Fragmentation of Neanderthals' pre-extinction distribution by climate change

Melchionna, Marina; Febbraro, Mirko Di; Carotenuto, Francesco; Rook, Lorenzo; Mondanaro, Alessandro; Castiglione, Silvia; Serio, Carmela; Vero, Veronica A.; Tesone, Gianmarco; Piccolo, Martina; Diniz‐Filho, José Alexandre Felizola; Raia, Pasquale

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.01.031

Cited by 38 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…; Melchionna et al . ). For each interval, we extracted climate data at each occurrence and background point.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…; Melchionna et al . ): (i) mean temperature during summer (warmest quarter), (ii) mean temperature during winter (coldest quarter), (iii) mean precipitation during summer (mean precipitation during the warmest quarter), and (iv) mean precipitation during winter (mean precipitation during the coldest quarter). Palaeoclimatic variables were re‐projected into a Lambert equal area coordinate reference system, at a final spatial resolution of ~50 km.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The cave bear population decline seems to coincide with the Neanderthals' decline (Melchionna et al . ), and the latter went extinct some 40 kya (Higham et al . ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Palaeoclimatic variables for SDM calibration were derived from simulations of past climates (Singarayer & Valdes 2010) provided from 72 to 8 kya with a temporal resolution of 4 kilo years and downscaled at 0.5°spatial resolution (Maiorano et al 2013). We considered the following four climatic predictors, which proved effective at predicting the Late Pleistocene distribution of several mammal species Melchionna et al 2018): (i) mean temperature during summer (warmest quarter), (ii) mean temperature during winter (coldest quarter), (iii) mean precipitation during summer (mean precipitation during the warmest quarter), and (iv) mean precipitation during winter (mean precipitation during the coldest quarter). Palaeoclimatic variables were re-projected into a Lambert equal area coordinate reference system, at a final spatial resolution of~50 km.…”

Section: Calculating Habitat Suitability Estimates For Ursus Spelaeusmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Additive effects of climate change and human hunting explain population decline and extinction in cave bears

Mondanaro

Febbraro

Melchionna

et al. 2019

Boreas

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Cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) are an iconic component of the European late Quaternary Ice Age megafauna. Recent demographic analyses based on cave bear mtDNA sequences and refined radiocarbon dating indicate that cave bear population size and genetic diversity started to decline some 50 kilo years ago (kya). Hence, neither the coldest phase of the last glaciation (started some 24 kya), nor the colonization of Europe by Palaeolithic hunters (started some 45 kya) coincides with the beginning of population decline. Here, we reconstructed cave bear climatic niche evolution through time. Then, we performed spatially explicit population viability analyses to assess cave bear demographics through time in response to climatic changes, human effects on bear survival and their combination. We found that climate change was responsible for a 10‐fold decrease in cave bear population size after 40 kya. However, climate change on its own could not explain U. spelaeus extinction at 24 kya. Additional negative effects consistent with human population expansion are required to explain both U. spelaeus' retreat from eastern Europe since 40 kya and its final extinction.

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“…; Melchionna et al . ). For each interval, we extracted climate data at each occurrence and background point.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The cave bear population decline seems to coincide with the Neanderthals' decline (Melchionna et al . ), and the latter went extinct some 40 kya (Higham et al . ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Calculating Habitat Suitability Estimates For Ursus Spelaeusmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Additive effects of climate change and human hunting explain population decline and extinction in cave bears

Mondanaro

Febbraro

Melchionna

et al. 2019

Boreas

Self Cite

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“…One difference may be that leaky replacement implies that introgressed alleles increase the fitness of the invading species (as in adaptive introgression: Hedrick, ; Pardo‐Diaz et al, ; Racimo, Sankararaman, Nielsen, & Huerta‐Sánchez, ), but the consulted literature is not explicit at this point. In spite of a long history of investigation, considerable debate revolves around whether Neanderthals became extinct because of climate change or competition with anatomically modern humans (Banks et al, ; Benito et al, ; Gilpin, Feldman, & Aoki, ; Kolodny & Feldman, ; Melchionna et al, ) and the degree to which they hybridized (Currat & Excoffier, ; Neves & Serva, ; Villanea & Schraiber, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An amphibian species pushed out of Britain by a moving hybrid zone

Arntzen

2019

Molecular Ecology

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Classical theory states that hybrid zones will be stable in troughs of low population density where dispersal is hampered. Yet, evidence for moving hybrid zones is mounting. One possible reason that moving zones have been underappreciated is that they may drive themselves into oblivion and with just the superseding species remaining, morphological and genetic signals of past species replacement may be difficult to appreciate. Using genetic data (32 diagnostic single nucleotide polymorphisms) from a clinal hybrid zone of the common toad (Bufo bufo) and the spined toad (Bufo spinosus) in France for comparison, alleles of the latter species were documented in common toads in the south of Great Britain, at frequencies in excess of 10%. Because long distance dispersal across the Channel is unlikely, the conclusion reached was that the continental toad hybrid zone which previously extended into Britain, moved southwards and extirpated B. spinosus. Species distribution models for the mid‐Holocene and the present support that climate has locally changed in favour of B. bufo. The system bears resemblance with the demise of Homo neanderthalensis and the rise of Homo sapiens and provides an example that some paleoanthropologists demanded in support of a hominin “leaky replacement” scenario. The toad example is informative just because surviving pure B. spinosus and an extant slowly moving interspecific hybrid zone are available for comparison.

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Neanderthal palaeoecology in the late Middle Palaeolithic of western Iberia: a stable isotope analysis of ungulate teeth from Lapa do Picareiro (Portugal)

Carvalho

Jones

Ellis

et al. 2021

J Quaternary Science

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Adaptation to Late Pleistocene climate change is an oft‐cited potential contributor to Neanderthal disappearance in Eurasia. Accordingly, research on Neanderthal behaviour – including subsistence strategies, mobility, lithic technology, raw material procurement and demography – often focuses on linking changes observable in the archaeological record to specific phases of climate and environmental change. However, these correspondences are often tenuous because palaeoclimatic and archaeological records are rarely available on the same scale. In Iberia, a critical location for understanding the demise of Neanderthals, some research indicates that Neanderthal populations were unable to recover from environmental degradations known as Heinrich Events, while other studies suggest that enclaves of Neanderthal populations survived for several millennia longer in refugial zones. Here, we present a palaeoenvironmental reconstruction study using analysis of δ13C and δ18O of herbivore tooth enamel recovered from two Mousterian deposits at Lapa do Picareiro, a site located in Portuguese Estremadura. We then use these data, combined with other site‐based palaeoenvironmental indicators, to assess whether central Portugal acted as a refugium during periods of unfavourable climate, and to test whether Neanderthals in Portuguese Estremadura reorganised their mobility strategies after severe climate episodes.

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Fragmentation of Neanderthals' pre-extinction distribution by climate change

Cited by 38 publications

References 68 publications

Additive effects of climate change and human hunting explain population decline and extinction in cave bears

Additive effects of climate change and human hunting explain population decline and extinction in cave bears

An amphibian species pushed out of Britain by a moving hybrid zone

Neanderthal palaeoecology in the late Middle Palaeolithic of western Iberia: a stable isotope analysis of ungulate teeth from Lapa do Picareiro (Portugal)

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