaining free-ranging population of Asian lions consists of c. 350 animals in India. The Barbary lion subsists as captive animals in zoos or circuses, all of which originate from the Moroccan Royal Collection. There have been multiple genetic hybridizations with sub-Saharan lions. 2. Several incomplete distribution maps of the past occupation of lions were proposed in the literature. I examine the distribution of these lions with the help of a larger database, extracted from zoological, archaeological and historical reports. Some records are however not completely reliable. Data were collected over a long period of time (from the Epipaleolithic to the modern times) in Eurasia, North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. 3. Dispersal took place in latitudes as far south as 15°N (Yemen) to 18°N (Mali; Chad) and as far north as 45-48°N (Bulgaria); and to longitudes as far west as 5.57°W (Morocco) and as far east as 84°E (India). Expansion was probably constrained by natural ecological factors northwards (higher seasonality, harsher winters) and southwards (extension of aridity after 3000 BP). At latitudes between 40 and 43°N, lions seem to have become a permanent part of the fauna during 6-8 millennia. 4. Lions were brought to extinction by humans through hunting, captures for exhibition in zoos and by the associated natural fragmentation of wild populations. The dates at which extinction took place varied greatly according to the geographical sites: 3000 BC for temperate Europe; 1000 BC in the south of Greece; 12-13th century in the Near East, Arabian Peninsula, Trans-Caucasia or north of Afghanistan; and 19-20th century for North Africa, the Middle East and India.

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Past and present distribution of the North African–Asian lion subgroup: a review

Schnitzler¹

2011

Mammal Review

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“…Human remains or traces of human presence have also been recorded in other carnivore dens, such as: Wezmeh cave (Iran) (Trinkaus et al, 2008;Mashkour et al, 2009), Geula cave (Israel) (Monchot, 2005), Les Auzières 2 and Bois Roche (France) (Marchal et al, 2009;Villa et al, 2010) or Zourah cave (Morocco) (Monchot and Aouraghe, 2009). …”

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Understanding the ancient habitats of the last-interglacial (late MIS 5) Neanderthals of central Iberia: Paleoenvironmental and taphonomic evidence from the Cueva del Camino (Spain) site

Arsuaga

Baquedano

Pérez‐González

et al. 2012

Quaternary International

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The Cueva del Camino site (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid) represents the most complete MIS 5 record from the Iberian Peninsula (away from the Mediterranean margin), including a large accumulation of fossilized remains of small and large vertebrates and two human teeth. The presence of carnivores (mainly hyenas) and humans suggests that the site should be interpreted as a spotted hyena den, a human occupation, or both.During an earlier phase of excavation undertaken during the 1980s, an anthropic origin was suggested for the accumulation at the site.

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“…The lack of Neanderthals fossils is due to limited field excavation and purposeful Palaeolithic research in the study area 15 , 19 . One other reason for the lack of fossils records is that Neanderthals coexisted with predators like hyenas 32 , 33 so these animals probably exhumed shallow-buried Neanderthals in caves or rock shelters and stopped the fossilization process before it started 38 . SDMs are successfully used to find new populations of species and were suggested as a useful tool to identify potential areas for fieldwork and species monitoring 22 .…”

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confidence: 99%

Species distribution models advance our knowledge of the Neanderthals’ paleoecology on the Iranian Plateau

Yousefi

Heydari‐Guran

Kafash

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) were distributed across a vast region from europe to western and central Asia. the neanderthals' paleoecology and distribution has been extensively studied in europe where the species originated. However, very little is known about their paleoecology in southwestern Asia. Here, we employed species distribution modelling and 45 Middle Palaeolithic (c. 200,000-40,000 years BCE) sites location associated with fossil and/or lithic artefacts made by the neanderthals to examine the expansion of the neanderthals on the iranian plateau in southwestern Asia. We estimated the niche overlap between neanderthals and wild goat, wild sheep and persian gazelle by modelling their past distribution using 200, 143 and 110 occurrence records respectively. the results show that neanderthals had highest niche overlap with wild goat in the study area. this analysis revealed that the most suitable neanderthals' habitats in southwestern Asia were located in the Zagros Mountains stretches from northwestern and western and some isolated patches in the central parts of the iranian plateau. the annual precipitation and maximum temperature of the warmest month were the most important predictor of the species' distribution. This finding shows that the southern edge of the neanderthals distribution was limited by warm summer. our results provide important information for future field investigations and excavations in the area. Our closest relative, Neanderthals, separated from the modern human lineage around 800,000-1,200,000 years ago 1 and became extinct around 40 kya 2. During that time, Neanderthals were distributed across Europe and Asia (ibid) and experienced several glacial and interglacial periods. Besides of the questions concerning their coexistence with Homo sapiens and replacement, there are still many other basic questions which are not fully answered such as Neanderthals' expansions and their adaptation capabilities in different environments. Despite Neanderthals being extensively studied across Europe 3-10 and in the Levant 11-13 , very little is known about its paleoecology on the Iranian Plateau. Knowing Neanderthals paleoecology promotes deciphering the drivers of Neanderthal range expansion, their extinction and identifying the Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens contact zone and understanding our own species past ecology. The Iranian Plateau, the southern east-most expansion of the Neanderthals, is located in southwestern Asia and has been recognized as an important dispersal corridor for Pleistocene hominin species and played a prominent role in their evolution 14-16. Over the past decades, Middle Palaeolithic (c. 200,000-40,000 years BCE) occupations have been discovered in a number of different Palaeolithic sites in the Iranian Plateau 15-19 , but no study was performed to determine the species paleo-distribution and identify abiotic drivers of its distribution, both of which are necessary in understanding the Middle Palaeolithic species paleoecology. Recently, Species Distribution...

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Carnivores and their prey in the Wezmeh Cave (Kermanshah, Iran): a Late Pleistocene refuge in the Zagros

Cited by 35 publications

References 34 publications

Past and present distribution of the North African–Asian lion subgroup: a review

Past and present distribution of the North African–Asian lion subgroup: a review

Understanding the ancient habitats of the last-interglacial (late MIS 5) Neanderthals of central Iberia: Paleoenvironmental and taphonomic evidence from the Cueva del Camino (Spain) site

Species distribution models advance our knowledge of the Neanderthals’ paleoecology on the Iranian Plateau

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