First macroflora data from La Val (Late Oligocene/Early Miocene), Estadilla (Huesca,Spain)

This paper reports a previously unknown leaf-flora from the Upper Oligocene/Lower Miocene of the Ebro Basin, NE Spain, a period with a relatively poor vascular-plant fossil record in Southern Europe. The presence of Acrostichum sp. is also important. This fern is extremely significant from the point of view of palaeoecology and the depositional environment. The macroflora appears to yield sufficient morphological characteristics to be identified at genus level, and sometimes at species level, although cuticles are not preserved. This article presents the first data obtained from the new outcrop at La Val; the following families have been identified: Pteridaceae, Dennstaedtiaceae, Equisetaceae, Pinaceae, Lauraceae, Hamamelidaceae, Betulaceae, Myricaceae and Salicaceae. The fossil plant assemblage is correlated with the Cadibona floristic complex (Mai, Tertiäre Vegetationsgeschichte Europas. Methoden und Ergebnisse, Gustav Fischer, Jena, 691 pp., 1995) and suggests a subtropical-to-warm temperate climate, rainy and wet, with a short dry season. The age of the assemblage is Late Oligocene/Early Miocene.     

A new species of Plesiodimylus (Dimylidae,Eulipotyphla, Mammalia) from the Early Miocene of Spain

Abstract

We report a new dimylid species, Plesiodimylus ilercavonicus sp. nov., from the Early Miocene locality of Mas d’Antolino B-5 (Ribesalbes-Alcora, Castelló, Spain). This new species of Plesiodimylus is an amblyodont form of the genus and exhibits some primitive characters. The phylogenetic and palaeoenvironmental implications of this southern occurrence of Plesiodimylus in Lower Miocene sediments are discussed.

http://zoobank.org/lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E78DB979-6552-4BE2-BEC9-FA2EA05B7B39     

Amphibians and reptiles from the Early Miocene of the Bardenas Reales of Navarre (Ebro Basin, Iberian Peninsula)

The Lower Miocene deposits of the Bardenas Reales of Navarre (NW Ebro Basin, northern Iberian Peninsula) have yielded a diverse vertebrate fauna, including remains of amphibians and reptiles. These remains occur in several localities in the Tudela Formation. The fossiliferous levels belong to the Biozones MN2b-3 (Biozones Z-A of the Ramblian, i.e., Late Aquitanian to Early Burdigalian in age). The amphibians and reptiles represent at least 13 out of 37 vertebrate species. Amphibians consist of a salamandrid urodele and two or three anurans. All the turtles are cryptodirans and consist of the chelydrid Chelydropsis apellanizi, the testudinids Ptychogaster (Temnoclemmys) bardenensis and Ptychogaster ronheimensis, and a Trionychinae indet. Squamates are represented by the anguid lizard Ophisaurus sp., a non-anguid lacertilian, an amphisbaenian, the erycine boid? Eryx sp., and indeterminate colubrids. Crocodilian remains are assigned to the basal alligatoroid Diplocynodon sp. The fossil associations of the Bardenas Reales of Navarre suggest that the vertebrates lived in the centre of an endoreic basin with stretches of water under intertropical to subtropical climatic conditions.     

Quantitative reconstruction of palaeoclimate from the Middle Miocene Shanwang flora, eastern China

