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Palaeofeces
Paleofeces (or palaeofaeces in British English) are ancient human feces, often found as part of archaeological excavations or surveys. The term coprolite is often used interchangeably, although coprolite can also refer to fossilized animal feces. Intact feces of ancient people may be found in caves in arid climates and in other locations with suitable preservation conditions. They are studied to determine the diet and health of the people who produced them through the analysis of seeds, small bones, and parasite eggs found inside. The feces can contain information about the person excreting the material as well as information about the material itself. They can also be chemically analyzed for more in-depth information on the individual who excreted them, using lipid analysis and ancient DNA analysis. The success rate of usable DNA extraction is relatively high in paleofeces, making it more reliable than skeletal DNA retrieval. The reason this analysis is possible at all i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhamnus (plant)
''Rhamnus'' is a genus of about 140 accepted species of shrubs or small trees, commonly known as buckthorns, in the family Rhamnaceae. Its species range from tall (rarely to ) and are native mainly in east Asia and North America, but found throughout the temperate and subtropical Northern Hemisphere, and also more locally in the subtropical Southern Hemisphere in parts of Africa and South America. One species, the common buckthorn (''Rhamnus cathartica''), is able to flourish as an invasive species, invasive plant in parts of Canada and the United States, where it has become naturalisation (biology), naturalized. Both deciduous and evergreen species occur. The leaves are simple, long, and arranged alternately, in opposite pairs, or almost paired (subopposite). One distinctive character of many buckthorns is the way the venation (botany), veination curves upward towards the tip of the leaf. The plant bears fruits which are black or red berry-like drupes. The name is due to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behaviour, while cultural anthropology studies cultural meaning, including norms and values. The term sociocultural anthropology is commonly used today. Linguistic anthropology studies how language influences social life. Biological anthropology, Biological (or physical) anthropology studies the biology and evolution of Human evolution, humans and their close primate relatives. Archaeology, often referred to as the "anthropology of the past," explores human activity by examining physical remains. In North America and Asia, it is generally regarded as a branch of anthropology, whereas in Europe, it is considered either an independent discipline or classified under related fields like history and palaeontology. Etymology The abstract noun ''wikt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zooarchaeology
Zooarchaeology or archaeozoology merges the disciplines of zoology and archaeology, focusing on the analysis of animal remains within archaeological sites. This field, managed by specialists known as zooarchaeologists or faunal analysts, examines remnants such as bones, shells, hair, chitin, scales, hides, and proteins, such as DNA, to derive insights into historical human-animal interactions and environmental conditions. While bones and shells tend to be relatively more preserved in archaeological contexts, the survival of faunal remains is generally infrequent. The degradation or fragmentation of faunal remains presents challenges in the accurate analysis and interpretation of data. Characterized by its interdisciplinary nature, zooarchaeology bridges the studies of ancient human societies and the animal kingdom. Practitioners, from various scientific backgrounds including anthropology, paleontology, and ecology, aim primarily to identify and understand human interactions with a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stercobilin
Stercobilin is a tetrapyrrolic bile pigment and is one end-product of heme catabolism. It is the chemical responsible for the brown color of human feces and was originally isolated from feces in 1932. Stercobilin (and related urobilin) can be used as a marker for biochemical identification of fecal pollution levels in rivers. Metabolism Stercobilin results from breakdown of the heme moiety of hemoglobin found in erythrocytes (red blood cells). Macrophages break down senescent erythrocytes and break the heme down into biliverdin, which rapidly reduces to free bilirubin. Bilirubin binds tightly to plasma proteins (especially albumin) in the blood stream and is transported to the liver, where it is conjugated with one or two glucuronic acid residues into bilirubin diglucuronide, and secreted into the small intestine as bile. In the small intestine, some bilirubin glucuronide is converted back to bilirubin via bacterial enzymes in the terminal ileum. This bilirubin is furth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coprostanol
5β-Coprostanol (5β-cholestan-3β-ol) is a 27-carbon stanol formed from the net reductive metabolism of cholesterol (cholest-5en-3β-ol) in the Gut (zoology), gut of most higher animals and birds. This compound has frequently been used as a biomarker for the presence of human feces, faecal matter in the Ecosystem, environment. 5β-coprostanol is thought to be exclusively bacterial in origin. Chemical properties Solubility 5β-coprostanol has a low water solubility, and consequently a high octanol-water partition coefficient . In other words, 5β-coprostanol has an affinity nearly 1 billion times higher for octanol than for water. This means that in most environmental systems, 5β-coprostanol will be associated with the solid phase. Degradation In Hypoxia (environmental), anaerobic sediments and soils, 5β-coprostanol is stable for many hundreds of years enabling it to be used as an indicator of past faecal discharges. As such, records of 5β-coprostanol from paleo-environme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coprolite
