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Fragments of a shell and limb bones of tortoise (Testudinidae: Testudo s. l.) were found in the Lower Pleistocene deposits of the Taurida Cave, Crimean Peninsula. The remains belong to a relatively large individual with a shell of about 35 cm in length, which is larger than the modern Mediterranean representatives of Testudo s. l. The specimen is the first testudinid record in the Pleistocene of Crimea and apparently represents the last testudinid on the peninsula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We review in detail the published fossil record of turtles from Sardinia and, in addition, we document previously undescribed specimens for the first time. Among these undescribed specimens, is the oldest occurrence of Testudo hermanni on the island, from the Early Pleistocene of Monte Tuttavista. The turtle fossil record in Sardinia goes back to the Eocene and comprises 18 different taxa, pertaining to 6 lineages: Podocnemididae, Cheloniidae, Emydidae, Geoemydidae, Testudinidae, and Trionychidae. Remarkable is the occurrence of Eocene pleurodires, whose presence is in agreement with the Oligo-Miocene rifting of the Corso-Sardinian block. Interestingly, the fossil record provides evidence for the presence in the island of both Testudo hermanni and Emys orbicularis during the Pleistocene although according to molecular data the extant populations of these two taxa were introduced in recent times. Finally, a large ungual phalanx from the Middle–Late Pleistocene Monte San Giovanni bone breccia testifies the occurrence of a giant tortoise in the Quaternary terrestrial ecosystem of Sardinia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The land snail taxon Helix straminea Briganti, 1825 has been reintroduced as a valid species in 2014. We provide here a comprehensive account of its taxonomy, distribution, anatomy, phylogeny and karyology in Italy. An overview of the historical views on the validity of the species is presented and faunistic data are reviewed and implemented with new records from Campania and Basilicata. A lectotype is fixed for H. straminea from the syntypes stored in the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle of Genève, as well as for three other taxa (Helix straminiformis Bourguignat, 1876, Helix yleobia Bourguignat, 1883 and Helix straminea ssp. elongata Bourguignat, 1860). Genital system, radula and karyotype are described for the first time. Molecular analysis of two mitochondrial genes combining GenBank data and the new sequences presented in this paper showed no differentiation between the northern and southern Italian populations. The conservation status of the species and its possible threats are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the mummies in the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, Sicily as material objects that become agents of cultural meaning on regional and universal levels through processes of human praxis. Informed by three theoretical notions: materiality, spatiality and Daniel Miller's understanding of consumption, the analysis focuses on two ongoing events: the commoditization of the Catacombs as a tourist site and the scientific investigation of the mummies and their environment by teams of experts from the Sicily Mummy Project. These events are identified as processes of consumption, that is, praxes through which engagement with a material object confers it with the agency to generate cultural meaning. In general, the scientific investigation of the mummies as repositories of medical data has enabled their universal cultural agency as 'biological archives'. By contrast, arguably, the unique historical materiality of child mummy, Rosalia Lombardo, has enabled her agency as a metonym for contemporary, regional Sicilian identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the coastal sector of NW Sicily, the regional correlation of relevant unconformities recognised within the Quaternary sedimentary successions allowed the mapping of seven unconformity-bounded stratigraphic units (UBSUs). The regional unconformities are marine or subaerial erosional surfaces, as well as non-depositional surfaces, locally marked by paleosoils. The erosional surfaces were produced from marine abrasion, surface water overland/concentrated flow, river erosion, karst solution, mass movement, or wind erosion. The main lithofacies of the Quaternary UBSUs consist of: (a) marine and coastal bioclastic calcarenites, (b) aeolian sandstones, (c) river deposits, (d) colluvial deposits, (e) talus slope deposits, (f) landslide deposits, and (g) chemical carbonates (travertines and speleothems). Quaternary environmental changes, due to tectonics, climate, and sea-level oscillations, are the causes that favoured the development of erosion/deposition processes responsible for the genesis of unconformities and deposits. As a result, through the UBSU map of the NW Sicilian coastal belt, it is possible to: (i) recognise stratigraphic units controlled by tectonic, climatic, and environmental processes (and their interplay) and (ii) detect Quaternary sedimentary evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Platyrrhini are a group of Neotropical primates living in central and south America, and have been extensively studied through morphological and molecular data in order to shed light on their phylogeny and evolution. Agreement on the main clades of Neotropical primates has been reached using