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El Grupo de Paleoantropología del Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales {CSIC), que lidera un equipo de investigadores españoles y ecuatoguineanos, lleva desde 2014 realizando campañas arqueo-paleontológicas en Guinea Ecuatorial con el objetivo de localizar pruebas del primer poblamiento humano en las pluvisilvas de África Central, habiéndose documentado las evidencias más antiguas de presencia humana en esa parte del planeta.

This study presents an exceptional collection of 54 Late Pleistocene human remains that correspond to at least three Neanderthal individuals from Simanya Gran, the main gallery of Cova Simanya, located in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. The collection comprised 53 unpublished remains that were unearthed during the 1970s and an additional tooth discovered during 2021 excavations. The specimens represent an adult with a small stature, a periadolescent aged approximately 11.5 years, and an immature individual aged approximately 7.7 years, thus offering a more complete demographic perspective. The collection encompasses diverse anatomical parts including upper and lower dentition, mandible, vertebrae, and limb bones from both the upper and lower extremities. Attempts to extract aDNA were unsuccessful. Renewed archaeological investigations at Cova Simanya have facilitated the reevaluation of the original stratigraphic context of these remains, leading to the discovery of the additional tooth, aligning with the periadolescent individual. This assemblage is currently the most extensive Neanderthal collection from the northeastern Mediterranean Iberia, offering invaluable insights into the morphology and evolutionary trajectory of Late Pleistocene hominins. Hence, Simanya Neanderthals will enhance our understanding of Neanderthal demographics and evolution, paving the way for an in-depth examination of the morphological diversity and evolutionary context of Iberian Neanderthals.

This study presents an exceptional collection of 54 Late Pleistocene human remains that correspond to at least three Neanderthal individuals from Simanya Gran, the main gallery of Cova Simanya, located in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. The collection comprised 53 unpublished remains that were unearthed during the 1970s and an additional tooth discovered during 2021 excavations. The specimens represent an adult with a small stature, a periadolescent aged approximately 11.5 years, and an immature individual aged approximately 7.7 years, thus offering a more complete demographic perspective. The collection encompasses diverse anatomical parts including upper and lower dentition, mandible, vertebrae, and limb bones from both the upper and lower extremities. Attempts to extract aDNA were unsuccessful. Renewed archaeological investigations at Cova Simanya have facilitated the reevaluation of the original stratigraphic context of these remains, leading to the discovery of the additional tooth, aligning with the periadolescent individual. This assemblage is currently the most extensive Neanderthal collection from the northeastern Mediterranean Iberia, offering invaluable insights into the morphology and evolutionary trajectory of Late Pleistocene hominins. Hence, Simanya Neanderthals will enhance our understanding of Neanderthal demographics and evolution, paving the way for an in-depth examination of the morphological diversity and evolutionary context of Iberian Neanderthals.

This study presents an exceptional collection of 54 Late Pleistocene human remains that correspond to at least three Neanderthal individuals from Simanya Gran, the main gallery of Cova Simanya, located in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. The collection comprised 53 unpublished remains that were unearthed during the 1970s and an additional tooth discovered during 2021 excavations. The specimens represent an adult with a small stature, a periadolescent aged approximately 11.5 years, and an immature individual aged approximately 7.7 years, thus offering a more complete demographic perspective. The collection encompasses diverse anatomical parts including upper and lower dentition, mandible, vertebrae, and limb bones from both the upper and lower extremities. Attempts to extract aDNA were unsuccessful. Renewed archaeological investigations at Cova Simanya have facilitated the reevaluation of the original stratigraphic context of these remains, leading to the discovery of the additional tooth, aligning with the periadolescent individual. This assemblage is currently the most extensive Neanderthal collection from the northeastern Mediterranean Iberia, offering invaluable insights into the morphology and evolutionary trajectory of Late Pleistocene hominins. Hence, Simanya Neanderthals will enhance our understanding of Neanderthal demographics and evolution, paving the way for an in-depth examination of the morphological diversity and evolutionary context of Iberian Neanderthals., Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Generalitat de Catalunya, Diputació de Barcelona, Fundación Palarq, UAM Tomás y Valiente Program, European Union, Ministerio de Universidades, Xunta de Galicia, European Research Council, Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

