This is the accepted version of the journal article: Alba, David M.; Robles Gimenez, Josep Maria; Casanovas i Vilar, Isaac; [et al.]. «A revised (earliest Vallesian) age for the hominoid-bearing locality of Can Mata 1 based on new magnetostratigraphic and biostratigraphic data from Abocador de Can Mata (Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula)». Journal of Human Evolution, Vol. 170 (September 2022), art. 103237. DOI 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103237 This version is available at https://ddd.uab.cat/record/266509 under the terms of the license 1 A revised (earliest Vallesian) age for the hominoid-bearing locality of Can Mata 1 based on 2 new magnetostratigraphic and biostratigraphic data from Abocador de Can Mata (Vallès- 3 Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula) 4 5 David M. Alba a,*, Josep M. Robles a, Isaac Casanovas-Vilar a, Elisabet Beamud b-c, Raymond L. 6 Bernor d-e, Omar Cirilli d,f, Daniel DeMiguel g,a, Jordi Galindo a, Itziar Llopart a, Guillem Pons- 7 Monjo a, Israel M. Sánchez a, Víctor Vinuesa a, Miguel Garcés c,h 8 a 9 Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 10 Edifici ICTA-ICP, c/ Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, 11 Spain b 12 Paleomagnetic Laboratory CCiTUB–Geo3Bcn CSIC, c/ Lluís Solé i Sabarís s/n, 08028 13 Barcelona, Spain c 14 Institut Geomodels, Grup de Recerca Consolidat de Geodinàmica i Anàlisi de Conques, 15 Universitat de Barcelona, c/ Martí i Franqués s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain d 16 College of Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology, 520 W St. 17 N.W., 20059, Washington D.C., USA e 18 Human Origins Program, Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution, 20560, 19 Washington D.C., USA f 20 Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Paleo[Fab]Lab, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Via G. La 21 Pira 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy g 22 ARAID foundation / Universidad de Zaragoza, Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, and 23 Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ciencias Ambientales de Aragón (IUCA), Pedro 24 Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain 1 h 25 Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l’Oceà, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat 26 de Barcelona, c/ Martí i Franqués s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain 27 28 *Corresponding author. 29 E-mail address: david.alba@icp.at (D.M. Alba). 2 1 A revised (earliest Vallesian) age for the hominoid-bearing locality of Can Mata 1 based on 2 new magnetostratigraphic and biostratigraphic data from Abocador de Can Mata (Vallès- 3 Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula) 4 5 Abstract 6 The Abocador de Can Mata (ACM) composite stratigraphic sequence (els Hostalets de 7 Pierola, Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula) has yielded a diverse primate 8 assemblage from the late Aragonian (Middle to Late Miocene). Detailed litho-, bio- and 9 magnetostratigraphic control has enabled an accurate dating of these fossil remains. 10 Comparable data, however, were lacking for the nearby locality of Can Mata 1 (CM1), which 11 yielded a dryopithecine canine of a female individual. Given the lack of hipparionin equids 12 and giraffids, CM1 has been correlated to the latest Aragonian (Mammal Neogene [MN] 13 zone MN7+8). Here we revise the age of CM1 based on fieldwork and associated 14 paleomagnetic samplings undertaken in 2018–2021. Our results extend the ACM composite 15 sequence upward and indicate that CM1 correlates to the earliest Vallesian (MN9). The 16 updated ACM sequence is ~300 m-thick and comprises 12 magnetozones correlated to 17 subchrons C5Ar.1r to C5n.2n (~12.6 to 11.1 Ma; latest MN6 to earliest MN9, late Aragonian 18 to earliest Vallesian). CM1 is correlated to C5r.1r (11.146–11.056 Ma), with an interpolated 19 age of 11.11 Ma, thus postdating the dispersal of hipparionin horses into the Vallès-Penedès 20 Basin—which is correlated to the previous subchron C5r.1n, with an interpolated age of 21 11.18 Ma, and by definition marks the beginning of the Vallesian. CM1 also minimally 22 postdates the earliest record of giraffids at ACM—representing their earliest well-dated 23 occurrence in the basin—being correlated to C5r.1n with an interpolated age of 11.11 Ma. 24 We conclude that CM1 has an earliest Vallesian (MN9) age of ~11.1 Ma, intermediate 1 25 between the Aragonian dryopithecins and the Vallesian hispanopithecins. Ongoing 26 paleontological surveillance at ACM thus offers the prospect to yield additional earliest 27 Vallesian ape remains, which are essential to clarify their taxonomic allocation as well as to 28 confirm whether hispanopithecins evolved locally from dryopithecins rather than 29 immigrating from elsewhere during MN9. 