Palaeoecological and biostratigraphical implications of the microvertebrates of Qesem Cave in Israel

The origins of the domesticate brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) and its pathways to domestication

“…extends across Eurasia, with a Rattus species ( Rattus cf. haasi ) present in the eastern Mediterranean up until at least the Last Glacial Maximum ( LGM ) (e.g., in the Zuttiyeh cave, Israel: Tchernov, 1968 ; Yarimburgaz Cave, Turkey: Santel et al, 1998 ; Qesem Cave, Israel: Maul et al, 2016 ). However, both the dating and the taxonomic relationship between the modern brown rat species and these Pleistocene rats remains unclear ( Tchernov 1968 ).…”

The hooting past. Re-evaluating the role of owls in shaping human-place relations throughout the Pleistocene

“…The provided insights are relevant for better understanding the behavioural evolution of owls, but also illustrate the fragile relationship between these birds and Middle Pleistocene hominins in the Levant. Qesem's high-resolution record allows for the identification of spatially discrete concentrations of well-preserved macro-and microfaunal remains, some of which can be interpreted in terms of their potential producers (Maul et al 2011(Maul et al , 2016.…”

Pleistocene amphibians and squamates from the Upper Jordan Rift Valley, Gesher Benot Ya’aqov and Nahal Mahanayeem Outlet (MIS 20–18 and MIS 4/3)

“…Research focusing on amphibians and squamates from archaeological sites in the southern Levant is the exception and is not yet well developed, although several comprehensive studies do report amphibian and squamate taxa in detail (Stekelis and Haas, 1952; Haas, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1968; Bar-Yosef and Tchernov, 1966; Heller, 1978; Tchernov, 1984; Valla et al, 1986; Biton et al, 2013, 2016; Smith et al, 2013, 2016). Nevertheless, the potential contribution of these groups to paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstruction in the southern Levant has already been demonstrated in Pleistocene–Holocene contexts (Stekelis and Haas, 1952; Tchernov, 1994; Delfino et al, 2007; Maul et al, 2011, 2016).…”

“…Certain groups of vertebrates, especially micromammals, are widely used to reconstruct Pleistocene paleoclimate and environments (e.g., Tchernov, 1982, 1986; Avery, 1988; Fernández-Jalvo, 1995; Cuenca-Bescós et al, 2009; Belmaker and Hovers, 2011; Maul et al, 2011, 2016; Belmaker et al, 2016; Nel and Henshilwood, 2016; Piñero et al, 2016; Stoetzel and Montuire, 2016). Micromammals are useful as an indicator, particularly for the late Pleistocene onward, because most of the species identified in archaeological assemblages from this period onward have extant representatives (Cuenca-Bescós et al, 2016) and their ecological requirements are known and can be used to reconstruct past environments.…”