0000000000498075
AUTHOR
Beatriz Azanza
Dietary behaviour and competition for vegetal resources in two Early Miocene pecoran ruminants from Central Spain
ABSTRACT Dietary behaviour and competition for resources are investigated for the small-sized ruminants Andegameryx Ginsburg, 1971 and Procervulus Gaudry, 1877 representatives of two largely distinct states of diversification of pecorans. Results obtained from dental microwear and mesowear methodologies are concordant with a mixed feeder strategy for the taxa from the Early Miocene environments of the Iberian Chain (Central Spain). Further, the Spanish taxa investigated had less abrasive diets than their relatives from others similarly aged localities in Europe. This fact raises an important evolutionary uncertainty concerning the traditional characterization of first pecorans as specialize…
A new deer from the lower Turolian of Spain
A new genus and species of deer,Lucentia iberica, is described from the lower Turolian (MN 11) locality of Crevillente 2 (Alicante province, Spain).Eostyloceros pierensisThomas, 1951 from Piera (Barcelona province) is also included in the new genus. The two-tinedLucentiais not a representative of Muntiacinae. From the emplacement on the cranial cavity and moderate backward inclination of the pedicles, and from the monopodial construction of the antlers,Lucentiais probably the sister group of the clade Cervinae + Odocoileinae. The hypothesis thatLucentiais most closely related to Cervinae is poorly supported by dental features. The Cervinae-Odocoileinae split must have occurred during the la…
Identification problems of arid environments in the Neogene–Quaternary mammal record of Spain
Abstract In this work, we investigate if broadly used methodologies are adequate to detect periods of aridity based on the Spanish fossil record and try to infer which of them were more or less severe. Thus, we present a qualitative statistical approach to two popular palaeoecological methodologies: ecological diversity and cenograms. Discriminant models, derived from modern localities of known biome, determined the probable biomes of Neogene–Quaternary fossil assemblages. Principal component analyses (PCA) provided additional inference on their ordination within an aridity gradient. While models work adequately with modern faunas, the analyses of the palaeocommunities showed that their eco…