different approaches, but many phylogenetic nodes remain under discussion. Contrasting hypotheses have been proposed, presumably due to different markers and the presence of polymorphisms in the features considered; furthermore, neither Neotropical primate biodiversity nor their taxonomy are entirely known. In our perspective, a cytogenetic approach can help by making an important contribution to the evaluation of the phylogenetic relationships among Platyrrhini. In this work, molecular cytogenetic data regarding the principal nodes of the Neotropical monkey tree have been reviewed; classical cytogenetic data have also been considered, especially when other data have proven elusive, permitting us to discuss highly derived karyotypes characterized by a wide range of diploid numbers of chromosomes and variable chromosomal evolution with different rearrangement and polymorphism rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our knowledge of South Portugal's Neolithic and Chalcolithic subsistence strategies is limited by scarce palaeobotanical evidence (restricted to the latter period) and irregular zooarchaeological data. This framework is also affected by post-depositional biases, unevenly represented sites throughout the territory (i.e. under/over representation of sites according to their functions) and published data with disparate objectives and analytic methodologies. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that a priori theoretical assumption dominates over empirically supported arguments on crucial aspects of the Neo-Chalcolithic time period, such as (1) the relative importance of domestic versus wild species at the Neolithic onset (cal ≈5500 BC), (2) the supposed predominance of caprines herding and cervid hunting among the economic practices of the megalith builders (cal ≈4000-3000 BC) or (3) the real impact of the 'Secondary Products Revolution' and its chronology (cal ≈3000 BC onwards?). Using existing publications and unpublished reports, we critically organise the available zooarchaeological data according to geographical and ecological sub-regions, in order to discuss it under uniform analytic procedures, evaluate current models and point out directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the results of the analysis of mtDNA bone samples morphologically determined to be aurochs (Bos primigenius) from four various archaeological finds in the Czech Republic (Central Europe). The results from two of them - the Pleistocene sample from Praha-Řeporyje and the Neolithic sample from Vedrovice - probably represent contamination by modern DNA. Sequences identified in the Eneolithic Kutná Hora-Denemark site (∼5 thousand BP) confirm the presence of haplogroup P in the geographically partly isolated Czech basin. This finding (the first of its kind within the Czech Republic) is consistent with other published findings showing the domination of this aurochs haplogroup line in Europe. The combination of large individual size and 'domestic' mtDNA suggest, if inconclusively, that the Early Medieval fourth sample from Vyšehrad could potentially represent an aurochs/domestic cattle hybrid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Italian Podolian is an autochthonous breed belonging to the grey steppe cattle group. In the past, the Podolian was present throughout all of the Adriatic and the southern part of Italy, but now it is restricted to four regions and displays morphological differences according to the region. It is thought that the Podolian contributed heavily to the genetic make-up of the Chianina and Romagnola breeds, while contrasting opinions exist regarding the relationship between the Podolian and the Piemontese. This paper aimed at characterizing genetic variability and structure by means of microsatellite loci to assess the relationship between the Podolian and the most relevant European breeds, and to detect evidence of selection in the considered breeds by investigating the existence of outlier loci. The DNA of 134 Italian Podolian individuals from 14 different herds in 4 breeding areas were collected, genotyped at 30 microsatellite loci and compared to 13 Italian and European breeds, including the grey type ones and using N'dama as the outgroup. The Podolian showed the highest values of observed heterozygosity and polymorphism content. Moreover in a subset of 50 samples (chosen according to geographic origin), polymorphism data analysis evidenced the absence of a geographically determined genetic structure. The hierarchical population clustering evidenced a Podolian cluster at K=5 and the phylogenetic tree based on Reynold's distances confirmed the genetic links between the Podolian breeds. Two loci presented significantly low FST values, suggesting that they could be under the effect of balancing selection. It can be concluded that Italian Podolian has no genetic subdivision, contains a notable amount of genetic variability and is closely related to the other Podolian type breeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author reflects on the topic of ancient human migration which was discussed at the 51 International Symposium of the Society for the Study of Human Biology. According to him ancient human migration is the main cause of change in genetic and demographic structure of human populations. He states that several major topics related to migration were discussed at the symposium which included anthropology, neolithic transition and analysis of ancient DNA.