This study presents an exceptional collection of 54 Late Pleistocene human remains that correspond to at least three Neanderthal individuals from Simanya Gran, the main gallery of Cova Simanya, located in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. The collection comprised 53 unpublished remains that were unearthed during the 1970s and an additional tooth discovered during 2021 excavations. The specimens represent an adult with a small stature, a periadolescent aged approximately 11.5 years, and an immature individual aged approximately 7.7 years, thus offering a more complete demographic perspective. The collection encompasses diverse anatomical parts including upper and lower dentition, mandible, vertebrae, and limb bones from both the upper and lower extremities. Attempts to extract aDNA were unsuccessful. Renewed archaeological investigations at Cova Simanya have facilitated the reevaluation of the original stratigraphic context of these remains, leading to the discovery of the additional tooth, aligning with the periadolescent individual. This assemblage is currently the most extensive Neanderthal collection from the northeastern Mediterranean Iberia, offering invaluable insights into the morphology and evolutionary trajectory of Late Pleistocene hominins. Hence, Simanya Neanderthals will enhance our understanding of Neanderthal demographics and evolution, paving the way for an in-depth examination of the morphological diversity and evolutionary context of Iberian Neanderthals.

Since the oldest known Acheulean lithic techno-typological features in Europe were reported at the site of Barranc de la Boella (Tarragona, Spain), continuous fieldwork has been conducted there in archeological deposits of the late Early Pleistocene age (0.99–0.78 Ma). As a result, excavations in two of the three open-air localities have significantly expanded the collection of lithic and faunal remains, allowing us to make progress in the interpretation of the hominin behaviors in an open-air fluvial-deltaic sedimentary environment. This includes examples of cumulative palimpsests, such as those found at the locality of La Mina, in which hominins only had a minimal role as modifying agents, as well as the extraordinary mammoth butchery site recorded at the Pit 1 locality. The aim of this paper is to present a comprehensive update of the collection of large shaped tools and to assess its significance in the framework of the earliest occurrence of the Acheulean in Europe. This cultural entity is increasingly well-documented for the early Middle Pleistocene, but very little is known about its presence in Europe before the Brunhes–Matuyama boundary. Large shaped tools appear in the three localities explored in the Unit II of Barranc de la Boella, including choppers (unifacial and bifacial) and standard Acheulean forms, such as picks, knives, and cleaver-like forms. Techno-typological and morphometrical analyses revealed a basic heavy-duty component obtained through simple shaping sequences coupled with significantly more elaborate tools produced on various large blanks (cobbles, slabs, or flakes). The complete bifacial and bilateral shapings have yet to be documented, but the present specific tool assemblage attests to the Early Acheulean technological threshold. Hence, the archaeological data from Barranc de la Boella provide insights into the first appearance of the Acheulean technology in Europe and add critical information to the debate on the technological variabi

