Search

Abstract: The present work provides for the first time a detailed description of teeth attributable to metatherians in the Miocene fossil record of Spain, and justifies their generic and specific ascription. The fossil elements found correspond to Amphiperatherium frequens, the last herpetotheriid that inhabited Europe. This is so far the southernmost occurrence of this species, thus showing that its geographic range extended further southward than previously thought. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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, Megacricetodon 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 located outside the trigone. Morphological comparisons of this new taxon to other Vasseuromys species from the western Mediterranean area allow the reconstruction of their phylogenetic interrelationships during the Early and Middle Miocene of Europe, suggesting that V. cristinae sp. nov. is a descendant of V. autolensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we describe a previously unknown species of the glirid Eliomys from the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene Cabriel, Alcoy and Granada basins of southeastern Spain. Eliomys yevesi sp. nov. is characterized by its relative small size, narrow lingual wall and common presence of two centrolophs in the upper molars, and well-developed centrolophids in the lower molars. The new species is the probable ancestor of E. intermedius, which in turn represents the ancestor of the extant E. quercinus. According to its morphologic and biometric features, the origin of E. yevesi sp. nov. is likely to be found in some population of E. truci from the Late Miocene. Based on these affinities, we propose the lineage E. truci-E. yevesi sp. nov.-E. intermedius-E. quercinus, in which there is a trend towards the development of centrolophs, as well as the reduction of accessory crests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two species of the family Eomyidae are identified in the early Miocene localities of the Araia d'Alcora outcrop (Ribesalbes-Alcora Basin, Iberian Peninsula): Ligerimys florancei and Ligerimys ellipticus. The first is rarer than the second, which is one of the most abundant mammals in the Ribesalbes-Alcora Basin assemblages. Due to its abundance, we are able to describe its variability in dental morphology, showing characteristics never previously observed, including the presence of a mesoloph or other features previously described only in ancient assemblages of this species, such as the presence of the anteroloph, which appears in younger assemblages in the Araia sequence. Furthermore, based on the eomyids, we divide the record of the Campisano Ravine section into two long local biozones, depending on the species present. In addition, each local biozone is divided into two smaller subbiozones, depending on the abundance of each species. We retrospectively compare and correlate the assemblages studied here with other Ligerimys assemblages from the other basins in the Iberian Peninsula. We classify these sites based on the abundance and species of the genus Ligerimys. Additionally, we discuss the palaeoecological preferences of these species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]