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Bats are a highly diversified order of mammals found all over the world; however, their population size and distribution are decreasing rapidly in Europe nowadays. The study of ancient bat populations by means of their fossil record is a valuable source of contextual information for modern bat conservation studies. This paper is a comprehensive review of published bat records in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands through Quaternary times, representing the first attempt to update and standardize the knowledge of chiropters in southwestern Europe during this time period. The main goal is to identify changes in bat assemblages that might be correlatable to palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironmental changes. Our data show that the Quaternary record of bats in the area is fragmentary and strongly dependent on the presence of karstic cavities. Thus, a strong preservation bias towards colonial cave-dwelling bats exists, and species with alternative ecological requirements are under-represented. Nevertheless, this work reveals that most of the bats inhabiting the area today were already present in the region from at least the Middle Pleistocene. Interestingly, we observe a frequent association between certain cave-dwelling bats (i.e., Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, Miniopterus schreibersii, Myotis myotis and M. blythii) that is still observed in many caves today; this reflects a stable ecology that has remained undisturbed despite past climatic changes. Within the well-documented periods at the end of the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene, a reduction in some common components of Quaternary assemblages (Rhinolophus species and M. schreibersii) is observed, coinciding with the Late Glacial Maximum and the Northgrippian Neoglacial (a cooling event in the Holocene). Finally, the Balearic record shows interesting palaeobiogeographical characteristics, including some eastern taxa absent in the Iberian Peninsula (Rhinolophus variabilis and R. cf. blasii) as well as an unusual, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, UE, Gobierno de Aragón, Eusko Jaurlaritza, Generalitat de Cataluña, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Comunidad de Madrid, Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

Acknowledgements This work was performed as part of the Spanish research projects CGL-200602956/BOS, CGL-200806005/BOS, CGL-2008-04000/BTE and CONSOLIDER-GRACCIE-CSD 2007-00067. We thank César Morales-Molino for their helpful comments on the manuscript and our colleagues at U.D. Botánica (E.T.S.I. Montes) for their help in collecting the studied materials., This paper reports on analysis of plant macrofossils in aeolian deposits exposed in El Asperillo cliff in the Province of Huelva. A significant find of a large number of macrofossils of Pinus (Pinus pinaster Ait. and Pinus nigra Arnold) makes a major contribution to our understanding of the role of Pine in the Upper Pleistocene landscapes of Iberia. P. pinaster Ait. and P. nigra Arnold, are meso-microthermic species and inhabited valleys excavated in aeolian sediments mainly deposited during OIS 4 and OIS 3 (based on OSL and radiocarbon ages). Their presence in these valleys during the last part of OIS4 and OIS 3 reflects a significant fall in temperature during certain periods of these isotopic stages and helps us better understand the response of coastal dynamics to climate change., Depto. de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Fac. de Ciencias Biológicas, TRUE, pub

In this paper, we reconstruct palaeoclimate for the late Oligocene (Chattian) La Val plant assemblage of Spain (NE Iberian Peninsula). Our study employs both CLAMP (Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program) and LMA (Leaf Margin Analysis), the first time these two techniques have been directly compared, and is based on 25 morphotypes (representing 23 taxa) of woody dicot leaves from a single stratigraphic unit (layer LV6). Both methods have provided a similar result. Although the standard deviation of LMA is higher than CLAMP, the results of LMA are coherent with CLAMP. The palaeoclimatic variables obtained from CLAMP shows a marked contrast between WMMT and CMMT and between 3-WET (836.3 ± 145.4 mm) and 3-DRY (113 ± 33 mm). Meanwhile, the GROWSEAS (9.30 ± 0.7 months) points out that the growth season lasted almost all the year. These variations signal a seasonal contrast, showing the existence of a dry season. Results indicate a warm temperate climate with hot and dry summers. The palaeoclimatic variables obtained using CLAMP are: MAT 17.2 ± 1.7 °C, WMMT 25.5 ± 1.3 °C, CMMT 10 ± 1.8 °C and GSP 1480 ± 204 mm. The palaeoclimatic variables obtained using LMA are MAT 17.11 ± 4.61 °C (regression equation for data from East Asia) and 16.8 ± 4.7 °C (regression equation for data from Europe). The palaeoclimatic values estimated from La Val site match those obtained from other Oligocene sites from Iberia (e.g. As Pontes site) that rely on different palaeoclimate methods. These palaeoclimatic values obtained from La Val are also similar to those from several Oligocene localities (e.g. the Rot flora) in Europe and reflect peak temperature corresponding to the late Oligocene warming episode., Depto. de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Fac. de Ciencias Biológicas, TRUE, pub