La exposición Historia Natural de Guinea Ecuatorial es el resultado de un proyecto de cooperación del programa i-COOP del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), desarrollado en el Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN). Esta muestra ha sido auspiciada por el Centro Cultural de España en Bata (CCEB), de la AECID. La Universidad Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial (UNGE) y el Instituto Nacional de Desarrollo Forestal y Manejo del Sistema de Áreas Protegidas (INDEFOR-AP) han sido los actores ecuatoguineanos principales en el desarrollo de esta iniciativa. Todos los organismos, ya sean animales, plantas, hongos, protozoos o bacterias estamos relacionados genéticamente y formamos parte del árbol de la vida. Qué mejor sitio que las pluvisilvas africanas para investigar y conocer el entramado de relaciones que forman este árbol. Los seres humanos somos parte de este universo en permanente transformación y lo que hoy somos no es sino un singular producto de la evolución biológica. Los territorios insulares y continentales de Guinea Ecuatorial (GE) ofrecen una gran oportunidad para aventurarnos a conocer la biodiversidad, la estructuración ecológica y la historia evolutiva de los ecosistemas asociados a los bosques tropicales húmedos de la cuenca del Congo. GE facilita el intercambio de información entre los naturalistas de habla hispana, gracias al enorme privilegio de compartir un idioma y retazos de una historia común. En este sentido, una larga serie de naturalistas nos preceden, y a los que debemos las bases sobre las que tratamos de apoyarnos., Se estima que la máxima amplitud de los bosques centroafricanos se alcanzó en el Mioceno Inferior (hace entre 23 y 16 ma), momento de diferenciación del grupo de primates conocidos como simios, al que pertenecemos. Desde entonces esta masa forestal ha experimentado cambios notables en su estructura y composición. Las formaciones forestales actuales se establecieron hace unos 12000 años, a comienzo del Holoceno. Sin embargo, es mal conocida la distribución espaciotemporal de los paleoecosistemas de África central previa al Pleistoceno Superior (hace unos 126000 años). La distribución geográfica de zonas con elevada diversidad y número de endemismos lleva a pensar que los ciclos climáticos (glaciales e interglaciales) del Pleistoceno pudieron dar lugar a profundos cambios ecológicos, posiblemente con la fragmentación de la masa forestal, aparición de sabanas y la pervivencia de las selvas en zonas refugio aisladas temporalmente. GE en su conjunto se incluye en una de las grandes áreas refugio del sur de Camerún y Gabón. Más en concreto, el área de Monte Alén-Monte Mitra muy posiblemente haya funcionado como un refugio relativamente estable a juzgar por su elevada diversidad y número de endemismos. La exposición se organiza en cuatro grandes módulos temáticos: Geología, Vegetación, Fauna y Evolución Humana, cada uno de los cuales está desarrollado en dos grandes paneles incluidos en este catálogo. Complementan su visita un panel explicativo general y uno específico de las tortugas marinas. El módulo de ciencias de la Tierra contempla desde la geología estructural, la formación de las islas volcánicas de Bioko y Annobón y el Periodo Cuaternario. El módulo de vegetación trata de la estructura de los bosques junto a la diversidad de fanerógamas, criptógamas y hongos. El módulo de fauna y conservación abarca desde la estructura de las comunidades animales a la especificidad de los grupos de invertebrados y vertebrados. Finalmente, el módulo dedicado a la evolución humana a

The BB specimen is an upper right canine belonging to a male of the primate M. sylvanus. The agreement among the qualitative characteristics of the tooth and the chronology of the site suggest its identification as M. sylvanus cf. florentina, although the lack of consensus on the validity of the proposed subspecies and the large biometric overlap do not allow certainty of this subspecific assignment. Macaca cf. sylvanus fossils are known across Iberia and throughout Europe in the Pliocene and Pleistocene, mainly in warmer intervals. Data suggest that the species is limited to areas that are more southern in colder phases, whereas in warm phases, this taxon could extend its distribution further north. Predation by carnivore species is likely, while interaction with early humans is less definite.

