Island Evolution and What's More: Crete before the Cretans: the reign of dwarfs

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Crete before the Cretans: the reign of dwarfs

Crete was completely submerged during the Pliocene, and gradually emerged in the Early Pleistocene. New and empty islands like these are normally colonized overseas by sweepstake dispersal, which means that only a limited number of taxa is able to reach the island. This results in an unbalanced mammal fauna, as a rule consisting of only elephants, hippopotamus, deer, cattle, rodents, insectivores and sometimes otters. After successful colonization, as a rule a fast evolutionary change takes place, which can be explained as an adaptation to the restricted island environment. As a result, island faunas are very different from mainland faunas, but similar to each other. Crete is no exception to this general pattern, and during the Pleistocene there were two successive endemic mammalian faunas. The first (the Kritimys-biozone) is characterised by a dwarf mammoth, a dwarf hippopotamus and a giant mouse. The second (the Mus-biozone) is characterised by a dwarf elephant, a dwarf deer (next to medium and large-sized deer) and a large mouse. The reason for the dramatic faunal turnover between the two biozones is unknown, but may very well have been related to a significant sea-level drop. This decreases the distance between the now larger island and another firm ground. The second fauna got extinct just before or after the arrival of the first humans. Problems of dating and the lack of paleolithic artefacts or human remains obscures this point. In any case the fauna of the second biozone was already completely extinct at Aceramic Neolithic and Minoan times, and replaced by newcomers who came together or along with the humans.

Read more in VAN DER GEER A.A.E., DERMITZAKIS M., DE VOS J. (2006). Crete before the Cretans: the reign of dwarfs. Pharos 13: 121-132. Netherlands Institute at Athens, Greece. Free pdf [ 2,197 kb] at http://users.uoa.gr/~geeraae/publications/2006-pharos-crete.pdf .

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Animals in Stone

The art history of South Asia covers a time span of roughly four and a half thousand years. During this period, a vast number of animal stone sculptures has been produced, ranging from the pre-historic period till today and covering a great variety of motifs and imagery in different regions and religious traditions. Even so, the number of studies devoted to these animal sculptures has remained extremely limited. The present book aims at filling this knowledge gap. With this richly illustrated book, the first of its kind, Van der Geer offers a comparative study of the ways in which various animals have been depicted and a lucid analysis of the sculptors’ treatment of their “models”: living animals. The art history of sculptured animals is contextualized with a description of the use of animals as can be read from ancient texts, archaeological evidence and contemporaneous culture. In doing so, parallels as well as differences in style or iconography are highlighted, elucidating the variety of animal depictions across regions, religious contexts and through time. The corpus of discussed material ranges from Indus seals, stupa panels and railings, monumental temples from North and South India, non-religious palace and fort architecture to loose sculptures in museum collections.

My publications (a selection, in chronological order)