The fossil leaf flora from the Shanwang Formation, Linqu County, Shandong Province, eastern China, is diverse, abundant, well preserved and discretely spaced, all of which make it suitable for the recognition and application of leaf physiognomic characters. This article is the first study of Chinese Tertiary floras using the CLAMP (Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program) approach. Numerous bedding planes yield leaf assemblages through over 20 m thickness of diatomaceous shales within the Middle Miocene Shanwang Formation. The diatomaceous shales, containing abundant fossils, have been divided into 19 units. A working platform (3×3 m) in the Diatomite Quarry of Shanwang was studied for about 3 months in 1998 and as many fossils as possible were recorded layer by layer. This collecting method, used for the first time in the history of Shanwang research, enabled us to record the presence or absence of megafossils in distinct units so that we could investigate leaf physiognomic characteristics and palaeoclimate for each time interval. Leaf fossils from six units (5, 6, 7, 13, 15 and 16) have been used to estimate palaeoclimate parameters of the Shanwang area using the CLAMP 3B dataset. The predicted climate is that of a lakeside setting, at over 1000 m above sea level and within the 17–15-Ma time interval. Meteorological factors have been estimated using the CLAMP approach, including mean annual temperature (MAT; 9.5–11.2°C), warmest month mean temperature (20.2–22.5°C), growing season length (5.9–6.8 months), mean growing season precipitation (83–165 cm) and relative humidity (73–79%). MAT estimates from leaf margin analysis (LMA) range from 12.5 to 15.2°C, which are a maximum of 4° higher than those from our CLAMP analyses and from previous results of LMA studies of the Shanwang flora (10–13°C). Nearest living relatives (NLR) of other biota (pollen, fish, insects, diatoms, microthyriaceous fungi, etc.) indicate warm and moist temperate to subtropical conditions in the Shanwang area during the Miocene. CLAMP predictions are similar to the climate predicted from NLRs although the MAT prediction is a few degrees cooler. The fact that the Shanwang leaf flora is from a lacustrine sequence may have biased the CLAMP analysis towards cooler (and possibly wetter) climates. The modern Yangtze River valley is a reasonable environmental analogue for the Shanwang Middle Miocene, though Shanwang may have had cooler summers, cooler MAT and less seasonality in rainfall. The climate was essentially constant during deposition of the sequence studied, with possible minor variations in precipitation.     

A new species of Pseudoloris (Omomyidae,Primates) from the middle Eocene of Sant Jaume de Frontanyà (Eastern Pyrenees,Spain)

In this article we describe a new species of Pseudoloris (Omomyidae, Primates) from the Robiacian (middle Eocene) locality of Sant Jaume de Frontanyà (Eastern Pyrenees, Spain). Pseudoloris pyrenaicus is characterized by its medium size, thickened paracristid, absence of a distinct paraconid, and well‐developed buccal cingulid in the lower molars, large hypoconulid in the M₃, paraconule and hypocone reduced in the M¹ and M² and absent in the M³. The material from Sant Jaume de Frontanyà constitutes the most abundant sample of the genus Pseudoloris found until now in the Iberian Peninsula. Almost all the dental elements have been recovered, including those teeth hardly known for other species of the genus, such as lower and upper incisors. The new species shows intermediate features between Pseudoloris isabenae from Capella and Pseudoloris parvulus, present in different Spanish and French sites. Therefore, we consider that Pseudoloris pyrenaicus is an intermediate form between these two species. Am J Phys Anthropol 143:92–99, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Reassessing the Odontites purpureus group (Orobanchaceae) from south‐east Spain and north‐west Africa

We describe a species of Odontites, O. bolligeri E.Rico, L.Delgado & Herrero, endemic to the south‐eastern Iberian Peninsula and north Africa, from Morocco to Tunisia. This species belongs to the O. purpureus group and corresponds to the taxon that the monographer Markus Bolliger called O. squarrosus subsp. squarrosus. However, according to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN), this is an invalid name, and hence we propose a new name for these plants here. Drawings of the new species are also supplied. In addition, we compare and discuss the other species of the O. purpureus group, propose a key for them and include a karyological study of the two Iberian species of the group. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 158 , 701–708.     

Neoselachians (Chondrichthyes,Elasmobranchii) from the Lower and lower Upper Cretaceous of north‐eastern Spain