30 31 Key words: Fossil apes; Dryopithecinae; Bretxa de Can Mata; Magnetostratigraphy; 32 Paleomagnetism; Vallesian. 33 34 1. Introduction 35 1.1. Fossil primates from els Hostalets de Pierola 36 Thanks to continued paleontological surveillance of the digging activity during the 37 construction of a dump between 2002 and 2014, a diverse primate assemblage (Alba, 2012; 38 Marigó et al., 2014; Alba et al., 2017; DeMiguel et al., 2021; Fortuny et al., 2021) has been 39 recovered from the Middle to Late Miocene stratigraphic sequence of Abocador de Can 40 Mata (ACM; Alba et al. 2006, 2011a, 2017) in the fossiliferous area of els Hostalets de 41 Pierola (Catalonia, Spain). Both small-bodied catarrhines (Alba et al., 2010, 2012a, 2015) and 42 large-bodied apes—Pierolapithecus (Moyà-Solà et al., 2004; Almécija et al., 2009; Pérez de 43 los Ríos et al., 2012; Hammond et al., 2013; Pina et al., 2014), Dryopithecus (Moyà-Solà et 44 al., 2009a; Alba and Moyà-Solà, 2012; Pina et al., 2019, 2020), and Anoiapithecus (Moyà- 45 Solà et al., 2009b; Alba et al., 2013)—have been recovered there, spanning from ~12.4–12.3 46 to ~11.6 Ma (Alba et al., 2017). While litho-, bio-, and magnetostratigraphic correlation has 47 enabled an accurate dating of the fossil primate remains from ACM (Moyà-Solà et al., 2 48 2009a; Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2011, 2016a, 2016b; Alba et al., 2017), this does not apply to 49 all the previous hominoid finds from the same area. 50 A mandibular fragment with M2–M3 (IPS1826+1827) found in 1941 at Can Vila (Villalta 51 Comella and Crusafont Pairó, 1941a, 1944) is the holotype of ‘Sivapithecus’ occidentalis, 52 which is considered a species inquirenda (Alba et al., 2020; Fortuny et al., 2021)—i.e., of 53 uncertain taxonomic validity due to the lack of comparable elements in other species. This 54 specimen comes from minimally older levels than ACM/BCV1 (Barranc de Can Vila 1, the 55 type locality of Pierolapithecus catalaunicus) and thus has an age of ~12.0 Ma (Alba et al., 56 2013, 2017, 2020). However, the age of the two other previous finds is more uncertain. 57 Thus, the stratigraphic provenance of an M2 (MGSB48486) from Can Mata s.l. (Van der 58 Made and Ribot, 1999), currently assigned to Dryopithecus fontani (Alba et al., 2013, 2017, 59 2020; Fortuny et al., 2021), is unknown. Therefore, it can only be considered broadly 60 younger than the hominoid finds from ACM (Alba et al., 2013), but it is impossible to 61 determine whether it is latest Aragonian (Mammal Neogene [MN] zone MN7+8) or earliest 62 Vallesian (MN9) in age (i.e., ~11.3–11.0 Ma). The third previous hominoid find from the area 63 is a C1 of a female individual (IPS1766; Fig. 1) from the locality of Can Mata 1 (CM1) or 64 Bretxa de Can Mata. It was originally assigned to Hispanopithecus laietanus (Crusafont-Pairó 65 and Golpe-Posse, 1973; Golpe-Posse, 1993) or Dryopithecus laietanus (Begun et al., 1990; 66 Harrison, 1991; Andrews et al., 1996), but most recently it was left unassigned to genus as 67 Hominidae indet. (Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2011; Alba, 2012) or Dryopithecinae indet. (Alba et 68 al., 2013, 2020; Marigó et al., 2014). This canine has been excluded from the hypodigm of H. 69 laietanus because this species is not recorded until much later (~10.0 Ma; Alba et al., 2018) 70 and also because the specimen cannot be directly compared with any of the ACM 71 dryopithecine taxa. Although the provenance of IPS1766 from CM1 is well documented 3 72 (Crusafont-Pairó and Golpe-Posse, 1973), its age is uncertain owing to the lack of 73 magnetostratigraphic data and poor stratigraphic control of historical finds of hipparionin 74 equids from the area of els Hostalets de Pierola. 