The development of arid climate conditions in eastern Iberia during the mid-Cretaceous (mid-Albian to earliest Cenomanian) has been postulated by several authors over the last two decades based on sedimentological and palaeobotanical datasets. In this paper, we present a combined sedimentological and paleosol study of the mid-Albian to earliest Cenomanian Utrillas Group in the Cuenca Basin of east-central Spain, to improve knowledge of palaeoclimate. Four facies associations are identified as follows: Proximal alluvial braidplain (FA I), Distal alluvial braidplain (FA II), Aeolian dunes (FA III), and Inner estuarine settings (FA IV). The succession records the development of a braidplain system under dominantly arid conditions followed by a marine transgressive phase. In contrast to the overall arid palaeoclimate interpretation, multi-proxy palaeoedaphological analyses conducted for three paleosol profiles (Spodosols) indicate the occurrence of periods of increased humidity in the basin. These findings allow us to infer the occurrence of shorter-term climatic oscillations characterised by a tropical savanna climate when the palaeosols developed, suggesting significantly more humid conditions than those inferred based on the sedimentological and previous palaeobotanical datasets. We propose a palaeoclimatic model that explains the alternation between the dominantly arid and these more humid periods based on the cyclical latitudinal shifting of the mid-Cretaceous climatic belts, shedding new light on the mid-Albian to earliest Cenomanian climate of Iberia., Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Unión Europea, Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Depto. de Mineralogía y Petrología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

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 origin, such as Debruijnimys sp., Macaca sp., and Sivatherium cf. hendeyi, and their presence is related to the Messinian Salinity Crisis. In addition, remains found at this site verify the persistence of Crocodylia in the European record beyond the late Miocene. The association includes typical elements of the early Ruscinian terrestrial record (MN14), like Apocricetus cf. barrierei, Sivatherium, Gazella aff. baturra, and Hipparion fissurae. The Puerto de la Cadena site is located in a reversed geomagnetic chron that has been correlated with C3n.3r (from 4.997 to 4.896 Ma). According to this correlation, the MN13/MN14 boundary has a minimum age of 4.9 Ma., Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO), Generalitat de Catalunya, Universidad del País Vasco, Agencia de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Región de Murcia, Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

Causes of the major mass extinction recorded during the Early Toarcian (Early Jurassic) are controversial. Many authors have concluded that the mass extinction is caused by the widespread oceanic anoxia derived from a postulated Early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (ETOAE), supposedly synchronous in all basins and global in extent. Another group of papers links the mass extinction with a major climate change that occurred synchronously with the mass extinction. The results of the study of five sections of the uppermost Pliensbachian and Lower–Middle Toarcian deposits, located in northern and central Spain are presented. Detailed ammonite-based biostratigraphy, coupled with stable isotope analysis of belemnite calcite and bulk carbonates, as well as total organic carbon (TOC) analyses have been performed in all sections. Records of the vertical distribution of mainly benthic fossils have been compiled in four of the studied sections. Results obtained in the Spanish outcrops have been compared and correlated with other European sections. The excellent mutual relation between the patterns of the Early Toarcian progressive warming and the concomitant progressive losses of species evidences a cause-and-effect relationship between the increase of temperature and the mass extinction. From an uppermost Pliensbachian cooling interval, warming started at the Lower Toarcian Tenuicostatum Zone. Increase of average seawater palaeotemperature is associated with a progressive and substantial drawdown in the number of species of nektonic, planktonic and benthic organisms, representing the extinction interval. A prominent increase in seawater temperature occurred around the Lower Toarcian Tenuicostatum–Serpentinum zonal boundary. Average temperatures at the Serpentinum Zone increased about 7 °C, marking the extinction boundary. The high temperatures continued during the Middle Toarcian Bifrons Chronozone, representing the repopulation interval. The anoxia linked to the postulated ETO, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (MEC), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

The main aim of this paper is to review Middle Permian through Middle Triassic continental successions in European. Secondly, areas of Middle–Late Permian sedimentation, the Permian–Triassic Boundary (PTB) and the onset of Triassic sedimentation at the scale of the westernmost peri-Tethyan domain are defined in order to construct palaeogeographic maps of the area and to discuss the impact of tectonics, climate and sediment supply on the preservation of continental sediment. At the scale of the western European peri-Tethyan basins, the Upper Permian is characterised by a general progradational pattern from playa-lake or floodplain to fluvial environments. In the northern Variscan Belt domain, areas of sedimentation were either isolated or connected to the large basin, which was occupied by the Zechstein Sea. In the southern Variscan Belt, during the Late Permian, either isolated endoreic basins occurred, with palaeocurrent directions indicating local sources, or basins underwent erosion and/or there was no deposition. These basins were not connected with the Tethys Ocean, which could be explained by a high border formed by Corsica–Sardinia palaeorelief and even parts of the Kabilia microplate. The palaeoflora and sedimentary environments suggest warm and semi-arid climatic conditions. At the scale of the whole study area, an unconformity (more or less angular) is observed almost everywhere between deposits of the Upper Permian and Triassic, except in the central part of the Germanic Basin. The sedimentation gap is more developed in the southern area where, in some basins,Upper Permian sediment does not occur. The large sedimentary supply, erosion and/or lack of deposition during the Late Permian, as well as the variable palaeocurrent direction pattern between theMiddle–Late Permian and the Early Triassic indicate a period of relief rejuvenation during the Late Permian. During the Induan, all the intra-belt basins were under erosion and sediment was only preserved in, Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

