Suchergebnisse

Monumental tombs within ancient civilizations worldwide hold precious clues for deciphering the architectural skill, acumen, and industry of prehistoric cultures. Most tombs were constructed from abiotic materials—stone, soil, and/or clay, predominately—and were built to permanently inter royalty or high-status individuals. On the island of Kosrae in the central Pacific, monumental tombs were constructed with scleractinian coral and were confined to the prehistoric island capital of Leluh, where they served as temporary mortuary processing points. Like other prehistoric tombs, the Leluh tombs were dated by association—from the remnants of the temporarily interred. We present new dates for three sacred tombs using high-precision U-Th dates from 24 corals collected directly from the structural materials. The results suggest that the tombs were built about 700 years ago during the 14th century, about three centuries earlier than previously reported. The new dates redefine the peak occupation of Leluh and place its ruling paramountcy at the leading edge of the developing trans-oceanic political hierarchies, as well as the social and economic systems that dominated the civilizations in this part of the world.

Genetic structure within marine species may be driven by local adaptation to their environment, or alternatively by historical processes, such as geographic isolation. The gulfs and seas bordering the Arabian Peninsula offer an ideal setting to examine connectivity patterns in coral reef fishes with respect to environmental gradients and vicariance. The Red Sea is characterized by a unique marine fauna, historical periods of desiccation and isolation, as well as environmental gradients in salinity, temperature, and primary productivity that vary both by latitude and by season. The adjacent Arabian Sea is characterized by a sharper environmental gradient, ranging from extensive coral cover and warm temperatures in the southwest, to sparse coral cover, cooler temperatures, and seasonal upwelling in the northeast. Reef fish, however, are not confined to these seas, with some Red Sea fishes extending varying distances into the northern Arabian Sea, while their pelagic larvae are presumably capable of much greater dispersal. These species must therefore cope with a diversity of conditions that invoke the possibility of steep clines in natural selection. Here, we test for genetic structure in two widespread reef fish species (a butterflyfish and surgeonfish) and eight range-restricted butterflyfishes across the Red Sea and Arabian Sea using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms. We performed multiple matrix regression with randomization analyses on genetic distances for all species, as well as reconstructed scenarios for population subdivision in the species with signatures of isolation. We found that (a) widespread species displayed more genetic subdivision than regional endemics and (b) this genetic structure was not correlated with contemporary environmental parameters but instead may reflect historical events. We propose that the endemic species may be adapted to a diversity of local conditions, but the widespread species are instead subject to ecological filtering where different combinations of genotypes persist under divergent ecological regimes. ; This research was supported by the KAUST Office of Competitive Research Funds (OCRF) under Award No. CRG-1-2012-BER-002 and baseline research funds to M.L.B., a National Geographic Society Grant 9024-11 to J.D.D., a National Science Foundation grant OCE-1558852 to B.W.B., California Academy of Sciences funding to L.A.R, and Australian Research Council funding to J.-P.A.H. (DE200101286). For support in Socotra, we kindly thank the Ministry of Water and Environment of Yemen, staff at the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Socotra, and especially Salah Saeed Ahmed, Fouad Naseeb and Thabet Abdullah Khamis, as well as Ahmed Issa Ali Affrar from Socotra Specialist Tour for handling general logistics. For logistic support elsewhere, we thank Eric Mason at Dream Divers in Saudi Arabia; the Red Sea State Government and The Red Sea University in Sudan, as well as Equipe Cousteau support for the Sudan Shark and Ray Conservation and Management Program including C. Scarpellini and M. Younis; Nicolas Prévot at Dolphin Divers and the crew of the M/V Deli in Djibouti; the KAUST Coastal and Marine Resources Core Lab and Amr Gusti; and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in Oman including Abdul Karim. For specimen collections, we thank Tilman Alpermann, Giacomo Bernardi, Richard Coleman, Gerrit Nanninga, and members of the Reef Ecology Lab at KAUST. For assistance with bench work at KAUST, we thank Craig Michell. We also acknowledge important contributions from the KAUST Bioscience Core Laboratory with Sivakumar Neelamegam and Hicham Mansour for their assistance with Illumina sequencing. Thanks to Robert Toonen and Stephen Karl for discussions and critiques that improved this manuscript.

Genetic structure within marine species may be driven by local adaptation to their environment, or alternatively by historical processes, such as geographic isolation. The gulfs and seas bordering the Arabian Peninsula offer an ideal setting to examine connectivity patterns in coral reef fishes with respect to environmental gradients and vicariance. The Red Sea is characterized by a unique marine fauna, historical periods of desiccation and isolation, as well as environmental gradients in salinity, temperature, and primary productivity that vary both by latitude and by season. The adjacent Arabian Sea is characterized by a sharper environmental gradient, ranging from extensive coral cover and warm temperatures in the southwest, to sparse coral cover, cooler temperatures, and seasonal upwelling in the northeast. Reef fish, however, are not confined to these seas, with some Red Sea fishes extending varying distances into the northern Arabian Sea, while their pelagic larvae are presumably capable of much greater dispersal. These species must therefore cope with a diversity of conditions that invoke the possibility of steep clines in natural selection. Here, we test for genetic structure in two widespread reef fish species (a butterflyfish and surgeonfish) and eight range-restricted butterflyfishes across the Red Sea and Arabian Sea using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms. We performed multiple matrix regression with randomization analyses on genetic distances for all species, as well as reconstructed scenarios for population subdivision in the species with signatures of isolation. We found that (a) widespread species displayed more genetic subdivision than regional endemics and (b) this genetic structure was not correlated with contemporary environmental parameters but instead may reflect historical events. We propose that the endemic species may be adapted to a diversity of local conditions, but the widespread species are instead subject to ecological filtering where different combinations of genotypes persist under divergent ecological regimes. ; This research was supported by the KAUST Office of Competitive Research Funds (OCRF) under Award No. CRG-1-2012-BER-002 and baseline research funds to M.L.B., a National Geographic Society Grant 9024-11 to J.D.D., a National Science Foundation grant OCE-1558852 to B.W.B., California Academy of Sciences funding to L.A.R, and Australian Research Council funding to J.-P.A.H. (DE200101286). For support in Socotra, we kindly thank the Ministry of Water and Environment of Yemen, staff at the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Socotra, and especially Salah Saeed Ahmed, Fouad Naseeb and Thabet Abdullah Khamis, as well as Ahmed Issa Ali Affrar from Socotra Specialist Tour for handling general logistics. For logistic support elsewhere, we thank Eric Mason at Dream Divers in Saudi Arabia; the Red Sea State Government and The Red Sea University in Sudan, as well as Equipe Cousteau support for the Sudan Shark and Ray Conservation and Management Program including C. Scarpellini and M. Younis; Nicolas Prévot at Dolphin Divers and the crew of the M/V Deli in Djibouti; the KAUST Coastal and Marine Resources Core Lab and Amr Gusti; and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in Oman including Abdul Karim. For specimen collections, we thank Tilman Alpermann, Giacomo Bernardi, Richard Coleman, Gerrit Nanninga, and members of the Reef Ecology Lab at KAUST. For assistance with bench work at KAUST, we thank Craig Michell. We also acknowledge important contributions from the KAUST Bioscience Core Laboratory with Sivakumar Neelamegam and Hicham Mansour for their assistance with Illumina sequencing. Thanks to Robert Toonen and Stephen Karl for discussions and critiques that improved this manuscript.

AbstractSea level rise and climate change are shaping present societies, particularly those on oceanic islands. Few historical examples could serve as references for these changes. One such potential model is the Saudeleur Dynasty with its capital Nan Madol on the Pacific Island of Pohnpei. However, the timing of its construction, as well as the dynasty's fluctuations and potential environmental influences, has remained unresolved. Through the analyses of 230Th ages on 171 dates on corals fragments used as building materials and charcoal 14C ages from excavations, 2 major construction phases spanning from the 10th to the 15th century CE can be discerned. The results show that the first phase of the site's construction, spanning the 10th–12th century, marked the dynasty's rise. The second period, spanning from the late 12th to the early 15th century, provides the most substantial evidence for the demise of the island-scale chiefdom and a significant societal reorganization. The phases are centuries earlier than previously believed. With this new evidence, we propose the hypothesis that variations in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and subsidence-related sea level rise presented major challenges for building and maintaining Nan Madol, and thus, influenced the course of the island's history. This case serves as a compelling example of how adverse climatic conditions can spur investments—in this case, in seawater defense under high sea levels—yet ultimately may contribute to abandonment. It offers lessons for island nations, showcasing coastal resilience in the face of worsening catastrophic events that unfolded over generations.