75 76 1.2. Uncertainties about the age of Can Mata localities 77 The localities of Can Mata are situated nearby the farmhouse of Can Mata de la Garriga 78 within the fossiliferous area of els Hostalets de Pierola, in the Penedès sector of the Vallès- 79 Penedès Basin (Fig. 2; Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a; for details on the geological 80 background, see Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2008; Alba et al., 2009, 2017; Moyà-Solà et al., 81 2009a). Three Can Mata localities (CM1, CM2 and CM3) have been reported in the literature 82 (Supplementary Online Material [SOM] S1.1), although only CM1 has yielded a rich fossil 83 assemblage. The locality of CM1 (Fig. 3) was discovered in 1941 close to the farmhouse of 84 Can Mata de la Garriga (Fig. 4), being considered pre-Vallesian given the absence of 85 hipparionins and giraffids (Villalta Comella and Crusafont Pairó, 1941b, 1943; Crusafont and 86 Truyols, 1954). In turn, CM2 was initially considered Vallesian in age due to the record of 87 giraffids and the presence of Hippotherium molars in the same area (Crusafont Pairó, 1952; 88 Crusafont and Truyols, 1954). Finally, CM3 corresponds to an isolated find of Hippotherium 89 ~200 m in NE direction from CM1 (Fig. 4c; Alba et al., 2006; SOM S1.1), which represents the 90 oldest hipparionin find of known provenance from the area of Can Mata. Over the years, 91 and only with a few exceptions (Mein, 1990; Andrews et al., 1996; Pickford, 2013), most 92 authors have correlated CM1 to the latest Aragonian on biostratigraphic grounds 93 (Crusafont-Pairó and Golpe-Posse, 1973; Golpe-Posse, 1974, 1982, 1993; Agustí et al., 1985; 94 de Bruijn et al., 1992; Alba et al., 2006, 2011a, 2017; Moyà-Solà et al., 2009b; Casanovas- 95 Vilar et al., 2011, 2016a, 2016b; Robles et al., 2013), and the same applies to CM2 4 96 (Crusafont Pairó and Golpe Posse, 1971; Golpe-Posse, 1974; Agustí et al., 1985, 1997, 2001) 97 with the exception of de Bruijn et al. (1992). 98 The published faunal list of large mammals from CM1 needs to be updated and revised to 99 confirm the identity of multiple taxa that is confusing according to published sources (see 100 S1.2 for further details). However, it is generally indicative of an age close to the 101 Aragonian/Vallesian boundary. The frequent correlation of CM1 to MN7+8 instead of MN9 102 almost entirely relies on the lack of Hippotherium and giraffids. These large mammals have 103 even been formally considered in the local biozonation of the Vallès-Penedès Basin 104 (Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016b). Even the claim that CM2 was located above CM1 (e.g., 105 Agustí et al., 1985) might be exclusively based on the fact that Golpe-Posse (1974) roughly 106 correlated CM1 with La Grive-Saint-Alban in France (MN7+8) and CM2 with Castell de 107 Barberà (then considered latest MN7+8, but currently considered earliest MN9; Alba et al., 108 2019), based on the presence of giraffids in the latter locality. Along the same line of 109 reasoning, Agustí et al. (1985) remarked that not only Hippotherium, but also giraffids— 110 traditionally considered to predate the arrival of hipparionins in the Vallès-Penedès Basin 111 (e.g., Golpe-Posse, 1974; Crusafont Pairó, 1975; Agustí et al., 1985, 1997, 2001)—were 112 missing from CM1. 113 The important role played by hipparionins and giraffids in the local biozonation of the 114 Vallès-Penedès Basin across the Aragonian/Vallesian transition might seem surprising given 115 that most of the local biozones are based on rodents (e.g., Agustí et al., 1997; Casanovas- 116 Vilar et al., 2016b). However, besides the role played by hipparionins in the definition of the 117 Vallesian, there are other historical reasons that explain this situation. In particular, CM1 118 only yielded very scarce micromammal remains, contrasting with the hundreds of 119 micromammal specimens recovered from the so-called ‘bloc de marga’ (marl block)— 5 120 originally attributed to nearby Mas d’Ocata (Schaub, 1944, 1947), but actually coming from 121 Can Flequer (Agustí, 1981; Agustí et al., 1985), which is Vallesian based on the presence of 122 Hippotherium. Agustí and colleagues (Agustí, 1981, 1999; Agustí and Gibert, 1982; Agustí et 123 al., 1985, 1997, 2001; Agustí and Moyà-Solà, 1991) relied on a composite micromammal 124 faunal list for all the purportedly pre-Vallesian outcrops from the area, collectively denoted 125 as Hostalets Inferior. These authors noted similarities with micromammals from the 126 unambiguously Vallesian localities (Hostalets Superior) and concluded that their 127 composition remained virtually unchanged through the Aragonian/Vallesian boundary (see 128 also Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2011, 2016a, 2016b). Needless to say, this practice might lead to 129 circular reasoning (particularly if Vallesian levels are mistaken as pre-Vallesian due to the 130 absence of Hippotherium). Nevertheless, ever since then, it has been customarily accepted 131 that the latest Aragonian and earliest Vallesian rodent assemblages from the Vallès-Penedès 132 Basin are virtually indistinguishable (Agustí et al., 1997; Alba et al., 2006; Casanovas-Vilar et 133 al., 2011, 2016a, 2016b). 