In order to develop paleoecological studies involving many fossil sites, there is a need to establish a consistent time framework, which enables us to arrange the fossil associations according to a sequence of biotic events and subsequently to test a relationship with paleoenvironmental changes. The nature of the continental fossil record has given rise to much controversy with regard to the establishment of general biostratigraphical scales. Additionally, biochronological scales are sometimes all that can be proposed. The primary goal of the present paper is to present a time arrangement for the Iberoccitanian micromammalian fossil sites from the latest Middle Miocene to the Mio–Pliocene boundary, spanning around 7 million years (approximately 12.61– 4.95 Ma). Herein we study over one hundred faunal lists of rodents from the Iberoccitanian Region, compiled from the literature. Previous research has described two biogeographical provinces in our study area: a northern one (Vallès–Penedès and southeast France) and a southern one (all the Iberian basins, except the Vallès–Penedès). We therefore conducted Alroy's Maximum Likelihood Appearance Event Ordination (ML AEO) methodology, applying it to the database compiled for each province. Finally, using available numerical dates for a quarter of the sites, we obtained a calibrated ordination for all localities. In each analysis, the results obtained are roughly coherent with the Mammalian Neogene units (MN) and allow estimation of the numerical ages for the entire set of fossil sites included in the study. Nevertheless, our results show severe diachrony between the two biogeographic provinces of the Iberoccitanian Region in relation to the MN boundaries, which might be linked to the existence of a refuge area associated with more humid environments in the northern province., Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

The site of El Portalón is the entrance to the Cueva Mayor karst system, located in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain). This is an important Holocene archaeological site,which was excavated in the 1970s but from which little has been published. New excavations starting in 2000 have highlighted a deep stratigraphical sequence, with human occupations starting at the end of the Late Pleistocene. In this paper, we present for the first time, on the basis of the small-vertebrate assemblage, palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic reconstructions of the Latest Pleistocene of the Sierra de Atapuerca, well known for its Early to Middle Pleistocene human-bearing localities. The small vertebrates of El Portalón comprise at least 25 species: 4 amphibians (Alytes obstetricans, Bufo bufo, Bufo calamita and Rana temporaria); 3 squamates (an indeterminate small-size lacertid, an indeterminate large colubrine and Vipera sp.); 6 insectivores (Sorex gr. coronatus-araneus, Sorex minutus, Neomys fodiens, Neomys anomalus, Talpa europaea and Galemys pyrenaicus); 2 bats (Myotismyotis and Myotis gr. myotis-blythi); 10 rodents (Microtus arvalis, Microtus agrestis, Microtus oeconomus, Iberomys cabrerae, Chionomys nivalis, Terricola duodecimcostatus, Arvicola sapidus, Arvicola terrestris, Apodemus sylvaticus and Eliomys quercinus). These taxa, many of which are ecothermal (sensitive to temperature) show variations in their taxonomic diversity throughout the sequence. Although, with the exception of M. oeconomus, they do not differ fromthe extant fauna of the Iberian Peninsula, they do so in the abundance of their taxonomic assemblage. When the small vertebrates are grouped and studied in terms of vertical trends through the sequence, it is possible to follow environmental and climatic changes. Results from the small-vertebrate associations indicate that the landscape had open habitats in the vicinity of the Atapuerca caves throughout the sequence,withwet locales in the surrounding area. W, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Dirección General de Investigación, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

This paper examines the role played by palaeoceanographic and climatic conditions on the palaeobiogeography of the Pliensbachian–Toarcian ostracods (Early Jurassic) in the European Epicontinental Sea (EES). The influence of the palaeogeography, ocean currents and sea level, temperature and salinity variations on ostracod abundance, diversity and migration patterns is reconstructed. Ostracod migration follows an anticlockwise circulation in the eastern side of the EES, with a leading northeast–southwest movement, and the frequent arrival of Tethyan faunas into the central and western parts of the EES during the Pliensbachian. A three-fold classification of water masses based on salinity, temperature, lithological and fossil data is proposed. The repeated inflow of Tethyan ostracods into the EES ended by the earliest Toarcian. This ostracod event is related to the opening of the Hispanic Corridor and to the reorganization of the surface and deep circulations that may have generated a cold episode at the beginning of the Toarcian., Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

