Paleozoology and Paleoenvironments outlines the reconstruction of ancient climates, floras, and habitats on the basis of animal fossil remains recovered from archaeological and paleontological sites. In addition to outlining the ecological fundamentals and analytical assumptions attending such analyzes, J. Tyler Faith and R. Lee Lyman describe and critically evaluate many of the varied analytical techniques that have been applied to paleozoological remains for the purpose of paleoenvironmental reconstruction. These techniques range from analyses based on the presence or abundance of species in a fossil assemblage to those based on taxon-free ecological characterizations. All techniques are illustrated using faunal data from archaeological or paleontological contexts. Aimed at students and professionals, this volume will serve as fundamental resource for courses in zooarchaeology, paleontology, and paleoecology.
Author(s): J. Tyler Faith; R. Lee Lyman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: xvi+398
Cover
Half-title
Title page
Copyright information
Table of contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
One Why a Book on Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction from Faunal Remains?
A Bit More History
Volume Structure
What We Do Not Do
Final Comments
Two Fundamentals of Ecology and Biogeography
Historical Sketch
Biogeography
Ecology
Summary
Ecological Tolerances
Environments and Niches
Ecological Succession and Climax
What Is a Species to Do When the Environment Changes?
Top-Down or Bottom-Up Ecology
Resolution and Scale
Spatial and Temporal Scale
Kinds of Paleoenvironmental Change
Adaptation (Evolutionary Genetic) or Adjustment (Phenotypic Plasticity)
Conclusion
Three Analytical Assumptions
Assumption 1: Uniformitarianism
Assumption 2: Nearest Living Relative
Assumption 3: Ecological Tolerances
Assumption 4: Taxonomic Presence/Absence
Assumption 5: Faunal Composition
Assumption 6: Taxonomic Identification
Assumption 7: Sample Size and Taphonomy
Assumption 8: Small Bodies or Large Bodies
Assumption 9: Temporal Resolution
Assumption 10: Ecotone
Discussion
Four Background of Select Paleozoological Samples
Boomplaas Cave
Paleoenvironmental Summary
Homestead Cave
Paleoenvironmental Summary
Summary
Five Environmental Reconstructions Based on the Presence/Absence of Taxa
A Bit of History
What about the Absence of a Taxon?
From Faunal List to Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction
Ordination
Correspondence Analysis
Detrended Correspondence Analysis
Other Ordination Techniques
One Species at a Time (Usually)
Indicator Taxa
Climatograph
Multiple Taxa
Area of Sympatry
Mutual Climatic Range (Coexistence Approach)
The UTM-MCR Technique
Discussion
Summary
Six Environmental Reconstruction Based on Taxonomic Abundances
Taxonomic Presences or Abundances?
Is the Analysis of Taxonomic Presences a Safer Alternative?
How to Gain (or Lose) Confidence
Abundances of a Few Taxa
Abundances of Indicator Taxa
Abundance Indices
Discussion
History of Analyzing Taxonomic Abundances
Abundances of All Taxa in Assemblages
Ordination of Taxonomic Abundances
Other Techniques to Examine Abundances of All Taxa
Summary
Seven Taxon-Free Techniques
Taxon Free: What It Is and What It Is Not
A Brief History
Autecological Approaches
Ecomorphology
Paleodietary Reconstruction
Synecological Approaches
Habitat Metrics
Ecological Diversity Analysis
Taxonomic Habitat Index
The Bioclimatic Model
Ecometrics
Body Size Distributions
Dental Hypsodonty
Summary
Eight Environmental Inferences Based on Taxonomic Diversity
What Is Diversity?
How Is Diversity Quantified?
Taxonomic Richness
Sampling to Redundancy
Rarefaction
Regression Analysis
Taxonomic Heterogeneity
Taxonomic Evenness
Which Metric Should I Choose?
Practical Considerations with Fossil Data
Taxonomic Scope
Recovery and Analytical Methods
Agent of Accumulation
Differential Fragmentation
Differential Skeletal Element Representation
Time Averaging
Paleoenvironmental Implications of Taxonomic Diversity
The Varied Response of Diversity to Environmental Gradients
Paleoenvironmental Inferences
Case Study
Differential Identifiability
Differential Fragmentation
Skeletal Element Representation
Time Averaging
Agent of Bone Accumulation
Interpretation
Summary
Nine Transfer Functions and Quantitative Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction
How It Works
The Analytical Toolkit
Thackeray’s Method
Quantitative Bioclimatic Models
Dental Ecometrics
Tree Cover from Taxon-Free Characterizations
Future Prospects
The No-Analog Problem
Further Cause for Concern
Summary
Ten Size Clines as Paleoenvironmental Indicators
Size Clines in Modern Organisms
Bergmann’s Rule: More than Just Temperature
The Island Rule
Summary
Assumptions, Why Measure, and Method Basics
Assumptions
Why Measure?
Method Basics
Size Clines as a Paleoenvironmental Proxy
One Way to Go about It
Bergmann’s Rule and Past Temperature Change
Forage Availability and Predation in Large Herbivores
Summary
Eleven Some Final Thoughts
Conservation Paleozoology
Environments of Human Biological and Cultural Evolution
What Next?
Final Thoughts
Glossary
References
Index
