Characteristics of submerged and partially submerged caves (habitat type 8330) in Romania.

Underwater sea caves form a relatively under-examined habitat type within the marine regions of Europe, although they provide unique physical conditions such as reduced light and wave energy, in addition to reduced temperature amplitude. This study aimed at revealing the characteristics of submerged cavities on the southern Romanian continental shelf where six protected areas exist. We used high-resolution bathymetry data and side-scan sonar imaging to identify limestone outcrops where cavities would be most probable to form and then performed visual observation during SCUBA diving activities. We found that submerged cavities appear in all marine-protected areas and their neighboring unprotected areas from the shore to ~20-m depth mostly in the form of caverns, niches, and overhangs that meet the physical requirements of the habitat type 8330 as defined by the European Commission. We propose that habitat type 8330 should be listed in the Natura 2000 Standard Data Forms of the protected areas where it is missing, and we also propose that some protected areas should be expanded to include important areas with the occurrence of this habitat type. Finally, we note here for the first time the occurrence of Movile-type karst and an associated sulfidic water spring on the southern shore of Lake Techirghiol, similar to the region near Mangalia where it was first described in the literature. Although our finding prompts for a more detailed study, it indicates the existence of an underground ecosystem similar to that from the well-studied Movile Cave, but isolated by a distance of over 20 km.

Ancient DNA from the Asiatic Wild Dog (Cuon alpinus) from Europe.

The Asiatic wild dog (Cuon alpinus), restricted today largely to South and Southeast Asia, was widespread throughout Eurasia and even reached North America during the Pleistocene. Like many other species, it suffered from a huge range loss towards the end of the Pleistocene and went extinct in most of its former distribution. The fossil record of the dhole is scattered and the identification of fossils can be complicated by an overlap in size and a high morphological similarity between dholes and other canid species. We generated almost complete mitochondrial genomes for six putative dhole fossils from Europe. By using three lines of evidence, i.e., the number of reads mapping to various canid mitochondrial genomes, the evaluation and quantification of the mapping evenness along the reference genomes and phylogenetic analysis, we were able to identify two out of six samples as dhole, whereas four samples represent wolf fossils. This highlights the contribution genetic data can make when trying to identify the species affiliation of fossil specimens. The ancient dhole sequences are highly divergent when compared to modern dhole sequences, but the scarcity of dhole data for comparison impedes a more extensive analysis.

Impact of climate change on the transition of Neanderthals to modern humans in Europe.

Two speleothem stable isotope records from East-Central Europe demonstrate that Greenland Stadial 12 (GS12) and GS10-at 44.3-43.3 and 40.8-40.2 ka-were prominent intervals of cold and arid conditions. GS12, GS11, and GS10 are coeval with a regional pattern of culturally (near-)sterile layers within Europe's diachronous archeologic transition from Neanderthals to modern human Aurignacian. Sterile layers coeval with GS12 precede the Aurignacian throughout the middle and upper Danube region. In some records from the northern Iberian Peninsula, such layers are coeval with GS11 and separate the Châtelperronian from the Aurignacian. Sterile layers preceding the Aurignacian in the remaining Châtelperronian domain are coeval with GS10 and the previously reported 40.0- to 40.8-ka cal BP [calendar years before present (1950)] time range of Neanderthals' disappearance from most of Europe. This suggests that ecologic stress during stadial expansion of steppe landscape caused a diachronous pattern of depopulation of Neanderthals, which facilitated repopulation by modern humans who appear to have been better adapted to this environment. Consecutive depopulation-repopulation cycles during severe stadials of the middle pleniglacial may principally explain the repeated replacement of Europe's population and its genetic composition.