Juan Manuel López-García

First fossil evidence of an “interglacial refugium” in the Pyrenean region

A refugium is generally understood as an area where temperate species survive cold periods, such as the Iberian, Italian, or Balkan Peninsulas in Europe. Strictly speaking, this definition refers to what is known as a glacial refugium. However, there are various types of lesser-known refugia such as the interglacial refugium, which denotes a mountainous region at low latitudes, such as the Pyrenees, where species adapted to the cold survive during interstadial periods. The small-vertebrate association from the sequence of Cova Colomera, which is located on the southern face of the Pyrenees and contains the final cold spell of the Late Pleistocene and the beginnings of the temperate period in which we currently find ourselves (the Holocene), could constitute the first fossil evidence of such an interglacial refugium, thus providing new paleoecological data on the phenomenon.

Chronological, environmental, and climatic precisions on the Neanderthal site of the Cova del Gegant (Sitges, Barcelona, Spain).

a Ins titu t de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolucio SociaL Area de Prehistiiria de la Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Pla(a Imperial Tarraeo, 1. E-43005 Tarragona, Spain b Departamento de Ciencias de la T ierra, Area de Paleontolog[a de la Universidad de Zaragoza. Cl Pedro Cerbuna, 12. E-50009 Zaragoza, Spain C Centro de Investigaci6n (UCM-ISCIIJ) sobre la Evoluci6n, y Comportamiento Humanos, e/Sinesio Delgado, 4 (Pabe1l6n 14), E-28029 Madrid, Spain cl Dpto. Paleontologfa, Faeultad de Ciencias Geol6gicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, E-28040 Madrid, Spain

Investigating the Mid-Brunhes Event in the Spanish terrestrial sequence

In the Mediterranean area, which is climatically stressed by limited water resources and extremes of heat, climate variations are known to play a crucial role in the ecosystems and environment. Investigating how climate has changed in the past may help us to understand how it may change in the future and its consequences on temperature and water resources. The Gran Dolina sequence (north-central Spain) provides a unique long paleontological and archaeological record spanning the Mid-Brunhes (ca. 450 ka) climatic transition. A fossil amphibian- and squamate-based reconstruction of temperature and precipitation shows marked peaks that have been related to various interglacial peaks in accordance with numeric dates and paleomagnetic and biochronological data. An analysis of climate and herpetofaunal assemblage changes during the interglacial periods reveals that (1) post-Mid-Brunhes Event (MBE) interglacials were warmer than pre-MBE interglacials, (2) pre-MBE interglacials were warmer than present day, and (3) there were lower levels of rainfall in post-MBE interglacials than in pre-MBE interglacials. The climate trend in the Mediterranean area was found to be congruous with global climate changes as reconstructed from ice and sea-surface temperature records over the past million years.

Palaeoenvironment and palaeoclimate of the Mousterian-Aurignacian transition in northern Iberia: the small-vertebrate assemblage from Cueva del Conde (Santo Adriano, Asturias).

The transition from the Middle Palaeolithic (Mousterian) to the Upper Palaeolithic (Aurignacian) has been one of the prominent themes in the archaeology of the European Palaeolithic for more than 20 years. One of the most controversial questions concerning this period is the extinction of the Neanderthals and their replacement by modern humans. In this context, Cueva del Conde, located in the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula, is an archaeo-palaeontological site that records the Mousterian to Aurignacian transition. It has been excavated since the beginning of the 20th century, first by the Conde de la Vega del Sella and systematically by a team from the University of Oviedo since 2001. Three main zones have been identified: the External Zone, dated to approximately 39,110 ± 520 BP (level N104); the Entrance Platform, dated between 38,250 ± 390 BP and 34,730 ± 500 BP; and Gallery A with a radiocarbon date of approximately 31,540 ± 400 BP (level N2a2). The small-vertebrate assemblages recovered from the water-screening of all sediment from the excavation campaigns represent at least 21 small mammal, amphibian and squamate taxa. The small-vertebrate associations in the three zones suggest a patchy landscape, dominated by humid meadows and woodland areas with the existence of water in the vicinity of the cave. The climate shows a more continental pattern during the Mousterian, though it was milder during the Aurignacian. The small vertebrates of the Cueva del Conde Mousterian and Aurignacian levels suggest a climate that differed from modern day temperatures, between -1.1 and -4.4 °C (mean annual temperature), placing these assemblages during Interstadials 9 to 7 (Is9 to 7).

Small-mammal diversity in Spain during the late Pleistocene to early Holocene: Climate, landscape, and human impact

We investigate changes in small-mammal richness and diversity in southwestern Europe (Iberian Peninsula) during the late Pleistocene–Holocene transition in order to evaluate whether they follow a climatic pattern or are predominantly determined by human impact, especially after the emergence of agriculture in the Neolithic period. We selected 6 late Pleistocene and Holocene sites that correspond to 18 different layers dated to between ca. 22 and 3 kyr B.P. Using indices of species richness and evenness diversity, we show that climate played an important role at some sites during the late Pleistocene and at the beginning of the Holocene, in that the richness and diversity of small mammals were closely related to the mean annual temperatures and landscape changes, and varied according to the different climatic fluctuations detected (Heinrich Event 1, Bolling-Allerod, and Preboreal-Boreal). However, at the beginning of the mid-Holocene, the small-mammal richness and diversity no longer seem to follow any kind of climatic pattern, and the observed changes in some studied sites are more closely related to human activities. By contrast with similar studies carried out in other parts of the world, the changes in diversity in the Iberian Peninsula do not seem to follow a constant pattern during the late Pleistocene and beginning of the Holocene. Some of the changes detected appear to be related to climate (late Pleistocene), and others appear to be related to human influence (Holocene) on the landscape.

