https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7166-5470
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ABSTRACT
The aims of the present study were: (1) to examine the parasite fauna found in carnivore coprolites from Cueva Huenul 1 archaeological site, located in northern Patagonia (Neuquén Province, Argentina), (2) to evaluate the role of this carnivores in the cycle of zoonotic parasites in the past, (3) to discuss the possible effect of the infections in humans that inhabit the cave during the Quaternary, and (4) to evaluate possible differences in egg measurements among layers. Several coprolites were obtained from layers dated since the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition. Faeces were whole processed, rehydrated, homogenised, and examined via light microscopy. Eggs of parasites were measured and photographed. Coprolites were assigned to a small feline. A total of 11 parasite species were found (8 nematode, 2 trematode, and 1 coccidian species). The paleoparasitological findings of this study display a great richness of parasitic species present in felines from CH1 through the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, some of them zoonotic. Early human societies that discontinuously occupied the site during the time scale studied could have been exposed to these infections.
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the Subsecretaría de Cultura de la Provincia del Neuquén, particularly Claudia Della Negra, Carlos Cides and Pablo Azar. This research is possible due to the logistical support from Juvenal Urrutia, Paulina Valenzuela, Hugo Zalazar, and the communities from Barrancas and Buta Ranquil (Neuquén Province, Argentina). We also thank Rocío Palacios for the help with coprolite morphology of the carnivores.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
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Notes on contributors
Eleonor Tietze
Eleonor Tietze is a biologist at the Instituto de Investigaciones en Producción, Sanidad y Ambiente (IIPROSAM) of the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata from Argentina. She is a researcher of the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) of Argentina. Her research focuses on paleoparasites assamblages of paleontological and archaeological sites of the Quaternary of Argentina.
Ramiro Barberena
Ramiro Barberena is an archaeologist at the Instituto Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Básicas (ICB) of CONICET and the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo from Argentina, Mendoza city. He studies the history of Andean human societies from an interdisciplinary biogeographic and archaeometric perspective. He currently directs an archaeological research project in northern Patagonia focusing on the human peopling of the continent and the interactions with environmental change. He has directed multiple projects from National Geographic, Wenner Gren, CONICET, and Agencia Nacional de Promoción de la Ciencyia y la Tecnología.
María Ornela Beltrame
Maria Ornela Beltrame is biologist. She is a researcher at the Instituto de Investigaciones en Producción, Sanidad y Ambiente (IIPROSAM)-Dpto. de Biología, Facultad de Cs. Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata-CONICET from Argentina. Her research focuses on paleoparasitological studies from archaeological and paleontological sites, using the ancient parasites remains for paleoecological and paleoenvironmental inferences. She currently directs several projects, which involved the paleoparasitological study of diverse wild mammals from Patagonia, Argentina. She is the author/coauthor of several publications on Paleoparasitology.