The turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) represents one of the few domestic animals of the New World. While current research points to distinct domestication centres in the Southwest USA and Mesoamerica, several questions regarding the number of progenitor populations, and the timing and intensity of turkey husbandry remain unanswered. This study applied ancient mitochondrial DNA and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) analysis to 55 archaeological turkey remains from Mexico to investigate pre-contact turkey exploitation in Mesoamerica. Three different (sub)species of turkeys were identified in the archaeological record (M. g. mexicana, M. g. gallopavo and M. ocellata), indicating the exploitation of diverse local populations, as well as the trade of captively reared birds into the Maya area. No evidence of shared maternal haplotypes was observed between Mesoamerica and the Southwest USA, in contrast with archaeological evidence for trade of other domestic products. Isotopic analysis indicates a range of feeding behaviours in ancient Mesoamerican turkeys, including wild foraging, human provisioning and mixed feeding ecologies. This variability in turkey diet decreases through time, with archaeological, genetic and isotopic evidence all pointing to the intensification of domestic turkey management and husbandry, culminating in the Postclassic period.

Interest in the first hunter-gatherer populations of Mexico has increased in the last fifteen years. Exploration of the Late Pleistocene localities involved in the early peopling of Mexico, including the discovery of new ones and reanalysis of known ones, and the application of new methods and techniques (e.g. AMS radiocarbon dating, stable isotopes, scanning electron microscopy, palaeobotanical analysis) have increased. Archaeozoology has contributed to this expansion by increasing the record of terrestrial vertebrates, improving understanding of the record and delimitation of distributional ranges of extinct species. There is now more information on the type of diet of some extinct herbivores and hypotheses about the status of local palaeoenvironments have been provided. Questions remain about the interactions between human migrations and the environments, specifically the degree of influence that humans had in the extinction of mega- and mesofaunas, and the diversity of subsistence strategies employed by hunter-gatherers in the Late Pleistocene.

No abstract

<p>Este debate entre editores de revistas científicas que publicam trabalhos nas áreas de etnobiologia e etnoecologia foi proposto para fomentar uma discussão a fim de compreender aspectos relacionados ao processo editorial e às tendências dentro das respectivas áreas. Participaram editores das revistas Ethnoscientia, Ethnobiology Letters, Etnobiología e Amazônica: revista de antropologia, que redigiram perguntas norteadoras aos demais colegas. A partir deste debate observamos que todos os quatro editores possuem posicionamentos semelhantes sobre diversos temas acerca da publicação de trabalhos científicos nas áreas de etnobiologia e etnoecologia. Fica claro que estas revistas não impõe nenhuma linha restritiva quanto aos tipos trabalhos publicados e compartilham grande preocupação quanto à qualidade geral dos trabalhos publicados, às questões éticas atreladas a eles, bem como o respeito à diversidade, autonomia e a participação ativa dos povos e comunidades tradicionais colaboradoras. Outro fator comum a estas publicações é a preocupação com a democratização e acessibilidade às revistas, questão que as fazem buscar diferentes estratégias para viabilizar o acesso dos autores e também dos leitores. </p>

No abstract