The Permian–Triassic transition, a time of phenomenal palaeoenvironmental and palaeogeographical change, represents the largest episode of mass extinctions known to palaeontologists. This episode is, however, very poorly understood, and a lack of sediments and palaeontological data, particularly in the continental record, is a feature common to every basin. Despite compelling information on the continental Permian–Triassic boundary (PTB) emerging from recent efforts evaluating vertebrate evolution, fungal events and isotope curves, results are still insufficient to make any valuable correlations among continental basins and are even less appropriate for relating sediments of continental to those of marine origin. The present report discusses and attempts to locate the PTB in the basins of Iberia and Balearic Islands through an analysis of the palaeontological and sedimentary record across the Permian–Triassic transition. The aim of the paper is to contribute to our present knowledge of the palaeogeographical and stratigraphical significance of the Permian and Triassic continental units of Western Europe. The present-day Iberian Ranges, Catalonian Ranges and Balearic Islands hold the most complete Late Permian–Early Triassic sedimentary record in Iberia. This record consists of alluvial sediments, mainly of braided fluvial systems, corresponding to the bSaxonianQ and Buntsandstein facies. All the units examined so far have been dated through palynological associations. The two bSaxonianQ facies formations are of Thuringian age, although the lower one shows some palynological elements of Autunian affinities. The Buntsandstein units range from Thuringian to Anisian in age, there being no evidence up to now of the Scythian in Iberia. The exact position of the PTB in Iberia is up to now impossible to pinpoint with the precision of the marine series. Sedimentary characteristics and palynological data in the Iberian Ranges point that it lies at the sedimentary interval, 10, Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

For sequence stratigraphic analysis of extensive carbonate platforms (hundreds of kilometres wide) developed in greenhouse climates on broad, passive margins, less emphasis should be placed on large-scale seismic geometries, and more attention paid to sequence stratigraphic correlation of stratigraphic sections based usually on isolated outcrops. To this end, quantitative analysis of accommodation emerges as a simple, useful tool, that allows detailed architectural reconstructions, regional chronostratigraphical correlation and systems tract interpretation. In this paper, a quantitative analysis of accommodation was applied to the wide platforms that developed in the southern passive continental margin of Iberia during the mid-Cretaceous (late Albian to early middle Cenomanian interval). This analysis was based on several integrated techniques including: (1) construction of total accommodation curves with the aid of backstripping techniques for calculating decompacted sedimentary accumulation through time, (2) mathematical analysis of these curves and characterisation of second- and third-order accommodation patterns, and (3) analysis of parasequence stacking patterns in peritidal cyclic successions by means of Fischer plots. By applying these techniques to eight individual sections logged at the decimetre scale in outcrops of the External Zones of the Betic orogenic belt, it was possible to characterise the second- and third-order accommodation signal for this interval in the basin. The second-order curve defines a long-term sigmoidal pattern of nearly six million years, with low rates of accommodation generation in the first and the last part of the interval, and high rates in the mid-interval. The third-order signal defines six accommodation events of one million years average duration, which controlled the development of six successive depositional sequences and their systems tracts. On the basis of this new sequence stratigraphic framework, a high-resolution, 2, Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

Thick laminar calcrete profiles are common on the surface of the eastern Canary Islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. This paper reports the study of one profile from Lanzarote (Macher profile) and one from Fuerteventura (Tef|¨a profile). These profiles are about 2 m thick. The Macher profile is developed on basaltic host rocks and consists of two main horizons: a lower horizon in which white veins of laminated micrite penetrate cracks, and an upper laminar horizon. The Tef|¨a profile is cumulative and consists, from base to top, of massive, laminar, and massive and laminar-brecciated horizons. Highlighted in the study of these profiles are the presence of ooids, the complex structure of the laminar horizons, and the occurrence of fossil bee nests (Celliforma). Ooids consist of a nucleus of clay, micrite and etched grains coated with envelopes of micrite and clay (mainly palygorskite). Organic films favoured both the precipitation of carbonate and the adhesion of clays when the ooids formed in the soil. The laminar horizons consist of a centimetre-scale alternation of massive micrite with varied amounts of ooids and detrital grains with laminated micrite. This alternation indicates the small-scale periods of sedimentation, erosion and soil formation in the upper part of a relatively stable surface. These small-scale alternations may reflect climatic vegetation changes in which arid periods are represented by micrite with ooids, while laminated micrite reflects a better-developed vegetation of the wet periods. Celliforma occur as ovoid larval cells with more or less rounded bases and a flat top. The cells are about 3 cm long and 1.5 cm in diameter. Their wall is about 5 mm thick, and is commonly laminated. Celliforma is interpreted as fossil nests of solitary bees. Their presence in the laminar horizon is evidence for the existence of a vegetation cover containing angiosperms., Depto. de Mineralogía y Petrología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub