Paweł Socha

The tooth of a Neanderthal child from Stajnia Cave, Poland.

Department of Human Biology, Wrocław University, ul. Ku znicza 35, 50-138 Wrocław, Poland Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom c Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Sławkowska 17, 31-016 Kraków, Poland Division of Palaeozoology, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Wrocław University, ul. Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335 Wrocław, Poland X-ray Microtomogrpahy Lab, Department of Biomedical Computer Systems, Institute of Computer Science, Faculty of Computer and Materials Science, University of Silesia, Będzi nska 39, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland Department of Archaeology, Institute of History and International Relations, Szczecin University, ul. Krakowska 71-79, 71-017 Szczecin, Poland

Continuous 300,000-year fossil record: changes in the ornithofauna of Biśnik Cave, Poland

Biśnik Cave is situated in a limestone rock about 50 km northeast of Krakow, southern Poland. Its importance stems from the fact that it is one of the few sites in Europe, and the only one in Poland, with 300,000-year-long sequence of uninterrupted sediments, that cover the time span from before the Saalian to the Holocene. The excavations yielded about 200,000 animal bones and more than 4,000 stone, bone and antler artifacts. Bird remains from Biśnik Cave consist of nearly 1,600 skeletal fragments of at least 96 taxa that represent a minimum of 285 individuals. The majority of the remains belong to Galliformes; relatively numerous are also Corvidae, Falconiformes, Anseriformes and the genus Turdus. The remains include one extinct taxon (Falco tinnunculus atavus) and four species new for the Polish fossil avifauna (Aquila heliaca, Pinicola enucleator, Loxia pytyopsittacus and Carduelis flammea). Avian remains indicate a mosaic of various habitats in the surroundings of Biśnik Cave. Some kind of mature forest or at least sparsely growing trees, as well as water bodies, marshes, wet meadows, steppe and tundra habitats must have been present during the entire time of sedimentation. It is postulated that the Krakow-Czestochowa Upland was a local refugium for the forest fauna during the Saalian and Vistulian glaciations.

Mineralization of teeth and bones of the cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) from the Biśnik Cave, Southern Poland

Mineralization of teeth and bones of the cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) from the Biśnik Cave, Southern Poland The studied bones and teeth of the cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) come from the Biśnik Cave, located in the Częstochowa Upland (Southern Poland). The specimens originate from different geological layers formed since the Odra Glaciation (250-270 thousand years BP). The fossilized bones and teeth were studied using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy, and INAA. They are built of recrystallized carbonate-rich apatite-(CaOH) and/or apatite-(CaOH). The teeth additionally contain some apatite-(CaF). The lack of collagen and minor REE contents suggest rapid burial and collagen decay in the early stage of diagenesis. The bones and teeth have only limited mineral infillings. In some teeth, Mn-Fe (hydroxy)oxides were found in the dentine canaliculi and in bones, some osteocyte lacunae contain Fe (hydroxy)oxides with admixture of Mn. In one bone specimen, calcite infillings are present in Haversian canals. The infillings formed during later stages of diagenesis and were succeeded by non-filled cracks.

Impact of climatic changes in the Late Pleistocene on migrations and extinction of mammals in Europe: four case studies

Climate changes that occurred during the Late Pleistocene have profound effects on the distribution of many plant and animal species and influenced the formation of contemporary faunas and floras of Europe. The course and mechanisms of responses of species to the past climate changes are now being intensively studied by the use of direct radiocarbon dating and genetic analyses of fossil remains. Here, we review the advances in understanding these processes by the example of four mammal species: woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), cave bear (Ursus spelaeus s. l.), saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) and collared lemmings (Dicrostonyx ssp.). The cases discussed here as well as others show that the migrations, range shifts and local extinctions were the main responses to climate changes and that the dynamics of these climate driven processes were much more profound than it was previously thought. Each species reacted by its individual manner, which depended on its biology and adaptation abilities to the changing environment and climate conditions. The most severe changes in European ecosystems that affected the largest number of species took place around 33–31 ka BP, during the Last Glacial Maximum 22–19 ka BP and the Late Glacial warming 15–13 ka BP.