Identification of breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) and South American crops introduced during early settlement of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), as revealed through starch analysis.

Starch residue analysis was carried out on stone tools recovered from the bottom layer of the Anakena site on Rapa Nui (Easter Island). These deposits have been dated to AD 1000-1300 AD and so far, represent the earliest evidence of human settlement on this island. Twenty obsidian tools were analyzed. Analysis of 46 starch grains recovered from 20 obsidian tools from the earliest dated level of the Anakena site on Rapa Nui provides direct evidence for translocation of traditional crop plants at initial stages of the colonization of this island. The analysis of starch grains was based mainly on statistical methods for species identification but was complemented by visual inspection in some cases. Our results identify taxons previously unknown to have been cultivated on the island, such as breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), Zingiber officinale (ginger), and starch grains of the Spondias dulcis and Inocarpus fagifer tropical trees. Additionally, starch grains of Colocasia esculenta (taro) and Dioscorea sp. (yam), both common species in Pacific agriculture, were identified. Furthermore, the presence of four American taxa Ipomoea batatas (sweet potato), Canna sp. (achira), Manihot esculenta (manioc), and Xanthosoma sp., was detected. The occurrence of Canna sp., M. esculenta, and Xanthosoma sp. starch grains suggests the translocation of previously not described South American cultivars into the Pacific. The detection of I. batatas from this site in Rapa Nui constitutes the earliest record of this cultigen in the Pacific. Our study provides direct evidence for translocation of a set of traditional Polynesian and South American crop plants at the initial stages of colonization in Rapa Nui.

Selective Attention and Inhibitory Control of Attention Are Correlated With Music Audiation.

Executive functions (EFs) are cognitive functions needed for adaptive and targeted behavior. Music aptitude is the potential or capacity for musical achievement. A key element of music aptitude is audiation, defined as the process through which sound becomes music and meaning is attributed to that music. In this paper, we report on the association between audiation skills and executive skills. Not only is this important to consider the validity of the audiation tests, but also to better understand the concept of audiation and its link to cognitive skills. We conducted an empirical study, in which a sample of second grade school students from two elementary schools, one from Ghent, Belgium (N = 36) and the other from Santiago, Chile (N = 25), were administered both a musical aptitude and an attention and inhibitory control test. We hypothesized that a positive correlation exists between sustained attention, inhibitory control and music aptitude.

Coping with salt without salt glands: osmoregulatory plasticity in three species of coastal songbirds (ovenbirds) of the genus Cinclodes (Passeriformes: Furnariidae).

We investigated the phenotypic plasticity of renal function in three South American coastal passerine Cinclodes (ovenbirds) differing in the proportion of marine prey they consume. Individuals were acclimated to two regimes of salinity for 15 days, and then the maximal urine-concentrating ability (Umax), hematological parameters and kidney morphology of each species were determined. The proportion of kidney mass occupied by medullary tissue, the number of medullary cones in the kidneys, plasma osmolality and Umax differed among the three species, supporting the hypothesis of an adaptation for excretion of the high salt load in the strictly marine C. nigrofumosus. Our results indicate that species of Cinclodes are able to modify the proportion of medullary tissue and the Umax. In addition, we found interspecific differences in the magnitude to which these osmoregulatory parameters can be modified. The greater ability to modify the osmoregulatory features in the migrant species C. oustaleti may enable it to cope with seasonal changes in salt load imposed by the winter consumption of hypertonic prey.