Elvira Martín-Suárez

On the age of the continental deposits of the Zorreras Member (Sorbas Basin, SE Spain).

The micromammal fauna of the reddish continental sediments of the Zorreras Member in the Sorbas Basin of SE Spain contains elements that are characteristic for the latest Miocene, close to the Mio-Pliocene limit. The paleomagnetic analysis shows that the entire sequence has reversed polarity. The combination of these data suggests that the Zorreras section must be correlated to chron C3r.

Biostratigraphy of the Continental Upper Miocene of Crevillente (Alicante, SE Spain)

Abstract The sequence of mammal localities of Crevillente is analyzed biostratigraphically and chronostratigraphically.A detailed biozonation on the basis of rodents is proposed. The localities are attributed to the Turolian or, in marine terms, to the Tortonian and the Messinian. The correlation of the Tortonian/Messinian boundary with the mammal sequence may be carried out with high precision.

MURIDAE (RODENTIA) FROM THE PLIOCENE OF TOLLO DE CHICLANA (GRANADA, SOUTHEASTERN SPAIN)

Abstract In the continental deposits of the area of Tollo de Chiclana (Guadix Basin, south-eastern Spain), several new fossiliferous Pliocene localities yield a rich rodent and insectivore fauna. Of the various rodent families that occur in these sites, Muridae are the most abundant and diversified. Eleven species belonging to seven different genera (Occitanomys, Stephanomys, Castillomys, Paraethomys, Apodemus, Rhagapodemus, and Micromys) have been recognized. In this paper we describe the Muridae from these localities, which have great biostratigraphical and paleoecological interest. The presence of certain taxa and the changes in the abundance of the various taxonomic groups indicate a decrease in temperature and a change in the biotopes from Late Ruscinian through Middle Villafranchian in the area of Tollo de Chiclana.

Rodent palaeoecology of the Continental Upper Miocene of Crevillente (Alicante, SE Spain)

Abstract The Upper Miocene succession of Crevillente presents an alternation of continental and marine beds. The marine fossils have been studied in order to obtain a reliable correlation with other marine sections. On the basis of these data, the entire section can be dated as Upper Tortonian/Messinian. The alternation of continental and marine beds fits the known eustatic sea-level and climatic curves. These correlations are used to assign ecological preferences to the components of the micromammal faunas at species level; it becomes clear that working at the genus level does not provide valid results. With the assignments, it is possible to demonstrate consistent climatic differences between the coastal plain of Crevillente and the area of Teruel on the Meseta of Central Spain.

Late Turolian micromammals from Rambla de Chimeneas-3: considerations on the oldest continental faunas from the Guadix Basin (Southern Spain)

The fauna from Rambla de Chimeneas-3 (RCH-3), a new uppermost Miocene micro- mammal site from the Guadix Basin, is described. This level has yielded remains of Paraethomys meini, Occitanomys alcalai, Stephanomys cf. dubari, Cricetinae indet., Erinaceidae indet., and Soricidae indet. This faunal assemblage can be assigned to the upper Turolian (MN13). The section of Rambla de Chimeneas is situated in the lower part of the oldest exclusively continental stratigraphic unit distinguished in the filling of the Guadix Basin. Other rodent faunas from this unit were previously assigned to the middle Turolian (MN12). In this paper we reconsider the age of the oldest mammal localities from the Guadix Basin, concluding that none of them can be clearly assigned to MN12. Therefore, there is no evidence of the continentalization of the basin before the late Turolian.

Filling the gap: first evidence of early Tortonian continental deposits in southern Iberia

ABSTRACT The oldest Miocene continental fauna in the Guadix-Baza depression from southern Spain is described in this paper. The small mammals remains from Cortijo de la Piedra fossil localities have a latest Vallesian (early Tortonian) age, and provide evidence of late Vallesian continental environments, which were unknown until now in southern Iberia. The age of the reported assemblage is previous to the establishment of the Guadix-Baza Basin sensu stricto. It represents the oldest Miocene continental mammalian fauna found thus far in southern Iberia, and proves the presence of connections with the foreland. The small mammals from Cortijo de la Piedra display a similar size and morphology as those recorded on the mainland, showing no particular traits that might be interpreted as insular features. These continental faunas suggest that the North-Betic Foreland Basin was at least partially closed at the end of the early Tortonian.

Muscardinus meridionalis sp. nov., a new species of Gliridae (Rodentia, Mammalia) and its implications for the phylogeny of Muscardinus.