[EN] Badgers belong to the genus Meles Brisson, 1762, which comprise four extant species (M. anakuma Temminck, 1844, M. leucurus (Hodgson, 1847), M. canescens Blanford, 1875, and M. meles (Linnaeus, 1758)). The genus is included in the subfamily Melinae Bonaparte, 1838, a polyphyletic group of Eurasian mustelids whose evolutionary relationships need further clarification. The evolutive relationships of the genus are complex and far from being resolved. This work aims to describe a nearly 1 Ma unpublished badger mandible from the Sierra de Quibas (Murcia) and to help clarify the evolutionary patterns of Euroasiatic badgers. To this end, we used 2D geometric morphometric techniques to measure 57 landmarks and semilandmarks in 79 first lower molars (m1) of Meles, ranging from Pleistocene to extant species. Our results show evidence for differentiating between primitive badgers and living species of Meles. The new m1 of Meles from the Quibas site is more gracile (relatively narrower and longer) than the other Eurasian extinct species, and shows that this specimen can be placed in the subspecies M. meles meles (Linnaeus, 1758). Our results also show that the denomination of M. meles atavus Kormos, 1914 as a related subspecies with a primitive morphology is morphologically supported. Therefore, we conclude that the living subspecies of badger M. meles meles was already differentiated in the south of the Iberian Peninsula at around 1 Ma, but some primitive remnant populations persisted in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, for which we recognize the subspecies M. meles atavus., [FR] Morphométrie géométrique 2D de la première molaire inférieure du genre Meles, incluant de nouvelles preuves de la présence de blaireaux sur le site de Quibas du Pléistocène inférieur (Murcie, Espagne). Les blaireaux sont un groupe polyphylétique de mustélidés au sein duquel on retrouve le genre Meles Brisson, 1762. Il appartient à la sous-famille Melinae Bonaparte, 1838 de distribution eurasienne, actuellement composée de quatre espèces vivantes (M. anakuma Temminck, 1844, M. leucurus (Hodgson, 1847), M. canescens Blanford, 1875 et M. meles (Linnaeus, 1758)). Les relations évolutives du genre sont complexes et loin d’être résolues. L’objectif de ce travail est de décrire une mandibule de blaireau inédite de près de 1 Ma de la Sierra de Quibas (Murcie) et d’aider à clarifier les schémas évolutifs des blaireaux euroasiatiques. À cette fin, nous avons utilisé des techniques morphométriques géométriques 2D pour mesurer 57 repères et semi-repères dans 79 premières molaires inférieures (m1) de Meles, allant du Pléistocène aux espèces existantes. Nos résultats montrent des preuves solides de la différenciation entre les blaireaux primitifs et les espèces vivantes de Meles. Le nouveau m1 de Meles du site de Quibas est plus gracile (relativement plus étroit et plus long) que les autres espèces eurasiennes éteintes, et montre que ce spécimen peut être placé dans la sous-espèce M. meles meles (Linnaeus, 1758). Nos résultats montrent également que la dénomination de M. meles atavus Kormos, 1914 en tant que sous-espèce apparentée avec une morphologie primitive est étayée morphologiquement. Par conséquent, nous concluons que la sous-espèce vivante de blaireau M. meles meles était déjà différenciée dans le sud de la péninsule Ibérique à environ 1 Ma, mais certaines populations relictuelles persistent dans le nord de la péninsule Ibérique, pour lesquelles nous reconnaissons la sous-espèce M. meles atavus.

The study of European Pleistocene Hippopotamus presents unresolved questions and a lack of consensus among specialists being matter of hotly debate in the last decades. The number of taxa, their geographical and chronological distribution and their palaeobiological affinities are still under evaluation. The present work presents the results of comparative analyses using descriptive anatomy, linear biometry and geometric morphometrics of Hippopotamus specimens found in the archaeopalaeontological outcrops of the Barranc de la Boella Section (Francolí Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula) and other coeval European sites in the context of the record of the genus Hippopotamus in Europe and its putative migrations from Africa. The deposits from Barranc de la Boella Section documented for the first time the presence of hominids with Acheulian technology and hippos roughly coinciding with the Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition (EMPT), one of the periods with strongest climate asymmetry throughout the Pleistocene. The evaluation of the studied specimens and the other European record favor the consideration of Hippopotamus antiquus as the only taxon of its family present in Europe from the Early Pleistocene (ca. 2.1 Ma) to the mid-Middle Pleistocene (ca. 0.4 Ma), when the extant species (Hippopotamus amphibius) dispersed from Africa. Even so, there is a need for a more detailed understanding of the large intraspecific variability and sexual dimorphism reported within the genus Hippopotamus to characterise the phenotype of individuals in its populations across different chronologies, geographic locations, and environmental conditions. The detailed review of the distribution of H. antiquus during the EMPT raises the possibility that the Iberian and Italic peninsulas acted as climatic refugia for its populations strongly dependents of the aquatic environment during the coldest climatic stages (e.g. MIS 22).

En el singular yacimiento de El Sidrón se han producido una impactante serie de acontecimientos relacionados con las actividades y comportamientos de la especie neandertal, integradas en unos procesos del medio físico peculiares, sazonadas con la proximidad de la mejor materia prima silícea asturiana, y con un peculiar encadenamiento de situaciones expeditivas y rápidas. Todo ello integrado en una investigación interdisciplinar., At the unique site of El Sidrón there have been an impressive series of events related to the activities and behaviors of the Neandertal species, integrated into peculiar environmental processes, seasoned with the proximity of the best Asturian siliceous raw material, and with a peculiar chain of expeditious and fast situations. All this integrated into an interdisciplinary investigation.

