The late-Holocene avifaunal assemblage from the island of Palagruža (Croatia)

The earliest record of the Northern Gannet in the Adriatic Sea

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12267753
AutoresAnkica Oros Sršen (0009-0002-3246-7791, Institute for Quaternary Paleontology and Geology, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Croatia, autor correspondente), Jelena Kralj (0000-0002-1500-5897, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts), Lucijana Šešelj (University of Rijeka)
Ano2017
Volume27
Fascículo10
Páginas1540-1549
Data de publicação2017-02-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe Holocene (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0959-6836 • E-ISSN: 1477-0911
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0959683617693897
OpenAlexW2612004987
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas46

The late-Holocene bird remains retrieved during archaeological excavations on pelagic island of Palagruža, Croatia, were analysed. The results of the analysis revealed presence of representatives of nine families: Procellariidae, Sulidae, Ardeidae, Accipitridae, Phasianidae, Rallidae, Laridae, Strigidae and Corvidae. Among the bird remains, the most numerous were remains of the Northern Gannet, Morus bassanus, which were widely distributed in the Mediterranean during the late Pleistocene. The finding of the Northern Gannet bones on Palagruža represents the first fossil record of this species in the Adriatic Sea and indicates a possible breeding site on the island. The direct Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating on two gannet bones revealed the age of 2878 ± 34 and 2694 ± 45 yr BP. Gannet bones from Palagruža were some 6000 years younger than other fossil records of that species from the Mediterranean. It is possible that during the gannet’s northward distributional shift, probably caused by centennial climatic variability and human pressure, gannet colony on that remote island in the Adriatic lasted longer than in the rest of the Mediterranean and existed until the late-Holocene. Lower sea-surface temperatures compared with the eastern Mediterranean, higher nutritive productivity and remoteness of Palagruža provided adequate breeding opportunities during that period

Accipitridae · Archaeology · Biology · Geography · Holocene · Mediterranean climate · Mediterranean Islands · Mediterranean sea · Pelagic zone · Physical geography · Pleistocene · Predation · Radiocarbon dating · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Marine animal studies overview · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology · Ecology · Geology · Oceanography