2014 Van der Geer A.A.E. Parallel patterns and trends in functional structures in island mammals. Integrative Zoology. Accepted article. doi:10.1111/1749-4877.12066
2013 Van der Geer A.A.E. et al. Body size evolution of palaeo-insular mammals: temporal variations and interspecific interactions. Journal of Biogeography 40, 1440–1450.
2010 Van der Geer A.A.E. et al. Evolution of Island Mammals: Adaptation and Extinction of Placental Mammals on Islands. Blackwell Publishing, c. 384 pp.
2008 Van der Geer, A.A.E. The effect of insularity on the Eastern Mediterranean early cervoid Hoplitomeryx: the study of the forelimb. Quaternary International 182, 1: 145-159.
2008 Van der Geer, A.A.E. Animals in Stone. Indian mammals sculptured through time. Handbook of Oriental Studies, Section 2 South Asia (ed. J. Bronkhorst). Leiden: Brill. lxxii, 814 pp, c. 700 ill, index. Hardback. ISBN 978 90 04 16819 0.
2008 Van der Geer A.A.E., Dermitzakis D.M. Dental eruption sequence in the Pliocene Papionini Paradolichopithecus arvernensis (Mammalia: Primates) from Greece. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28 (4): 1238-1244.
2008 Van der Geer A.A.E. et al. Hoe dieren op eilanden evolueren. Majorca, Ibiza, Kreta, Sardinie, Sicilie, Japan, Madagaskar, Malta. Utrecht: Veen Magazines; ISBN 978 908571 169 8.
2006 Van der Geer, A.A.E., Dermitzakis, M. Relative growth of the metapodals in a juvenile island deer: Candiacervus (Mammalia, Cervidae) from the Pleistocene of Crete. Hellenic Journal of Geosciences 41, 1: 119-125.
2006 Van der Geer, A.A.E., De Vos, J., Lyras, G., Dermitzakis, M. New data on the Pleistocene Cretan deer Candiacervus sp. II (Mammalia, Cervinae). Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 256: 131-137. Frankfurt am Main.
2006 Van der Geer, A.A.E. et al. Crete before the Cretans: the reign of dwarfs. Pharos 13: 121-132. Athens: Netherlands Institute.
2006 Van der Geer, A., Dermitzakis, M., De Vos, J. Fossils and myths in North India: is there a connection between the Siwalik Hills and the Mahābhārata? The 19th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies, 27-30 June 2006, Leiden the Netherlands. Abstracts: p 124. Leiden: International Institute for Asian Studies.
2006 Sondaar, P.Y., Van der Geer, A.A.E., Dermitzakis, M. The unique postcranial of the Old World monkey Paradolichopithecus: more similar to Australopithecus than to baboons. Hellenic Journal of Geosciences 41, 1: 19-28.
2006 Lyras, G.A., Van der Geer, A.A.E., Dermitzakis, M.D., De Vos, J. Cynotherium sardous, an insular canid (Mammalia: Carnivora) from the Pleistocene of Sardinia (Italy), and its origin. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26 (3): 735-745.
2006 Lyras, G. Van der Geer, A. Adaptations of the Pleistocene island canid Cynotherium sardous (Sardinia, Italy) for hunting small prey. Cranium 23, 1: 51-60.
2006 Dermitzakis, M., Van der Geer, A.A.E., Lyras, G. Palaeopathological observations on a population of fossil deer from the Late Pleistocene of Crete. In: Kalofourtis, A., Papadopoulos, N., Spiliopoulou, C., Marabellas, K., Chatzioannou, A.. Volume in Honor of Prof. A.S. Koutselinis, pp. 43-51. [in Greek with English summary].
2006 Dermitzakis, M., Roussiakis, S., Van der Geer, A.A.E. Sto Mouseio – Mosasaurus. With English summary. National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Museum of Palaeontology and Geology, Athens; 55 pp.
2005 Van der Geer, A.A.E. The postcranial of the deer Hoplitomeryx (Mio-Pliocene; Italy): another example of adaptive radiation on Eastern Mediterranean Islands. Monografies de la Societat d'Història Natural de les Balears 12: 325-336. Palma.
2005 Van der Geer, A.A.E. Island ruminants and the evolution of parallel functional structures. In: Cregut, E. (Ed.): Les ongulés holarctiques du Pliocène et du Pléistocène. Actes Colloque international Avignon, 19-22 septembre. Quaternair, 2005 hors-série 2: 231-240. Paris.
2005 Sondaar, P.Y., Van der Geer, A.A.E. Evolution and Extinction of Plio-Pleistocene Island Ungulates. In: Cregut, E. (Ed.): Les ongulés holarctiques du Pliocène et du Pléistocène. Actes Colloque international Avignon, 19-22 septembre. Quaternair, 2005 hors-série 2: 241-256. Paris.
2003 Lyras, G.A., Van der Geer, A.A.E. External brain anatomy of the Canidae. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 138: 505-522. London. doi: 10.1046/j.1096-3642.2003.00067.x.
2002 Van der Geer, A.A.E., Sondaar, P.Y. The postcranial elements of Paradolichopithecus arvernensis (Primates, Cercopithecidae, Papionini) from Lesvos, Greece. Annales Géologiques des Pays Helléniques 1e Série 39, A: 71-86.
2000 Sondaar, P.Y., Van der Geer, S. Mesolithic environment and animal exploitation on Cyprus and Sardinia/Corsica. In: Mashkour, M., A. Choyke & M. Buitenhuis (eds). Proceedings of the IVth ASWA Symposium, IVA: 67-73. Paris.
1999 Van der Geer, A.A.E. On the astragalus of the Miocene endemic deer Hoplitomeryx from the Gargano (Italy). Deinsea 7: 325-336. Rotterdam: Natuurmuseum.
1998 Van der Geer, A.A.E. The Bhāsa Problem. A statistical research into its solution. Ph.D. Thesis Rijksuniversiteit Leiden; 243 pp.
1996 Van der Geer, A.A.E. Samskrtabhāsa B2, Sanskrit voor gevorderden; 233 pp.
1996 Van der Geer, A.A.E. Samskrtabhāsa B1, cursus Sanskrit voor beginners; 366 pp.
1995 Van der Geer, A.A.E. Woordenboek Nederlands-Sardijns. Leiden; 240 pp.
1995 Van der Geer, A.A.E. Isco sa limba mea. Sardijns in 10 lessen. Leiden; 229 pp.