Datation par ESR-U/th combinées de dents fossiles des grottes d’El Mnasra et d’El Harhoura 2, région de Rabat-Temara. Implications chronologiques sur le peuplement du Maroc atlantique au Pléistocène supérieur et son environnement

Idrissi, Nouha Janati; Falguères, Christophe; Haddad, M.; Nespoulet, Roland; Hajraoui, Mohamed Abdeljalil El; Debenath, André; Bejjit, L.; Bahain, Jean‐Jacques; Michel, Patrick; Garcia, Tristan; Boudad, Larbi; Hammouti, Kamal El; Oujaa, Aïcha

doi:10.4000/quaternaire.6127

Cited by 28 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…), belongs to a complex of several caves probably resulting from marine and karstic erosion of calcarenitic rocks during the transition between Oxygen Isotopic Stage (OIS) 5 and 6 (around 130 kyr BP). Human populations inhabited EH2 since the beginning of the Late Pleistocene, from around 120 to 5.8 kyr BP (Nespoulet et al ., , b; Jacobs et al ., ; Janati Idrissi et al ., ). Eleven archaeological levels are recognized (Table ), levels 1–8 of which were considered in our study.…”

Section: The El Harhoura 2 Cavementioning

confidence: 97%

“…Few Quaternary North African sites have yielded enough and well‐studied small vertebrate remains to tackle such issues. The Témara caves in Morocco [notably El Harhoura 2 (EH2) and El Mnasra] are currently the only ones providing large amounts of small vertebrate remains in a well‐established chronological context that covers the whole Late Pleistocene and Middle Holocene (Stoetzel, ; Stoetzel et al ., ; Jacobs et al ., ; Janati Idrissi et al ., ). Among these remains, mouse teeth were especially abundant and offered a remarkable opportunity to study a sequence of evolution of Moroccan mice during the last climatic cycle, before alteration of these habitats by humans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Musin Morocco: a Quaternary sequence of intraspecific evolution

Stoetzel

Denys

Michaux

et al. 2013

Biol J Linn Soc Lond

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North Africa is an intricate biogeographical region at the crossroads of immigration waves from tropical Africa and Asia. Species confined between various barriers (Atlas Mountains, arid environments such as the Sahara in the south, water masses such as the Mediterranean Sea in the north, and the Atlantic Ocean in the west) were generally forced to adapt locally to environmental changes instead of tracking their habitat by shifting their distribution area. The present study aims at providing first insight into the evolution of the genus Mus, and more specifically of the western Mediterranean species Mus spretus in this area. The study relies on the abundant Late Pleistocene and Middle Holocene fossil assemblage from the El Harhoura 2 cave (Rabat‐Témara, Morocco). This exceptional record was studied using geometric morphometrics applied to first upper and lower molars, constituting the most informative and best preserved fossil remains for such small rodents. Two main issues were addressed. (1) Geometric morphometrics was used to clarify taxonomic status and phylogenetic relationships among fossil and modern species in this area. Morphometric analysis revealed good discrimination of most modern and fossil species but failed to document intermediate forms tracing anagenetic evolution. Not mutually exclusive, the occurrence of complex processes of morphological evolution in this genus such as parallel evolution and the action of stabilizing selection may make it difficult to translate patterns of morphological evolution into phylogenetic conclusions. (2) The record was shown to document a sequence of intraspecific evolution of M. spretus. The morphology of the molars through the fossil record of El Harhoura 2 was surprisingly stable despite extensive modern variation. The limited temporal variation largely failed to correlate to palaeoenvironmental proxies. The mouse fossil record at El Harhoura 2 thus presents an intriguing case of morphological stasis despite extensive environmental changes. This long‐term stability may have been recently perturbed by anthropogenic factors including landscape changes and introduction of various competitors and predators, leading to a size reduction. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 109, 599–621.