134 Alba et al. (2006) remained skeptical about whether CM2 was latest Aragonian or earliest 135 Vallesian, but given that CM1 is a well-sampled locality, they assumed that the absence of 136 Hippotherium was not a sampling bias and accepted its customary correlation to MN7+8. 137 Under such an assumption, Moyà-Solà et al. (2009b: Fig. 5) and Casanovas-Vilar et al. (2011) 138 correlated CM1 to the upper part of the reverse polarity subchron C5r.2r (postdating the 139 short-duration normal polarity cryptochron C5r.2r-1), implying an age comprised between 140 11.263 and 11.188 Ma (Ogg, 2020). Casanovas-Vilar et al. (2016a) further correlated CM1 to 141 the Democricetodon crusafonti–Hippotherium interval subzone of the Vallès-Penedès Basin 142 (Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016b), whose top boundary in this basin is defined by the first local 143 occurrence (FLO) of Hippotherium at 11.18 Ma (Garcés et al., 1996, 1997; Agustí et al., 1997; 6 144 Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a, 2016b; Alba et al., 2019). In turn, based on the assumption 145 that CM3 was located ~40 m above CM1 (Alba et al., 2006), Moyà-Solà et al. (2009a) 146 tentatively correlated the former to C5r.1r, although such a correlation was revised to 147 C5n.2n by Casanovas-Vilar et al. (2016b: Fig. 3), following some corrections on the then 148 available composite magnetostratigraphic sequence for ACM and Ecoparc de Can Mata 149 (ECM; Alba et al., 2012b). 150 The tentative magnetostratigraphic correlation of CM1 by Moyà-Solà et al. (2009b) was 151 based on its geographic location and its lithostratigraphic correlation with paleomagnetic 152 samplings in the nearby Riera de Claret—as CM1 was then located outside the area of the 153 Can Mata landfill. Nevertheless, Robles et al. (2013: 999) noted that “paleomagnetic 154 sampling would be required in order to confirm correlation [of CM1] with C5r.2r [...] rather 155 than C5r.1n”. The resumption of the digging activity at ACM in 2018, to enlarge further the 156 landfill, provided the opportunity to extend the sequence upward toward the Vallesian— 157 including the stratigraphic section where CM1 is located, as well as to measure in situ the 158 stratigraphic distance between CM1 and CM3. New paleomagnetic samples were therefore 159 taken in 2020 to update the ACM composite stratigraphic sequence (so as to accurately date 160 the fossil remains recovered between 2018–2020) and provide a revised 161 magnetostratigraphic correlation and interpolated ages for CM1 and CM3. Given their 162 biochronological implications, the oldest well-dated hipparionin and giraffid remains from 163 the area of els Hostalets de Pierola are also reported. Finally, our results are discussed in 164 relation to phylogenetic and paleobiogeographic uncertainties regarding the evolutionary 165 origin of Vallesian dryopithecines from Western Europe. 166 167 2. Methods 7 168 2.1. Location and paleomagnetic sampling of Can Mata 1 169 Although no detailed coordinates of CM1 are available from the literature, some of the 170 authors of this paper were able to locate it during a field visit in February 2004 (Fig. 3c), with 171 the help of published pictures (Villalta Comella and Crusafont Pairó, 1941b: Pl. XVI, 1943: Pl. 172 XV; see our Fig. 3a–d). Back in 2004, CM1 was well outside the area of the then planned 173 enlargement of the Can Mata landfill (Fig. 4), but this situation changed when a new 174 enlargement phase started after the publication of Alba et al. (2017). The new outcrops 175 exposed during 2019–2020 allowed us to extend the ACM composite sequence upward 176 toward the Vallesian. The new paleomagnetic samplings were performed in July 2020, 177 including the short section of CM1, which was finally affected by the construction works of 178 the landfill in 2021. With the help of an excavator machine, the outcrop was excavated 179 under paleontological surveillance in May 2021 (Fig. 5). This allowed us to find the original 180 spot of the excavation filled with debris (Fig. 5g), thereby confirming that the CM1 bone bed 181 had been completely excavated by Crusafont and collaborators several decades ago. 182 Magnetostratigraphic sampling was carried out in the perimeter of the newly excavated 183 Cell 13 and the future Cell 14 of the landfill. A total of 44 sites were sampled along a 78 m- 184 thick composite section, which yielded an average sampling resolution of 1.77 m/site. The 185 locality of CM1 was located at meter 62 of the section. 