Differences in predatory pressure on terrestrial snails by birds and mammals

Rosin, Zuzanna M.; Olborska, Paulina; Surmacki, Adrian; Tryjanowski, Piotr

doi:10.1007/s12038-011-9077-2

Cited by 38 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…However, just few works have provided detailed and comprehensive descriptions of the resulting shell breakage patterns. Turdidae birds -mainly the blackbird and the song thrush- produce marks of strikes on the left part of the last whorl [44]. In the case of the thrush song, as a result of using a stone anvil on which to break open the shells held by the peristome [42].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because his small jaw size and mouth gape, the mice uses to concentrate his predatory activity on small or medium size land snails, mainly producing tooth bites on the aperture [44]. In contrast, the ship rat gnaws through the side of the shell and the inner whorls of the helicid snails [45], and can produce very distinctive damage patterns as the cracking of the lower part of the shell without affecting the lip or the proto-conche [46].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The mono-specific composition of the land snail assemblage is a consistent argument against the natural accumulations produced by non-human predators. Different studies have shown that predation produced by birds and mammals focus on a restricted number of species, with a marked selection of birds toward large land snails [43], [44]. However, the taxonomic composition found in birds and mammal accumulations is not mono-specific, as supported by the quantitative evidence provided by Rosin on birds and mouses [44] and Faus on rat nests [47].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Land Snails as a Diet Diversification Proxy during the Early Upper Palaeolithic in Europe

Pablo

Badal

García³

et al. 2014

PLoS ONE

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Despite the ubiquity of terrestrial gastropods in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene archaeological record, it is still unknown when and how this type of invertebrate resource was incorporated into human diets. In this paper, we report the oldest evidence of land snail exploitation as a food resource in Europe dated to 31.3-26.9 ka yr cal BP from the recently discovered site of Cova de la Barriada (eastern Iberian Peninsula). Mono-specific accumulations of large Iberus alonensis land snails (Ferussac 1821) were found in three different archaeological levels in association with combustion structures, along with lithic and faunal assemblages. Using a new analytical protocol based on taphonomic, microX-Ray Diffractometer (DXR) and biometric analyses, we investigated the patterns of selection, consumption and accumulation of land snails at the site. The results display a strong mono-specific gathering of adult individuals, most of them older than 55 weeks, which were roasted in ambers of pine and juniper under 375°C. This case study uncovers new patterns of invertebrate exploitation during the Gravettian in southwestern Europe without known precedents in the Middle Palaeolithic nor the Aurignacian. In the Mediterranean context, such an early occurrence contrasts with the neighbouring areas of Morocco, France, Italy and the Balkans, where the systematic nutritional use of land snails appears approximately 10,000 years later during the Iberomaurisian and the Late Epigravettian. The appearance of this new subsistence activity in the eastern and southern regions of Spain was coeval to other demographically driven transformations in the archaeological record, suggesting different chronological patterns of resource intensification and diet broadening along the Upper Palaeolithic in the Mediterranean basin.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Land Snails as a Diet Diversification Proxy during the Early Upper Palaeolithic in Europe

Pablo

Badal

García³

et al. 2014

PLoS ONE

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“…Furthermore, animal predation on mollusc populations is a widespread phenomenon (Quensen & Woodruff, 1997; Rosin et al, 2011). Such behaviours have been observed for many hole-boring predators, such as naticids, muricids, octopuses, crabs and birds (Grey, Lelievre & Boulding, 2005; Grey, 2005; Rosin et al, 2011; Li, Young & Zhan, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review of animal predation creating pierced shells: implications for the archaeological record of the Old World

Kubicka¹,

Rosin

Tryjanowski

et al. 2017

PeerJ

Self Cite

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BackgroundThe shells of molluscs survive well in many sedimentary contexts and yield information about the diet of prehistoric humans. They also yield evidence of symbolic behaviours through their use as beads for body adornments. Researchers often analyse the location of perforations in shells to make judgements about their use as symbolic objects (e.g., beads), the assumption being that holes attributable to deliberate human behaviour are more likely to exhibit low variability in their anatomical locations, while holes attributable to natural processes yield more random perforations. However, there are non-anthropogenic factors that can cause perforations in shells and these may not be random. The aim of the study is compare the variation in holes in shells from archaeological sites from the Old World with the variation of holes in shells pierced by mollusc predators.MethodsThree hundred and sixteen scientific papers were retrieved from online databases by using keywords, (e.g., ‘shell beads’; ‘pierced shells’; ‘drilling predators’); 79 of these publications enabled us to conduct a systematic review to qualitatively assess the location of the holes in the shells described in the published articles. In turn, 54 publications were used to assess the location of the holes in the shells made by non-human predators.ResultsAlmost all archaeological sites described shells with holes in a variety of anatomical locations. High variation of hole-placement was found within the same species from the same site, as well as among sites. These results contrast with research on predatory molluscs, which tend to be more specific in where they attacked their prey. Gastropod and bivalve predators choose similar hole locations to humans.DiscussionBased on figures in the analysed articles, variation in hole-location on pierced shells from archaeological sites was similar to variation in the placement of holes created by non-human animals. Importantly, we found that some predators choose similar hole locations to humans. We discuss these findings and identify factors researchers might want to consider when interpreting shells recovered from archaeological contexts.

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“…Birds of numerous species bring snails to their chicks as food (AKRAMOVSKIY 1970, KISS et al 1978, KORNYUSHIN et al 1984, BEREZANTSEVA 1997, BELSKIY et al 1998, ALLEN 2004, ZEMO-GLYADCHUK 2004, ROSIN et al 2011). However, data on the distances over which the snails are carried by birds are scarce (KIRCHNER et al 1975, VAGVOLGYI 1975, 1978.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%