Shrews of the genus Crocidura from El Harhoura 2 (Témara, Morocco): The contribution of broken specimens to the understanding of Late Pleistocene–Holocene palaeoenvironments in North Africa

Cornette, Raphäel; Stoetzel, Emmanuelle; Baylac, Michel; Moulin, S.; Hutterer, Rainer; Nespoulet, Roland; Hajraoui, Mohamed Abdeljalil El; Denys, Christiane; Herrel, Anthony

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.06.020

Cited by 14 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…This divergence might be caused by competition occurring among shrews. Such a competition has been suggested between Crocidura russula and other shrews species at EH2 at the exact same period (Cornette et al, 2015c), and shrew dietary specialization might be a response to competition (Smith & Remington, 1996). In L2, a second diversity drop is observed with the disappearance of the group of hard diet specialists.…”

Section: Mechanical Potential As a Palaeo-environmental Indicatormentioning

confidence: 86%

“…The morphological groups reveal variations in the number of morphotypes independent of the number of species. For example, in the recent layers of EH2 (from L4a until today) only one or two morphological groups are present per layer whereas all four species are still present suggesting morphological convergence across these species (Cornette et al, 2015c). The morphological groups are characterized by different functional outputs and in their response to environmental changes.…”

Section: Morphological Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is related to muscles of the masticatory apparatus: the coronoid process is the place of insertion of the temporalis muscle, the condylar process of the external pterygoid and the angular process of the internal pterygoid and the masseter. They all participate in generating bite force and impact bone shape in shrews (Furió et al, 2010;Cornette et al, 2015c).…”

Section: Casanovasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Maybe the adaptive strategy here implies a different relation between mechanical potential and the modularity of the mandible. A possibility might involve variation in skull shape which was not studied here (Cornette et al, 2015c).…”

Section: Casanovasmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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Section: Mechanical Potential As a Palaeo-environmental Indicatormentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Morphological Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Casanovasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Casanovasmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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“…However, it is noteworthy that MP could also give an advantage in competition between individuals of the same or different species. Competition and aggression in shrews is common (mainly involving biting) as they are very territorial (Churchfield, 1990;Kirkland, 1991;Cornette et al, 2015bCornette et al, , 2015c. As such, competition can also be expected to drive an increase in the mechanical potential of the temporalis muscle, more specifically as during aggressive interactions biting likely takes place at large gape.…”

Section: On the Relation Of Mechanical Potential And Environmental Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Humans and climate as possible drivers of the morphology and function of the mandible of Suncus etruscus in Corsica

Kouvari

Herrel

Cornette

2021

Journal of Archaeological Science

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Human-induced environmental changes have increased rapidly during the Holocene and have reached alarming levels today. Consequently, it is crucial to better understand the impact of humans and climate on the faunas and floras through time. Understanding the direct and underlying effect of past human activity not only contributes to improving our knowledge of human history but also provides insights for the future. We here investigate the effect of the human-induced environmental changes that took place during the modern era (14-19 th century AD) on the mandible of a small mammal, Suncus etruscus, in Corsica. We detected rapid morphological changes in mandible shape over the relatively short period of time included in our study, suggesting a strong human impact on the island. The morphological changes observed had functional consequences as they are related to changes in the mechanical potential of the principal masticatory muscle, the temporalis that, in turn, reflects shifts in the animal's diet over time. These results highlight the effect that the 600-year human agricultural activity shifts had on the island and its fauna. The integration of the body and the ramus of the mandible appears to be related to the mechanical potential of the temporalis muscle but does not constitute an indicator of human-induced environmental change. Whether these morphological changes are the result of natural selection (genetic processes) or of phenotypic plasticity (epigenetic processes) remains to be elucidated.

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Adaptations and Dispersals of Anatomically Modern Humans in the Changing Environments of North Africa: the Contribution of Microvertebrates

Stoetzel

2017

Afr Archaeol Rev

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Shrews of the genus Crocidura from El Harhoura 2 (Témara, Morocco): The contribution of broken specimens to the understanding of Late Pleistocene–Holocene palaeoenvironments in North Africa

Cited by 14 publications

References 38 publications

The contribution of functional traits to the understanding of palaeoenvironmental changes

The contribution of functional traits to the understanding of palaeoenvironmental changes

Humans and climate as possible drivers of the morphology and function of the mandible of Suncus etruscus in Corsica

Adaptations and Dispersals of Anatomically Modern Humans in the Changing Environments of North Africa: the Contribution of Microvertebrates

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