Explicar dónde, cuándo y cómo surge y evoluciona la especie Homo sapiens es un tema de interés general. Actualmente, estas cuestiones se abordan a través de la contrastación del llamado modelo de “evolución multirregional en África” (Stringer, 2016), circunstancia que ha reavivado el interés por la prehistoria de las pluvisilvas centroafricanas (Scerri et al., 2018). Los territorios de la República de Guinea Ecuatorial forman parte de esta zona de estudio y prometen ser una fuente de información relevante. El estudio de los primeros pobladores humanos de Guinea Ecuatorial —un aspecto parcial del poblamiento de la gran cuenca del río Congo— está envuelto en una serie de problemas concatenados. Históricamente, la exploración de las selvas ecuatoriales se ha visto limitada por sus condicionantes ecológicos y de accesibilidad, lo que redunda en un escaso y mal datado registro arqueo-paleontológico (Taylor, 2016). Una dificultad añadida radica en la incertidumbre de saber si los contextos de pluvisilva donde hoy realizamos los hallazgos también lo fueron cuando se produjeron las ocupaciones humanas prehistóricas. En paralelo, se ha sugerido que para que las poblaciones humanas puedan sobrevivir en las pluvisilvas es preciso el desarrollo de adaptaciones tecnológicas y culturales muy específicas, dadas las adversas condiciones físicas y biológicas que rigen estos ecosistemas (la escasez de nutrientes básicos tales como azúcares, la gran dispersión de los recursos, el parasitismo, etc.). Consecuentemente, saber si el acervo cultural de los primeros pobladores, deducido del análisis de los restos fosilizados, representa una adaptación biocultural a estos ecosistemas es un tema relevante. Todo ello ha llevado a sostener que la colonización del bioma selvático fue un fenómeno relativamente tardío en el curso de la evolución humana (Mercader, 2002; Taylor, 2016). La evidencia más antigua de la presencia de homininos en la cuenca del Congo, con una edad mínima de entre 850.000

Un equipo de arqueólogos se adentra en la densa selva del país africano para seguir la pista de los primates que habitan en ella. Descubrir cómo son y cómo se mueven nuestros más directos predecesores puede aportar información clave para saber cómo vivieron los primeros seres humanos. Los investigadores de este proyecto quieren averiguar más sobre dónde, cuándo y cómo nace el Homo sapiens. Uno de los debates todavía abiertos de la evolución humana y el surgimiento de nuestra especie. Y lo hacen fijándose en una zona muy poco explorada hasta el momento, el Oeste de África. Con ellos recorreremos la densa selva africana, conoceremos los peligros que habitan en ella y sabremos cómo se las apañan para tratar de grabar a los primates sin que estos se den cuenta. Ellos son Antonio Rosas y Antonio García Tabernero. Llevan ocho años trabajando en Guinea Ecuatorial. Allí desarrollan el proyecto que lleva a cabo el Grupo de Paleo-antropología del Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-CSIC y que cuenta con la financiación, entre otros, de la Fundación Palarq., Entrevista en formato Podcast y transcrita.

At the unique site of El Sidrón there have been an impressive series of events related to the activities and behaviors of the Neandertal species, integrated into peculiar environmental processes, seasoned with the proximity of the best Asturian siliceous raw material, and with a peculiar chain of expeditious and fast situations. All this integrated into an interdisciplinary investigation, En el singular yacimiento de El Sidrón se han producido una impactante serie de acontecimientos relacionados con las actividades y comportamientos de la especie neandertal, integradas en unos procesos del medio físico peculiares, sazonadas con la proximidad de la mejor materia prima silícea asturiana, y con un peculiar encadenamiento de situaciones expeditivas y rápidas. Todo ello integrado en una investigación interdisciplinar