The Granada Basin is situated in the central sector of the Betic Cordillera (southern Spain). Its Neogene and Quaternary sediments cover the contact between the internal and external zones of the Cordillera, and the continental deposits extend from the latest Tortonian (middle Turolian) to the Quaternary (GarcíaAlix, 2006). A new Muscardinus from the Mio–Pliocene transition is described from the localities Purcal-4 (PUR-4; UTM 30 SVG 456218) and Purcal-24A (PUR-24A; UTM 30SVG462219), situated about 5 km north of the city of Granada (Fig. 1). According to García-Alix (2006), PUR-24A is late Turolian (upper Miocene), and PUR-4 is earliest Ruscinian (lower Pliocene). This new species of Muscardinus allows us to reinterpret the phylogeny of this genus proposed by Aguilar (1982).

The Latest Ruscinian and Early Villanyian Arvicolinae from Southern Spain Re-Examined: Biostratigraphical Implications

Abstract The Arvicolinae from the latest Ruscinian and early Villanyian sites of the section of Tollo de Chiclana (Southern Spain) are re-examined in the light of new material and exhaustive comparisons with other European populations. The uppermost Ruscinian population from TCH-1B, previously assigned to Mimomys stehlini, is now ascribed to M. hassiacus, cited for the first time from southern Spain. The populations from the lower Villanyian localities of TCH-3 and 13, assigned to M. minor, are considered to belong to M. stehlini. In addition, the material from the uppermost Ruscinian karstic level of Mo1-A, assigned to “Mimomys” occitanus is ascribed to M. hassiacus. The presence of different species of Arvicolinae is key for delimiting the Ruscinian–Villanyian boundary in the continental deposits of southern Spain and correlating them with European biochronological schemes. In this paper we discuss the problems associated with specific identifications of upper Ruscinian and lower Villanyian arvicolines from Spain, pointing out the invalidity of many citations, and demonstrating the need for an extensive revision of these faunas.

Micromys Caesaris, A New Murid (Rodentia, Mammalia) from the Late Pliocene of the Guadix Basin, Southeastern Spain

The genus Micromys includes a single extant species, Micromys minutus (Pallas, 1771), which lives in Europe and North Asia. This genus is known in the fossil record since the late Miocene; eight fossil species have been described in Europe and Asia, most of them of late Miocene and early Pliocene age. The evolution of this genus during the late Pliocene is barely known. Although it is present in numerous localities of this age, remains of Micromys are usually scarce and generally assigned to the species M. minutus or M. praeminutus Kretzoi, 1959. On the contrary, Micromys is the most abundant genus of Muridae in the late Pliocene locality of Tollo de Chiclana-13 (TCH-13). In a previous paper (Minwer-Barakat et al., 2005), a sample of Micromys from this locality was described, demonstrating its differences from all species of the genus Micromys known until then. Nevertheless, the scarcity of material at that time did not allow the description of a new species. After renewed sampling of this fossiliferous level carried out by the same authors, a more numerous collection is available (41 molars), in which the distinctive features of the new species Micromys caesaris can be observed clearly. The type locality of this new species, Tollo de Chiclana-13, is situated in the central part of the Guadix Basin, an intramontane basin established in the late Miocene. The oldest sedimentary infilling of this basin was deposited in a phase of marine sedimentation during the Tortonian. The upper part of the infilling represents a stage of exclusively continental sedimentation that lasted from latest Tortonian until Late Pleistocene (Viseras, 1991; Fernandez et al., 1996). In the section of Tollo de Chiclana, six fossiliferous localities were described in previous publications (Minwer-Barakat et al., 2004, 2005). These fossiliferous levels, ranging in age from late …

ARCHAEODESMANA BAETICA,SP. NOV. (MAMMALIA, INSECTIVORA, TALPIDAE) FROM THE MIO-PLIOCENE TRANSITION OF THE GRANADA BASIN, SOUTHERN SPAIN

Abstract Archaeodesmana baetica, sp. nov. is a new water-mole (Desmaninae, Talpidae) from Purcal 4, a locality at the Miocene–Pliocene transition in southern Spain. It is characterized by a very large p2, larger than P2, and a p2/p3 ratio which is larger than in any known desmanine. Its I1 are bilobed. The premolars are very large in comparison with the molars, or, in other words, the mandibles and maxillae of this new species are greatly enlarged anteriorly. The new species is possibly close to the ancestry of Desmana.