A coprolite (also known as a coprolith) is fossilized feces. Coprolites are classified as trace fossils as opposed to body fossils, as they give evidence for the animal's behaviour (in this case, diet) rather than morphology. The name is derived from the Greek words κόπρος (''kopros'', meaning "dung") and λίθος (''lithos'', meaning "stone"). They were first described by William Buckland in 1829. Before this, they were known as "fossil fir cones" and "bezoar stones". They serve a valuable purpose in paleontology because they provide direct evidence of the predation and diet of extinct organisms. Coprolites may range in size from a few millimetres to over 60 centimetres. Coprolites, distinct from '' paleofeces'', are fossilized animal dung. Like other fossils, coprolites have had much of their original composition replaced by mineral deposits such as silicates and calcium carbonates. Paleofeces, on the other hand, retain much of their original organic compo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Çatalhöyük
Çatalhöyük (English: Chatalhoyuk ; ; also ''Çatal Höyük'' and ''Çatal Hüyük''; from Turkish language, Turkish ''çatal'' "fork" + ''höyük'' "tumulus") is a Tell (archaeology), tell (a mounded accretion resulting from long-term human settlement) of a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from approximately 7500 BC to 5600 BC and flourished around 7000 BC. In July 2012, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Çatalhöyük overlooks the Konya Plain, southeast of the present-day city of Konya (ancient Iconium) in Turkey, approximately from the twin-coned volcano of Mount Hasan. The eastern settlement forms a mound that would have risen about above the plain at the time of the latest Neolithic occupation. There is also a smaller settlement mound to the west and a Byzantine Empire, Byzantine settlement a few hundred meters to the east. The prehistoric mound settlements were abandoned before the Bronze ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cottontail Rabbit
Cottontail rabbits are in the ''Sylvilagus'' genus, which is in the family Leporidae. They are found in the Americas. Most ''Sylvilagus'' species have stub tails with white undersides that show when they retreat, giving them their characteristic name. However, this feature is not present in all ''Sylvilagus'', nor is it unique to the genus. However their fur ranges from brown to gray and changes throughout the year, depending on the season. The genus is widely distributed across North America, Central America, and northern and central South America, though most species are confined to particular regions. Most species live in nests called forms, and all have altricial young. They often live on the edges of fields, farms, and other open spaces far from highly populated areas. But sometimes they make their nests in yards and parks near more people. An adult female averages three litters per year, which can be born in any season. Occurrence and litter size depend on several factors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pronghorn
The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American antelope, prong buck, pronghorn antelope, and prairie antelope, because it closely resembles the antelopes of the Old World and fills a similar ecological niche due to parallel evolution. It is the only surviving member of the family Antilocapridae. During the Pleistocene epoch, about 11 other antilocaprid species existed in North America, many with long or spectacularly twisted horns.Smithsonian Institution. North American MammalsPronghorn ''Antilocapra americana'' Three other genera ('' Capromeryx'', '' Stockoceros'' and '' Tetrameryx'') existed when humans entered North America but are now extinct. The pronghorn's closest living relatives are the giraffe and okapi. See Fig. S10 in Supplementary Information. The antilocaprids are part of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bighorn Sheep
The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of Ovis, sheep native to North America. It is named for its large Horn (anatomy), horns. A pair of horns may weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspecies of ''Ovis canadensis'', one of which is endangered: Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, ''O. c. sierrae''. Sheep originally crossed to North America over the Beringia, Bering Land Bridge from Siberia; the population in North America peaked in the millions, and the bighorn sheep entered into the mythology of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Americans. By 1900, the population had crashed to several thousand due to diseases introduced through European livestock and overhunting. Taxonomy and genetics ''Ovis canadensis'' is one of two species of mountain Ovis, sheep in North America; the other species being ''O. dalli'', the Dall sheep. Wild sheep crossed the Bering land bridge from Siberia into Alaska during the Pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicotiana Rustica
''Nicotiana rustica'', commonly known as Aztec tobacco or strong tobacco, is a rainforest plant in the family Solanaceae native to South America. It is a very potent variety of tobacco, containing up to nine times more nicotine than common species of ''Nicotiana'' such as ''Nicotiana tabacum'' (common tobacco). More specifically, ''N. rustica'' leaves have a nicotine content as high as 9%, whereas ''N. tabacum'' leaves contain about 1 to 3%. The high concentration of nicotine in its leaves makes it useful for producing pesticides, and it has a wide variety of uses specific to cultures around the world. However, ''N. rustica'' is no longer cultivated in North America, (except in small quantities by certain Native American tribes) as ''N. tabacum'' has replaced it. Uses South America ''Nicotiana rustica'' is called ''mapacho'' in South America. It is often used for entheogenic purposes by South American shamans, because of the comparatively high levels of harmala alkaloids and nic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