La XI Semana de la Biodiversidad de Guinea Ecuatorial se suma este año al lema internacional acuñado por el Convenio de las Naciones Unidas sobre la Diversidad Biológica: Construir un Futuro Compartido para toda la Vida en la Tierra, para celebrar el Día Internacional de la Diversidad Biológica, el 22 de mayo. Tras la crisis sanitaria provocada por la COVID-19, la Semana de la Biodiversidad vuelve con las actividades presenciales. Varias instituciones tanto Gubernamentales y no Gubernamentales vinculadas al sector, unen sus esfuerzos para celebrar esta efeméride, que este año gira en torno a la creación de un futuro sostenible. En esta XI edición contaremos, como siempre, con distintos tipos de actividades: talleres, ponencias, concursos, campañas de sensibilización y actividades infantiles. A través de ellas se pretende informar, involucrar y concienciar a la población sobre los problemas que afectan a la biodiversidad en Guinea Ecuatorial y en el resto del mundo. Al mismo tiempo, se invita a la participación de investigadores, estudiantes y ciudadanos como actores claves para la búsqueda de soluciones conjuntas, para convertir así al país en un referente mundial en la conservación y uso sostenible de la biodiversidad.

The African rainforest is considered a ‘palaeontological desert’, exemplified with the virtual absence of ape fossils from the last 10 Ma. To overcome this deficiency of the fossil record, archaeo-palaeontological surveys have been undertaken in the rainforest of Equatorial Guinea. We have inventoried 225 outcrops and eluvial materials and the formation of ‘stone lines’ (of diverse genesis) predominate. Close to the Atlantic estuaries, there are short fluvial sedimentary sequences (sands and gravels), where remains of lithic industry and charcoal appear, but in no case macro vertebrate fossils. Given the intensity of the survey, the scarcity of sampling is ruled out as the cause of this ‘palaeontological desert’. Besides, biogenic, biostratinomic and fossildiagenetic factors have been explored by means of an actualistic approach. The rainforest ecosystem produces very low density tanatocenosis. Simultaneously, there is a low rate of sedimentation/erosion and the action of scavengers has not been detected, although the action of ants and termites may be determinant. Two fossildiagenetic factors can be inferred: lixiviation as a destructive cause and the existence of periods of intensive erosion. The search for palaeontological record should focus on protected sedimentary environments (rockshelters) or more confined ones (maars and small endorheic basins).

The Early Pleistocene site of Quibas, in Sierra de Quibas (Murcia, Spain) was discovered in 1994 and has since then provided abundant material of typical Epivillafranchian taxa. This biochron belongs to the Early-Middle Pleistocene transition (1.2 – 0.78 Ma), characterised by a change in orbital cyclicity from a 41 kyr cycle to 100 kyr that intensified the climate and culminated in the most important faunal turnover of the Pleistocene regarding large mammals. The Group of Palaeoanthropology of the National Museum of Natural Sciences (CSIC, Spain) and the Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA, Spain) carried out four field seasons from 2015 to 2018. Here we present the large herbivorous mammals recovered from the field, including the first citation of two taxa new to the locality: Stephanorhinus cf. etruscus and Bison cf. voigtstedtensis. We also provide the first description of previously mentioned taxa: Dama cf. vallonnetensis and Sus sp. Together with the remaining herbivores, the faunal community shows a strong European affinity with some regionalism. Compared with other Iberian localities, the site of Quibas stands out for the lack of hominin fossils or any evidence supporting their presence in the area, a peculiar scenario given that the Early-Middle Pleistocene transition broadly speaking sees the arrival of humans into Europe.

Understanding the origin and evolution of the Neanderthal phenotype can be considered the question that ignites palaeoanthropology, and yet after more than 150 years of research, it is still largely unsolved. From a theoretical point of view, two conceptual frameworks have been proposed. On the one hand, there are approaches based on population genetic concepts, in which the accretion model is the most widespread. On the other hand, there are organismic models that consider that most of the evolutionary changes may be secondary results of systemic transformations of the organism. For example, the model by distinguishes two phases of phenotypic change in the evolution of the Neanderthal lineage regulated by organism-level variables. In the present work, we update the bases of this proposal on the basis of the new knowledge of the phylogenetic sequence of the Neanderthal features. In the first phase, derived characters appear that modify the anteroposterior corporal dimension: midface prognathism, external face of the mandible, invagination of the spine, and lumbar hypolordosis. We explore the hypothesis that these changes are due to a specific gene regulation establishing the dorso-ventral body axis. A second phase takes place between 300 and 250 ka, marked by an increase in the brain, reduction in stature, and modifications in the upper thorax and shoulder girdle that affect the position of the mandible (medial aspect, infrahyoid muscles) and temporal bone. At a time coinciding with these later modifications, a genetic introgression event from the Homo sapiens lineage to the Neanderthal lineage has been inferred, which has also involved the replacement of both mDNA and Y chromosome lineages in the latter. The possible phenotypic implications of this genetic introgression remain to be studied, but the combination of an evolution of the Neanderthal lineage and the genetic influence of the ancestors of H. sapiens supports the distinction of the Homo neanderthalensis sp