32 paleomagnetic samples were 186 collected along the ~65 m-thick Cell 13 (C13) section, 6 sites in the Préstec de Terres de 187 l’Abocador (PTA) sector, and another 6 sites in the overlying 15 m-thick Bretxa de Can Mata 188 section (Fig. 6). Fresh unaltered red-brown mudstones and fine-grained sandstones were 189 drilled by means of a battery-powered drill with a water-cooled diamond bit. The samples 190 were oriented in situ with a magnetic compass fixed to an orienting device with a 191 clinometer. Magnetic measurements were carried out at the Paleomagnetic Laboratory of 8 192 Barcelona (CCiTUB-Geo3Bcn CSIC). Laboratory procedures consisted of stepwise thermal 193 demagnetization and measurement of the natural remanent magnetization of one sample 194 per site. A thermal demagnetizer TD48EU (ASC Scientific) and a 755SRM superconducting 195 rock magnetometer (2G Enterprises) were used. The measurement routine included 12 196 increasing temperature steps, applied to all samples up to 630 °C or complete 197 demagnetization (100, 200, 250, 350, 400, 440, 480, 520, 550, 580, 610, and 630 °C). 198 Magnetic susceptibility was measured with a KLY-2 (Geofyzika Brno) after each 199 demagnetization step with no remarkable changes observed (SOM Table S1), which ensures 200 no significant formation of undesired secondary magnetic minerals during heating. Samples 201 showed a low temperature component that was usually removed below 200 °C, which we 202 interpret as a viscous recent overprint (SOM Fig. S1). Above this temperature, characteristic 203 components were calculated by principal component analysis (Kirschvink, 1980) after visual 204 inspection of the demagnetization diagrams using ‘Paleomagnetism.org 2.2.0’ interpretation 205 portal (Koymans et al., 2016). Characteristic components were usually defined between 250 206 and 580 °C (SOM Table S2), pointing to magnetite as the main remanence carrier. Only in 207 three samples the characteristic component reached higher temperatures (610 or 630 °C), 208 suggesting a mixture of magnetite and hematite. Characteristic components were ranked 209 into three classes according to their quality. Quality 1 components (42%) showed a straight 210 and complete decay directed towards the origin. Class 2 components (37%) were clearly 211 isolated from the viscous component and were defined by at least three demagnetization 212 steps showing an incomplete demagnetization trend. When only two temperature steps 213 were used to calculate the characteristic components, or polarity was difficult to assess due 214 to unstable behavior and erratic trajectories, they were classified as quality 3 (21%), and 215 were not considered for further magnetostratigraphic analysis. 9 216 Mean paleomagnetic directions and associated Fisher parameters (Fisher, 1953) were 217 calculated using the PmagPy software (Tauxe et al., 2016). No fold test could be performed 218 due to the homogeneous gentle dip of the beds, but a significant better agreement with the 219 expected north-directed paleomagnetic direction was obtained after correction for the tilt 220 of beds (SOM Fig. S2; SOM Table S3). The total number of samples of quality 1 and 2 221 resulted in a good stratigraphic resolution, so that occurrence of missing magnetozones can 222 be considered unlikely. The obtained paleomagnetic directions were used to calculate the 223 latitude of the virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) for each site. Positive VGP latitudes were 224 interpreted as normal polarity whereas negative VGP latitudes were interpreted as reversed 225 polarity, and a sequence of polarity zones was represented accordingly in the local 226 magnetostratigraphy (black for normal magnetozones and white for the reversed ones). 227 228 2.3. Correlation methods 229 Lithostratigraphic correlation As in Alba et al. (2017), we mostly relied on intensely red- 230 colored horizons interpreted as paleosols for lithostratigraphic correlation in the ACM 231 composite series. The composite lithostratigraphic sequence reported by Alba et al. (2017) 232 was constructed on the basis of 38 local sections ranging from 7 to 150 m in thickness, of 233 which 5 included the magnetostratigraphic data previously reported by Moyà-Solà et al. 234 (2009a). Here we provide an updated version of the ACM composite sequence that 235 incorporates 13 additional local sections, of which the one including CM1 has new 236 magnetostratigraphic data. The new lithostratigraphic sections largely overlapped and were 237 correlated by means of 9 additional correlation levels, resulting in a total of 51 correlation 238 