Extensive sampling of several Barremian and Albian–Cenomanian levels across the Aguilón, Oliete and Aliaga subbasins of the Iberian Basin, north‐east Spain, yielded abundant material of new or so far poorly known neoselachians. The faunas consist of 16 different species, five of which represent new species and two new genera: Cantioscyllium brachyplicatum sp. nov. , Platypterix venustulus gen. et sp. nov. , Ptychotrygon pustulata sp. nov. , Ptychotrygon striata sp. nov. and Iberotrygon plagiolophus gen. et sp. nov. In addition, teeth of Heterodontus cf. H. carerens, Lamniformes indet., Pteroscyllium sp., Scyliorhinidae indet., Rhinobatos sp., Spathobatis sp., Belemnobatis sp., Ptychotrygon geyeri, Ptychotrygon sp. and Celtipristis herreroi are described. The new family Ptychotrygonidae is defined. The localities comprise palaeoenvironments ranging from lacustrine and shallow lake to open marine settings. Neoselachians are almost completely absent from continental settings in the Barremian, as a result of prevailing freshwater conditions, but became more abundant in marine strata. The Albian–Cenomanian selachian assemblage is the most profuse and diverse of the three assemblages studied. It is dominated by small, benthic and near‐coastal taxa, for instance Cantioscyllium and Ptychotrygon, and contains several new species, including an endemic batoid, Iberotrygon plagiolophus gen. et sp. nov. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 155 , 316–347.     

High European sauropod dinosaur diversity during Jurassic–Cretaceous transition in Riodeva (Teruel, Spain)

Abstract:  Up to now, more than 40 dinosaur sites have been found in the latest Jurassic – earliest Cretaceous sedimentary outcrops (Villar del Arzobispo Formation) of Riodeva (Iberian Range, Spain). Those already excavated, as well as other findings, provide a large and diverse number of sauropod remains, suggesting a great diversity for this group in the Iberian Peninsula during this time. Vertebrae and ischial remains from Riodevan site RD-13 are assigned to Turiasaurus riodevensis (a species described in RD-10, Barrihonda site), which is part of the Turiasauria clade. This is the first time that a taxon is attributed to Turiasaurus genus out of its type site. A Neosauropod caudal vertebra from the RD-11 site has been classified as Diplodocinae indet., supporting the previous attribution on an ilion also found in Riodeva (CPT-1074) referring to the Diplodocidae clade. New remains from the RD-28, RD-41 and RD-43 sites, of the same age, among which there are caudal vertebrae, are assigned to Macronaria. New sauropod footprints from the Villar del Arzobispo Formation complete the extraordinary sauropod record coming to light in the area. The inclusion of other sauropods from different contemporaneous exposures in Teruel within the Turiasauria clade adds new evidence of a great diversity of sauropods in Iberia during the Jurassic–Cretaceous transition. Turiasauria distribution contributes to the understanding of European and global palaeobiogeography.     

Fossil remains of Macaca sylvanus florentina (Cocchi, 1872) (Primates, Cercopithecidae) from the Early Pleistocene of Quibas (Murcia, Spain)

The macaque material from the Early Pleistocene site of Quibas (Albanilla, Murcia, Spain), including dentognathic remains, isolated teeth and some postcranial bone fragments, is described. Both metrically and morphologically, this sample must be attributed to Macaca sylvanus (the Barbary macaque). This species is currently distributed through North Africa and Gibraltar, but was much more widely distributed during the Plio-Pleistocene, being represented by several European fossil subspecies. Metrical comparisons of dental size and proportions between extant M. s. sylvanus and fossil Macaca sylvanus florentina from the type locality and other Italian sites are undertaken, in order to classify the remains from Quibas at the subspecies level. The results show that the Quibas sample not only fits the range of variation of M. s. florentina from the type locality, but also differs from the extant Barbary macaque condition in several regards. This permits us to formally attribute the material from Quibas to M. s. florentina. The material described in this paper therefore significantly improves the knowledge of this fossil taxon, particularly regarding the upper dentition, and further confirms the taxonomic distinctiveness of this extinct taxon at the subspecies rank. Taken as a whole, M. s. florentina largely overlaps in dental dimensions with M. s. sylvanus, but differs from the latter by displaying (on average): (1) absolutely longer upper molars (especially M¹ and M³); (2) relatively wider upper molars (especially M¹ and M²); (3) longer M³ as compared with the M²; (4) absolutely longer M₁ and M₃; and (5) relatively narrower M₃.     