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Section: The El Harhoura 2 Cavementioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Musin Morocco: a Quaternary sequence of intraspecific evolution

Stoetzel

Denys

Michaux

et al. 2013

Biol J Linn Soc Lond

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“…For enamel in low U-content, isotopic ratios (italic) are associated with large relative errors (between 10 and 20%). (Jacobs et al, 2012;this work) and TL dosimeters (Janati-Idrissi et al, 2012) in levels 3 and 4A. A mean value was calculated for each level.…”

Section: Table Captionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combined US-ESR dating of fossil teeth from El Harhoura 2 cave (Morocco): New data about the end of the MSA in Temara region

Arous

Falguères

Tombret

et al. 2020

Quaternary International

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The study of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) in North Africa is essential to better understand the human dispersals during the Late Pleistocene. The timing of the transition from the MSA to the Later Stone Age (LSA) in the region is still debated due to the scarcity of sites and the limited chronological constraints available. Among the few existing MIS 5 to MIS 1 archaeological sites in Northwestern Africa, El Harhoura 2 cave (Morocco) has been extensively excavated during the last decade. It has provided MSA and LSA sequences from which human remains have been systematically discovered in association with faunal and lithic assemblages. The combined US-ESR method has been applied to date five teeth from layer 3 and 4A, which correspond to the most recent MSA occupations at El Harhoura 2 cave. The results suggest the disappearance of the MSA at this site to have occurred around ~ 40 ka, at the end of MIS 3, which is consistent with the palaeoenvironmental interpretation derived from the faunal remains. These new results suggest that the last MSA human occupation are ~15 ka more recent than previously showed by OSL dating. Further investigation is required to fully understand the reason of such discrepancy between the two methods.

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“…Moreover, they appear to be relevant indicators palaeo-environmental transitions and offer a range of opportunities to explore the impact of environmental changes on extinct organisms. used in this study (Stoetzel, 2009;Janati-Idrissi et al, 2012;Stoetzel et al, 2012a;Ben Arous et al, 2019, 2020. Three datations muscle (MP) from mandible shape.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The contribution of functional traits to the understanding of palaeoenvironmental changes

Terray

Stoetzel

Herrel

et al. 2021

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

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Performance traits implicated in feeding interact directly with the environment and are consequently relevant ecological indicators. However, they have rarely been used to better understand palaeoenvironmental variation. Here, we evaluate the usefulness of a performance (i.e. functional) trait, estimated bite force, in reconstructing the palaeoecology of shrews. We investigate the relationships between mandible morphology, bite force estimates and the ecological context. We use geometric morphometrics to quantify mandible shape diversity in shrews of the archaeological site El Harhoura 2 (Rabat, Morocco), dated from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene. Morphological groups were used instead of taxa as units of diversity. To explore how phenotypic traits are linked to their environment, they were compared with palaeoenvironmental inferences for the El Harhoura 2 site extracted from the literature. Morphological groups acted as phenotypic response units. Estimated bite force was related to palaeoenvironmental variation over the considered period, with a particular sensibility to arid/humid transitions. The complementarity of morphological and performance indicators allowed us to infer functional convergence and divergence among shrews. Our results suggest that functional traits may be relevant indicators of changes in palaeoenvironments. This approach opens up new possibilities to explore the impact of environmental changes on extinct organisms.

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Datation par ESR-U/th combinées de dents fossiles des grottes d’El Mnasra et d’El Harhoura 2, région de Rabat-Temara. Implications chronologiques sur le peuplement du Maroc atlantique au Pléistocène supérieur et son environnement

Cited by 28 publications

References 23 publications

Musin Morocco: a Quaternary sequence of intraspecific evolution

Musin Morocco: a Quaternary sequence of intraspecific evolution

Combined US-ESR dating of fossil teeth from El Harhoura 2 cave (Morocco): New data about the end of the MSA in Temara region

The contribution of functional traits to the understanding of palaeoenvironmental changes

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