Biochronological data inferred from the early Pleistocene Arvicolinae (Mammalia, Rodentia) of the El Chaparral site (Sierra del Chaparral, Cádiz, southwestern Spain)

ABSTRACT In this paper are described the arvicolines from El Chaparral site (Villaluenga del Rosario, Cadiz, Southwestern Spain). Due to their wide geographical distributions and rapid evolutionary rates, arvicolines are especially useful for biostratigraphical purposes. The stratigraphic layers of El Chaparral have yielded arvicolines remains of the genera Allophaiomys, Iberomys, Pliomys, and Terricola. The presence of these rodents together the other vertebrates recovered allows to determinate the age of the El Chaparral site and compare our data with other Iberian Pleistocene sites, such as of the Sierra de Atapuerca. El Chaparral site ranges between the Jaramillo Subchron (1.07–0.99 Ma) and shortly after the Brunhes-Matuyama transition at 0.78 Ma covering a important time span for the knowledge of the earliest humans occupations in western Europe.

Chronological and environmental context of the Middle Pleistocene human tooth from Mollet Cave (Serinyà, NE Iberian Peninsula)

Mollet Cave is a small cave situated in Serinyà (north-east Iberian Peninsula). It was excavated in 1947-48, 1958 and 1972 by Josep M. Corominas. An archaic human molar comes from its base layer (Layer 5). Up till now, this layer has only been dated based on a relative and imprecise chronology of macromammals and the archaeostratigraphic evidence from the early excavations. Recent excavations, conducted between 2001 and 2005, have made it possible to ascertain more precisely the archaeological and palaeontological contents of Mollet Cave, gather microvertebrates, and collect samples for radiometric dating. The aim of this paper is to present the absolute dating of Layer 5, as well as its palaeo environmental and climatic characterisation. The macromammal assemblage seems to have been the result of accumulations produced by the most abundant carnivore, the hyena, which would have used the cave as a den. The results obtained using uranium-series disequilibrium dating ascribe to Layer 5 an age of ca. 215 ka (thousands of years ago), which would correspond to MIS 7. The faunal association suggests a landscape formed by an open and humid woodland characteristic of an interstadial phase, which would have been an environment well suited to sustaining both hyenas and human groups.

The Radiocarbon Approach to Neanderthals in a Carnivore Den Site: a Well-Defined Chronology for Teixoneres Cave (Moià, Barcelona, Spain)

AbstractDuring the Middle Paleolithic period, carnivores and hominids periodically occupied the same areas at different times and each predator generated significant palimpsests, rendering difficult their archaeological interpretation. Teixoneres Cave, a carnivore den site, located in the northeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, demonstrates that it is possible to overcome these problems by using a careful strategy in selecting samples for radiocarbon dating, in order to produce an accurate chronology of the site in question and certainly attest the human occupation.

Biochronology of the first hominid remains in Europe using the vole Mimomys savini: Fuente Nueva 3 and Barranco León D, Guadix-Baza Basin, south-eastern Spain

The sites of Barranco León D (BL-D) and Fuente Nueva 3 (FN-3) in the Guadix-Baza Basin (Granada, Spain), together with the site of Sima del Elefante in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain), constitute one of the oldest records of the earliest hominid population in the European continent west of Dmanisi (Georgia, Lesser Caucasus). In the Guadix-Baza Basin, evidence of human occupation has been found to date in the form of lithic industry (Mode 1) and cut marks in large-mammal fossil remains (mainly of hippopotamuses and elephants), and recently a human tooth considered as the oldest in Europe has been discovered. Although in the case of Sima del Elefante there is unanimity among the scientific community regarding the chronology of the unit in which the hominid remains were found (Unit TE9c, 1.22 Ma), there is continuing debate on the chronology of the sites of the Guadix-Baza Basin (FN-3 and BL-D). This applies especially to BL-D, as the numerical datings published for this site have a very high error range (1.4 ± 0.38 Ma). In this paper, the chronology of these two sites is determined using as a marker the morphological and morphometric changes undergone by Mimomys savini in its first lower molar (m1) over the course of its evolutionary history. It has been possible to confirm that the oldest human presence in the Guadix-Baza Basin and at Sima del Elefante (Atapuerca) share a similar chronology, dated to between 1.1 and 1.4 Ma. Apparently, the oldest site with human remains in Europe is seen to be BL-D, dated to 1.26 ± 0.13 Ma, followed by Level TE9c, dated to 1.22 ± 0.16 Ma, and FN-3, dated to 1.20 ± 0.12 Ma.

Amphibians and squamate reptiles from the late Miocene (Vallesian) of eastern Morocco (Guefaït-1, Jerada Province)

ABSTRACT The fossil amphibians and squamate reptiles from the late Miocene (Vallesian) of Guefaït-1 are described for the first time. The herpetofaunal assemblage is composed of Discoglossinae indet., Lacertidae indet., Dopasia sp. (Anguidae), Colubridae s. 1. indet., and Naja cf. antiqua (Elapidae). This herpetofaunal assemblage is less diverse than the Moroccan herpetofauna from the middle and early late Miocene mainly because of the absence of Afro-tropical taxa, probably due to increasing aridity; likewise, it is less diverse than the Plio-Pleistocene herpetofauna, which was enriched by the entry of some European taxa during the Messinian Crisis. The presence of a discoglossine frog, different from all existing European and North African genera, in the late Miocene of Guefaït-1 suggests that the diversity of this group in the Miocene of North Africa may have been greater than previously thought. The occurrence of an anguid lizard of the genus Dopasia in the Miocene of Morocco is confirmed and may constitute the earliest record of the genus for Africa. The range of the cobra Naja antiqua, until now only known from the middle Miocene (Mellalesian) of Beni Mellal, Morocco, is extended; this constitutes the latest record of the species.