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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]

The Campisano Ravine in the Ribesalbes-Alcora Basin (Spain, early Miocene, biozone C, MN 4) yielded a relatively diverse assemblage of squirrels, composed by the ground squirrels Heteroxerus rubricati, Atlantoxerus blacki and Aragoxerus sp. the marmotines Palaeosciurus cf. sutteri, Spermophilinus sp., Marmotini indet. and the flying squirrel Aliveria cf. luteyni. Heteroxerus rubricati, Atlantoxerus blacki and Spermophilinus are typical early Miocene species from the Iberian Peninsula, and in this work we increase the knowledge of the variability of them. In MN4, the genus Aragoxerus is reported for the first time in the Iberian Peninsula, and, apart from France, it is its only record in Europe. We report here the first record of the species Palaeosciurus cf. sutteri in the Iberian Peninsula, and one of the oldest in Europe. The occurrence of Aliveria cf. luteyni marks the first record of the genus Aliveria in Western Europe. Additionally, the palaeoecological significance of this assemblage is discussed. [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]

The accurate timing of biogeographic dispersal can be determined by examining the age of fossiliferous strata on either side of a physical barrier. Here we show that African mammals migrated to Iberia and European mammals migrated to North Africa at the same time before isolation of the Mediterranean Sea during the Messinian. The fossil site of Venta del Moro (Spain) exhibits western Europe's most complete vertebrate fauna for the latest Miocene. Its uniquely cosmopolitan assemblage is evidence of faunal dispersals from Africa and Asia to Europe during the latest Miocene glaciation. A preliminary paleomagnetic study suggested an age of 5.8 Ma for this site, but our expanded magnetostratigraphy dates the site at 6.23 Ma. In addition, we recalibrated the paleomagnetic age of the Librilla site (Spain) and the North Africa site of Afoud-1 (Morocco) using the Astronomical Tuned Neogene Time Scale. Our results show a two-way African-Iberian mammal dispersal just before 6.2 Ma. These new ages indicate that an ephemeral land corridor existed between the two continents 250 k.y. before the onset of the Messinian Salinity Crisis, reflecting a tentative initial isolation of the Mediterranean Sea. This corridor developed after tectonics closed the Betic Seaway at 6.3 Ma and during the intensification of the latest Miocene glaciation at 6.26 Ma, when water circulation in the Mediterranean became very restricted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]