A tall-spined ornithopod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Salas de los Infantes (Burgos, Spain)

A tall-spined ornithopod dinosaur from the Pinilla de los Moros Formation (Upper Hauterivian-Lower Barremian) of Salas de los Infantes (Burgos, Spain) is described. The material consists of seven associated axial remains, including five middle dorsal vertebrae, a fragmentary neural spine and a dorsal rib, from a single medium-sized individual. This material was previously referred to Iguanodon cf. fittoni. It is characterised by having a high dorsal neurapophysis that is approximately 4.5 times the height of the centrum. The elongation and vertical orientation of the dorsal neural spines allow it to be distinguished from other ornithopods from the Wealden of Europe, including Hypselospinus and Barilium from the Valanginian, and Iguanodon and Mantellisaurus from the Barremian-Aptian. The material is here referred to Iguanodontia indet. because it is so incomplete, but it is potentially a distinct taxon. Among the ornithopods, only Ouranosaurus and the hadrosaurid Hypacrosaurus possess higher dorsal neural spines.     

New palaeobotanical data from the Lower Devonian of Mezquita de Loscos (Teruel Province,Spain)

Recent fieldwork has uncovered three new localities from the Lower Devonian of Mezquita de Loscos (Teruel Province, Spain) with further plant mega-fossils and the first record of micro-fossils. Such plant remains have been interpreted as belonging to a basal euphyllophyte, Taeniocrada-like stems, Hostinella genus and paired sporangia. Fourteen spore taxa were recovered, including Ambitisporites, Aneurospora, Brochotriletes, Chelinospora, Emphanisporites, Gneudnaspora and Retusotriletres, among others. New evidence confirms a Lochkovian age for this outcrop and suggests that the plant diversity was more complex than originally documented.     

Harvestmen of the BOS Arthropod Collection of the University of Oviedo (Spain) (Arachnida,Opiliones)

There are significant gaps in accessible knowledge about the distribution and phenology of Iberian harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones). Harvestmen accessible datasets in Iberian Peninsula are unknown, an only two other datasets available in GBIF are composed exclusively of harvestmen records. Moreover, only a few harvestmen data from Iberian Peninsula are available in GBIF network (or in any network that allows public retrieval or use these data). This paper describes the data associated with the Opiliones kept in the BOS Arthropod Collection of the University of Oviedo, Spain (hosted in the Department of Biología de Organismos y Sistemas), filling some of those gaps. The specimens were mainly collected from the northern third of the Iberian Peninsula. The earliest specimen deposited in the collection, dating back to the early 20^th century, belongs to the P. Franganillo Collection. The dataset documents the collection of 16,455 specimens, preserved in 3,772 vials. Approximately 38% of the specimens belong to the family Sclerosomatidae, and 26% to Phalangidae; six other families with fewer specimens are also included. Data quality control was incorporated at several steps of digitisation process to facilitate reuse and improve accuracy. The complete dataset is also provided in Darwin Core Archive format, allowing public retrieval, use and combination with other biological, biodiversity of geographical variables datasets.     

Trophic Behavior of Two Perlidae Species (Insecta,Plecoptera) in a River in Southern Spain

Two Perlidae species, Dinocras cephalotes and Perla bipunctata, were studied in a river in Spain with the objectives of: a) describing their diets; b) detecting differences between size classes; c) analyzing niche breadth; and d) assessing the degree of niche overlap between both species and size classes. Dinocras cephalotes and Perla bipunctata nymphs fed mainly on Baetidae and immature Chironomidae. We did not detect significant differences in the quantity of ingested detritus, algae, and leaf pieces. Niche breadth was very low, although both species presented a high niche overlap. P. bipunctata seems to select some prey items throughout its nymphal development, whereas D. cephalotes augments its diet with other prey items as it grows. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Matuyama-age lithic tools from the Sima del Elefante site, Atapuerca (northern Spain)

Paleomagnetic results obtained from the sedimentary fill at the Sima del Elefante site in Atapuerca, Spain, reveal a geomagnetic reversal, interpreted as the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary (0.78 Ma). The uppermost lithostratigraphic units (E17 through E19), which contain Mode II and III archaeological assemblages, display normal polarity magnetization, whereas the six lowermost units (E9 through E16) yield negative latitudinal virtual geomagnetic pole positions. Units E9 through E13, all of which display reverse magnetic polarity, contain Mode I (Oldowan) lithic tools, testifying to the presence of humans in the early Pleistocene (0.78-1.77 Ma).