Background: The site of Grotta d'Oriente, Island of Favignana, Sicily has yielded the complete skeleton of an adult female (OB) dated to the Mesolithic age. The cranial morphometry of this individual can provide us with some useful information about the peopling of Sicily in the Early Holocene period. Aim: Morphological affinities of OB and other Sicilian Mesolithic specimens were assessed to verify hypotheses concerning the early peopling of Sicily. Subjects and methods: Craniofacial metric data were employed in a comparative analysis with European Upper Palaeolithic (UP), Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Copper/Bronze age samples, and contemporary Italians. Both a model-free and a model-bound approach were used not only to calculate craniometric distances, but also to assess the role played by gene flow and drift to produce the resulting pattern of variations and relationships. Results: A Sicilian Mesolithic (SM) sample, including OB, resulted morphologically very close to an Italian Late UP comparative group. A general similarity among Western/Central European UP and Mesolithic groups was also detected. Conclusion: Intense gene flow among hunter–gatherer populations accounts for close resemblances among various UP and Mesolithic groups. The beginning of a regional characterization is suggested by the morphological similarity between Italian Late UP and SM, and by decreasing gene flow among populations during the transition from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Mesolithic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Karyotype, location of the nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) and heterochromatin presence and composition were studied in the Antarctic whelk Neobuccinum eatoni. The karyotype exhibits 2n = 68 chromosomes with 10 pairs of metacentrics, 14 pairs of meta‐submetacentrics, six pairs of submeta‐subtelocentrics, and one pair of subtelo‐telocentrics. Silver and CMA3/methyl green staining and rDNA FISH evidenced telomeric NORs on the long arm of a pair of medium‐sized submetacentrics. Staining with AT‐specific fluorochromes evidenced telomeric bands on nearly all chromosomes and interstitial Q bands on two pairs of presumably subtelocentric chromosomes. The karyological evolution of N. eatoni seems to be characterized by a generalized neogastropod karyotype associated with a genome size increase following the accumulation of heterochromatin containing AT‐rich repetitive DNA; according to some authors the latter could be related to the modulation of morphological and functional parameters of ecological significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine a new approach to retrospective biological dosimetry, by using a long-term animal model to determine the stability of translocation frequency after in vivo irradiation. While the frequency of dicentrics is known to decrease over time, the persistence of more stable chromosomal aberrations such as translocations could be useful if their stability were definitively proved. Materials and methods: Four monkeys ( Macaca fascicularis ) were exposed to two different doses of ionizing radiation: 2 Gy whole body irradiation for two and 4 Gy for two others. Blood samples were obtained at various times after irradiation. Both total and two-way translocations were detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Translocations were scored in stable cells, that is, those without dicentrics, rings or fragments. The course of translocation frequency was analysed at four time-points: one hour (H1), 2 months (M2), 10 months (M10) and 31 months (M31) after irradiation. Results: We observed two separate trends in translocation frequency: Total translocation frequency decreased slightly in animals irradiated with a dose of 2 Gy, while two-way translocation frequency was relatively stable in all irradiated animals. Conclusions: We confirmed the long-term stability of translocations and found that it seems to depend on the type of the translocation recorded. Overall translocations were stable for up to 31 months regardless of dose, but two-way translocations were more stable than those that were non-reciprocal, especially in stable cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]