Preliminary palaeontological data from the Loma Negra section (Bardenas Reales de Navarra, Lower-Middle Miocene)

En este trabajo se da a conocer una nueva localidad fosilífera de la Formación Tudela (Navarra). Esta formación está compuesta por facies palustres, lacustres y aluviales distales, que representan el relleno del sector occidental- central de la Cuenca del Ebro durante el Rambliense y el Aragoniense (Mioceno inferior-medio). Basado en el estudio de los restos fósiles de micromamíferos, la nueva localidad fosilífera se sitúa bioestratigráficamente en la zona D del Aragoniense. Los datos paleoecológicos obtenidos de los micromamíferos indican que el ambiente debió ser húmedo y la temperatura templada. En lo que respecta a la zona palustre, los ostrácodos, carofitas y gasterópodos definirían un…

Rodents and insectivores from the Lower Miocene (Agenian and Ramblian) of the Tudela Formation (Ebro Basin, Spain)

The rodent and insectivore faunas of Agenian and Ramblian age from the Tudela Formation (Ebro Basin, Spain) are described. Four of the localities (CH1, CA1, CC1 and CA2) contain rodent remains of Agenian age (local zone Y), and three (CA3, CA3B and CA4) of Ramblian age (local zones Z and A). Typical Agenian taxa include Armantomys cf. bijmai (CH1), Eucricetodon cf. gerandianus (CA1), Peridyromys turbatus, Simplomys aff. aljaphi and Armantomys daamsi (CA2) and Eucricetodon aff. aquitanicus (CC1). On the other hand, some typical Ramblian taxa are Armantomys cf. parsani (CA3), Ligerimys aff. magnus and Pseudotheridomys sp. (CA4) and Prodryomys cf. brailloni (CA3B). The faunas are characterized…

Hypsodont Myomiminae (Gliridae, Rodentia) from five new localities in the Lower Miocene Tudela Formation (Bardenas Reales, Ebro Basin, Spain) and their bearing on the age of the Agenian-Ramblian boundary

The hypsodont Myomiminae Daams, 1981 (Gliridae) from the lower part of the Tudela Formation (Ebro Basin) are described. Five localities (CH1, CA2, CA3, CA4 and CC1) of this formation contain remains of the hypsodont genus Armantomy de Bruijn, 1966 and CC1 has also yielded Praearmantomys de Bruijn, 1966. Despite the poor material, we can identify the taxa A. cf. bijmai, A. daamsi (de Visser in Álvarez-Sierra, Daams, Lacomba, López Martínez, Van Der Meulen, Sesé & De Visser, 1991), A. cf. parsani, A. cf. jasperi and cf. P.crusafonti, which are characteristic of the Agenian and Ramblian continental stages. These data allow identification of the Agenian-Ramblian boundary in the Tudela Formation…

Early Pliocene continental vertebrate fauna at Puerto de la Cadena (SE Spain) and its bearing on the marine-continental correlation of the Late Neogene of Eastern Betics

In this paper, we synthesize sedimentological, magnetostratigraphic and paleontological data from the continental vertebrate site of Puerto de la Cadena (Murcia, SE Spain), in order to clarify its age. The study site is located on the northern edge of the Carrascoy mountain range, in the upper part of the Cigarrón Unit. The end-Messinian discontinuity has been detected at the base of this unit, which indicates it has an early Pliocene age. Abundant remains of small and large vertebrates, including rodents, lagomorphs, primates, carnivorans, perissodactyls, artiodactyls, proboscideans, testudines, squamats, and crocodiles, have been found in this area. Some of these elements are of African o…

A new species of glirid rodent Vasseuromys from the Aragonian (Miocene) of the Ebro Basin (North−Eastern Spain)

We describe a new species of Vasseuromys from the locality of Pico del Fraile 2 (PF2) in the Ebro Basin of northeastern Spain, which has yielded a fauna comprising several rodents and insectivores (Eumyarion cf. weinfurteri, Mega−cricetodon cf. primitivus, Democricetodon aff. hispanicus, Spermophilinus cf. besana, Microdyromys cf. legidensis, Galerix sp., and Lagomorpha indet.) indicative of Aragonian zones C or D. Vasseuromys cristinae sp. nov. differs from other Vasseuromys species in the constant presence of four extra ridges on the lower molars, one of them being connected to the posterolophid in the posterior valley, as well as three extra ridges on the upper molars, with none of them …

Une faune très diversifiée du Pléistocène inférieur de la Sierra de Quibas (province de Murcia, Espagne)

The Quaternary karstic site of Sierra de Quibas (Abanilla, province of Murcia, Spain) has provided a wide faunal list with more than 60 species. The assemblage of the taxa Arvicola deucalion, Castillomys rivas rivas, Eliomys intermedius, Equus altidens, Capra sp. aff. C. alba and cf. Praeovibos allows the correlation with other Spanish Lower Pleistocene sites in the Betic Cordillera, as Plines 1, Orce 3 and Venta Micena. Therefore Quibas can be located between 1.3 and 1.0 Ma. The palaeoenvironmental features of the area around the karstic cavity and the palaeoclimatic regime are inferred.

Asociaciones de Ostrácodos del Mioceno Temprano—Medio de Loma Negra (Bardenas Reales de Navarra, Cuenca del Ebro): Evolución Paleoambiental de un Medio Lacustre

LOWER-MIDDLE MIOCENE OSTRACOD ASSEMBLAGES OF LOMA NEGRA (BARDENAS REALES DE NAVARRA, EBRO BASIN): PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL EVOLUTION OF A LACUSTRINE SYSTEM. The palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Loma Negra section (Bardenas Reales de Navarra, Ebro Basin) during the lower-middle Miocene, is studied for the first time. The paleoen- vironmental interpretation is based on the recovered ostracod assemblages and the sedimentology. The lower part of this section is composed by red, yellow and grey mudstones, and with Paralimnocythere sp. as the most abundant ostracod taxon. The lithological features and the fau- nistic assemblage allows the interpretation of a paleoenvironment with the development o…

The Quaternary karstic site of Sierra de Quibas (Abanilla, Murcia, Spain) has provided a wide faunistic list with 53 species distributed among gastropods, myriapods, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Especially interesting among the gastropods is Palaeoglandina that became extinct in Europe during the Pliocene. It remains as a relict genus in the Pleistocene of the Iberian Peninsula. Two of the birds, Gypaetus barbatus and Geronticus eremita, and a snake, Elaphe cf. E. sealaris, are scarcely represented in the fossil record. For several birds, it is the first record in the Lower Pleistocene of the Iberian Peninsula. Among the mammals, the presence of the Cercopithecine Macaca sylvanu…

Vasseuromys rambliensis sp. nov. (Gliridae, Mammalia) from the Ramblian (Lower Miocene) of the Tudela Formation (Ebro basin, Spain)

In this paper, a new species of Vasseuromys, V. rambliensis sp. nov., from the locality Pico del Fraile 1 (PF1, Ebro basin, North-eastern Spain) is described. The association of Ligerimys, Peridyromys murinus and Simplomys simplicidens, and the absence of Eucricetodon and Democricetodon, allows dating of the PF1 locality as Late Ramblian (Early Miocene, MN3, local zone A). Main diagnostic features of V. rambliensis sp. nov. are the presence of four extra ridges in the lower molars, a very reduced anterotropid and a metaloph connected to the posteroloph and not to the protocone. The size and morphology of V. rambliensis sp. nov. are very close to V. bacchius from the upper part of unit MN2, …