levels in the composite sequence of ACM. 10 239 Magnetostratigraphic correlation and interpolated ages The magnetostratigraphic 240 correlation of the ACM composite sequence with the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale 241 (GPTS; Ogg, 2020) is based on the 366 paleomagnetic samples reported by Moyà-Solà et al. 242 (2009a) and analyzed by Alba et al. (2017) plus the 44 samples newly reported in the 243 present work. The samples originally analyzed by Moyà-Solà et al. (2009a) were distributed 244 in three different sections from ACM—Barranc de Can Vila, Vial Intern, and Camí de Can 245 Vila–Cells 3–4 (the latter being the composite of three different sections)—plus the nearby 246 section of Riera de Claret. The newly sampled section of Cells 13–14 (including CM1) is 247 added here. The stratigraphic position of each ACM fossil locality was recorded relative to 248 its closest lithostratigraphic section(s), thereby being correlated on lithostratigraphic 249 grounds to the composite magnetostratigraphic sequence. 250 As in Alba et al. (2017), given short-term variation in sedimentation rates (due to the 251 intermittent nature of sedimentation in alluvial environments), an estimated age was 252 calculated for each locality using linear interpolation based on the sedimentation rate 253 computed for each subchron (Barry et al., 2002; Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2014: Fig. 3); for the 254 top and bottom subchrons, sedimentation rate was approximated by that of the adjacent 255 subchron. Alba et al. (2017) concluded that errors associated with interpolated ages are 256 lower than 100 ka, so that estimated ages for ACM localities can be considered reliable to 257 the nearest 0.1 Ma. However, interpolated ages to the nearest 0.01 Ma are also provided, 258 as they are still informative with regard to the relative age among ACM localities. 259 Biostratigraphic correlation The local biozonation of the Vallès-Penedès Basin during the 260 late Aragonian and Vallesian is based on Casanovas-Vilar et al.’s (2016b) biostratigraphic 261 scheme, which provides a formal diagnosis and description of each zone and is almost 262 exclusively based on rodents—except for the FLOs of Hippotherium and giraffids. The fossils 11 263 from els Hostalets de Pierola referred to in this paper are housed in the Institut Català de 264 Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP) in Sabadell (Catalonia, Spain). The fossils described are 265 referred to by their catalog numbers, which are preceded by the acronom ‘IPS’ (‘Institut de 266 Paleontologia de Sabadell’, the former name of the ICP). 267 268 3. Results 269 3.1. Magnetostratigraphy 270 Our paleomagnetic results for the Cells 13–14 section, where CM1 is located, allowed us 271 to identify the presence of six magnetozones (three normal and three reversed, with the 272 lowermost one having a reversed polarity) defined at least by two consecutive sites of the 273 same polarity (Fig. 6). The reliability of the magnetic zonation could be validated by a cross- 274 correlation with the neighboring overlapping sections of the Riera de Claret and Camí de 275 Can Vila–Cells 3–4 (SOM Fig. S3; Moyà-Solà et al., 2009a; Alba et al., 2017), which can be 276 traced by lithostratigraphic correlation (SOM Fig. S4), supporting a primary origin of the 277 magnetization. 278 A unique correlation of the local magnetostratigraphy of the Cells 13–14 section with the 279 GPTS (Ogg, 2020) can be established based on its integration with other sections in the ACM 280 area (Fig. 7), and refines earlier results (Alba et al., 2017). Given these constraints, the 281 occurrence of two very short intervals of normal polarity within a period of dominantly 282 reversed polarity points to a correlation of the Cells 13–14 section with the upper end of 283 chron C5r. The lower normal magnetozone would represent the cryptochron C5r.2r-1n, and 284 the second one subchron C5r.1n. The normal magnetozone on top of Cells 13–14 section 285 would then be correlated to the lowermost portion of subchron C5n.2n. Despite not being 12 286 listed in the time scale until recently, the cryptochron C5r.2r-1 is a short event of 287 comparable duration to C5r.1n (Abdul Aziz et al., 2003; Ogg, 2020). 