Mammalian Community Structure Analysis (MCSA) is a widely used paleoecological method for reconstructing environments in fossil sites where apes and hominins are present. However, any fossil assemblage is the result of complex ecological and taphonomic processes that may obscure biological interpretation. In this work, we test the validity of the MCSA for the reconstruction of African rain forest environments through an actualistic approach. For this purpose, we compare the living Mammalian Community Structure of the National Park of Monte Alen (MA) and surrounding areas (Equatorial Guinea, Río Muni) with the one inferred from associations of skeletal remains (ASRs) collected in villages of the area. It was found that in equatorial rain forest contexts, humans are a significant accumulating agent of skeletal remains, in contrast to other accumulating organisms, which are absent. In villages where hunting of wild animals (bushmeat) is regular, a good number of osteological remains from food residues are deposited near the houses. We collected six samples from five villages and treated each of them as “skeletal associations.” We also considered a cumulative deposit composed by the total sample of 3153 skeletal remains. Mammalian Community Structure was estimated using three ecovariables: weight, locomotor adaptation, and diet. Cluster and Correspondence Analysis of the three ecological variables validated the fauna of MA as that of an African tropical forest. Next, the ASRs were compared with the fauna of MA. Some of the localities allowed accurate environmental reconstruction; however, three “skeletal associations” do not provide the minimum amount of data needed for their characterization, ecological biases being evident. The skeletal assemblage that best matches the living reference community is the composite sample. From a paleoecological reconstruction viewpoint, the tropical forest signal is conserved when evaluating percentage relationships between the most dia

[ES] El inicio del poblamiento humano en la isla de Bioko (antigua Fernando Poo) (Guinea Ecuatorial) es un tema mal conocido. Investigaciones previas establecen una secuencia de ocupación exclusivamente Holocena a pesar de que Bioko ha estado conectada con el continente durante al menos el último periodo glacial. Con objeto de localizar evidencias de ocupación pleistocena se localizaron 44 afloramientos, distinguiéndose sedimentos volcánicos, materiales eluviales, volcano-sedimentarios y aluviales. Entre estos cabe destacar el hallazgo de una larga serie de sedimentos lacustres correspondientes a un paleolago ubicado en un cráter. Apesar de lo exhaustivo de las prospecciones no se halló ninguna evidencia de presencia humana atribuible a una cronología pleistocena. Nuestros resultados confirman una ocupación muy tardía de Bioko posterior a los 8000 años BP. La ausencia de ocupaciones previas podría obedecer a condiciones ecológicas hostiles (pluviosidad, parasitismo), aunque es posible que las ocupaciones pleistocenas estuvieran restringidas a las zonas costeras y que estas se encuentren hoy sumergidas., [EN] The beginning of human settlement on the island of Bioko (formerly Fernando Poo) (Equatorial Guinea) is a poorly known issue. Previous research establishes an exclusively Holocene occupation sequence despite the fact that Bioko has been connected to the mainland, at least, during the last ice age. In order to locate evidence of Pleistocene occupation, 44 points / outcrops were located, distinguishing volcanic sediments and eluvial and alluvial volcano-sedimentary materials. These include the discovery of a long series of lake sediments corresponding to a paleolake located in a crater. Despite the exhaustiveness of the surveys, no evidence of human presence attributable to a Pleistocene chronology was found. Our results confirm a very late occupation of Bioko after 8000 years BP. The absence of previous occupations could be due to hostile ecological conditions (rainfall, parasitism), although it is possible that Pleistocene occupations were restricted to coastal areas and that these are now submerged.