288 The lower portion of C5r.2r was previously the uppermost magnetozone recorded at the 289 ACM composite sequence s.s., which terminated a few meters above locality ACM/CCV1 290 (Camí de Can Vila 1; Moyà-Solà et al., 2009a; Alba et al., 2017; locality indicated in Fig. 7 and 291 SOM Fig. S3). Therefore, the five polarity reversals documented at the Cells 13–14 section 292 had not previously been recorded within the area of the landfil back in 2014—although they 293 had been documented at the Riera de Claret section, as well as partly (the first two 294 reversals) at the Camí de Can Vila section outside the landfill (Fig. 7; SOM Fig. S3; Moyà-Solà 295 et al., 2009a; Alba et al., 2017). The outcrops exposed subsequently within the area affected 296 by the landfill allowed us to extend the ACM composite section s.s. up to the lowermost 297 portion of the long normal polarity subchron C5n.2n (11.056–9.984 Ma), typical of the early 298 Vallesian. The locality of CM1 is located in the uppermost reversed polarity zone recorded 299 (Figs. 7 and 8), correlated with C5r.1r (11.146–11.056 Ma). The latter subchron 300 approximately extends from meters 278 to 293 of the ACM composite sequence (Table 1), 301 whereas CM1 is located on meter 284, resulting in an interpolated age of 11.11 Ma. 302 In turn, although no paleomagnetic samples were taken there, computations based on 303 both geographical location and field measurements indicate that CM3 is located ~8 m above 304 CM1 (based on the coordinates reported in Fig. 4 and a strike/dip of 180°/13° W), thus being 305 similarly correlated with C5r.1r with an interpolated age of 11.06 Ma. Finally, these results 306 made us reconsider previous correlations between the ECM and ACM composite sections 307 (Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016b). Unfortunately, magnetostratigraphic data are only available 308 for the uppermost part of the section, where no polarity reversal is recorded. However, the 309 stratigraphic thickness between the base of the ECM and CM1, based on geographical 13 310 location (see coordinates in Fig. 4) and the aforementioned strike/dip figure, is estimated to 311 be 63 m. According to this, the base of the ECM section would be roughly equivalent to 312 ACM/CCV1 (~11.5 Ma), with the oldest localities (e.g., ECM/VCE-A1 [VCE = Variant de la 313 Carretera de l’Ecoparc]) being latest Aragonian (correlated to the upper portion of C5r.2r, 314 with an estimated age of ~11.2 Ma) instead of earliest Vallesian (~10.9 Ma) as previously 315 thought (Alba et al., 2012b). In contrast, the remaining ECM localities would be earliest 316 Vallesian, but older than previously thought (Alba et al., 2012b; Casanovas-Vilar et al., 317 2016b). In particular, based on the sedimentation rate calculated for the preceding 318 subchron, ECM/VCE-Bb would have an estimated age of ~10.9 Ma, whereas ECM/VCE-B2 319 would date to ~10.8 Ma and ECM/VCE-C1 to ~10.7 Ma. Only the estimated ages for the ECM 320 localities mentioned later in this paper are provided, as fieldwork during the following years 321 will likely enable a refinement of their dating based on a more secure tie-point of the ECM 322 base to the upper portion of the ACM composite section. 323 324 3.2. Biochronology 325 Small mammals The small mammal collection from the Aragonian levels of els Hostalets de 326 Pierola includes rodent, lagomorph, and insectivoran remains that are mostly labeled as 327 ‘Hostalets inferior’or ‘Hostalets vindobonien’. Only three specimens are accompanied by the 328 label ‘Can Mata 1’ and can be unambiguously related to this locality. The remainder of the 329 small mammal sample certainly mixes material from different sites, as already stated by 330 Agustí and Gibert (1982), but probably includes additional specimens from CM1. The 331 assemblage is overwhelmingly dominated by the cricetids Hispanomys lavocati, Hispanomys 332 dispectus, and Megacricetodon ibericus. In addition, the cricetid Dem. crusafonti, the 333 terrestrial sciurid Csakvaromys bredai and the lagomorph Prolagus oeningensis also occur in 14 334 lower numbers. The same taxa are also present in the collection from Vallesian levels of the 335 area (Hostalets Superior), largely originating from the ‘bloc de marga’ (Can Flequer). 336 Given that the cricetids His. lavocati, His. dispectus, and M. ibericus are present in the 337 small mammal collections from both Hostalets Inferior and Superior, it is not surprising that 338 no significant difference was previously noticed across the Aragonian/Vallesian boundary in 339 the area (e.g., Agustí et al., 1985). However, our magnetostratigraphic results—indicating 340 that CM1 is earliest Vallesian and providing an accurate dating for ACM localities—suggest 341 otherwise. At ACM, the FLO of M. ibericus is recorded from ACM/C1-E9 (with an 342 interpolated age of 12.29 Ma), whereas the FLO of His. lavocati is recorded from various 343 localities dated to ~11.6 Ma (e.g., ACM/C6-A2, with an interpolated age of 11.61 Ma), 344 indicating that both species appeared well before the Aragonian/Vallesian boundary. In 345 contrast, His. dispectus has not been reported from the ACM composite section (Casanovas- 346 Vilar et al., 2016b), at least as defined in Alba et al. (2017)—i.e., up to ~11.4 Ma. 347 Hispanomys dispectus is neither present at the oldest micromammal site from ECM 348 (ECM/VCE-A1), which records His. lavocati and, as noted above, is probably latest Aragonian 349 in age (~11.2 Ma, correlated with the upper portion of C5r.2r). Similarly, the roughly coeval 350 locality ACM/PTA-A2, with an interpolated age of 11.21 Ma (Alba et al., 2022), records His. 351 cf. lavocati but not His. dispectus, thus suggesting that the latter species might have not 352 appeared until the Vallesian. 353 Large mammals We were unable to find among the ICP collections any Hippotherium 354 remains labeled as coming from CM3. However, in all probability, the specimen found by 355 Jordi Agustí in 1976 corresponds to a left mandibular fragment with very worn M2–M3 356 (IPS30897; SOM Fig. S5d–f). This specimen was found in the ICP collections inventoried 357 together with an isolated left M3 (currently IPS124307) of the same taxon (SOM Fig. S5a–c) 15 358 despite belonging to two different individuals, and collectively labeled as coming from “Can 359 Mata, levels superior than those of the breccia” (our translation from Spanish). According to 360 its discoverer, the specimen from CM3 most likely corresponds to IPS30897 (pers. comm. to 361 J.G., December 2021). However, pending a more complete revision of all the Hippotherium 362 remains from Hostalets Superior, both specimens are taken into account here (see 363 description in SOM S2.1). The presence of a well-developed pli caballinid in IPS124307 hints 364 at similarities between the Can Mata sample and Pannonian C remains from the Vienna 365 Basin (Austria) assigned to Hippotherium sp. (Bernor et al., 2017, 2021). 366 With regard to giraffids, CM1 slightly postdates the oldest well-dated record of this 367 family at ACM, which corresponds to two M3 germs from a single individual (IPS121859; 368 SOM Fig. S6a–f) found isolated (i.e., not associated with additional fossil remains) in April 369 2020 at sector ACM/C13/C14-A. The specimen’s provenance is located only 1.3 m below 370 CM1 (i.e., approximately at meter 283 of the ACM sequence), thereby being correlated to 371 the same subchron and having the same interpolated age as CM1. In turn, the giraffid 372 material from ECM consists of a few teeth from locality ECM/VCE-Bb (SOM Fig. S6g–r), 373 which despite the lack of Hippotherium has an unambiguous Vallesian age somewhat 374 younger than CM3 (~10.9 Ma, updated from Alba et al., 2012b; see above for further 375 details). A description of IPS121859, together with other giraffid material from the area of 376 els Hostalets de Pierola, is provided in SOM S2.2. Although the scarce remains from ACM 377 and ECM are not informative enough to provide a taxonomic attribution to genus rank, they 378 likely correspond to the same taxon previously identified as Palaeotragus sp. by Crusafont 379 Pairó (1952) based on Can Mata (including CM2) remains. Deciphering the taxonomic 380 affinities of these giraffids is hindered by the lack of ossicones and the fact that they display 381 a mix of apparently primitive and derived characters. Some of the latter are similar to those 16 382 present in taxa allied to the samothere-sivathere lineage, although future systematic work is 383 needed to test this hypothesis. In any case, it is noteworthy that the Can Mata giraffid 384 displays some dental and postcranial differences relative to Decennatherium pachecoi, 385 present in the early Vallesian of the Calatayud-Montalbán and Duero basins (Crusafont- 386 Pairó, 1952; Ríos et al., 2016), despite being only slightly older than the material from its 387 type locality (Nombrevilla 1, which has an age of ~10.8 Ma; Van Dam et al., 2014). This 388 supports Crusafont Pairó’s (1952) early assessment that a different (even if poorly known) 389 giraffid species is recorded during the earliest Vallesian in the Vallès-Penedès Basin. 390 391 4. Discussion 392 4.1. The age of Can Mata localities based on the updaed Abocador de Can Mata sequence 393 The previous ACM composite sequence, based on the fieldwork undertaken between 394 2002 and 2014 (Alba et al., 2017), was 234 m in thickness, comprised seven magnetozones 395 that were correlated with C5Ar.1r to C5r.2r, and covered a time span between ~12.6 and 396 ~11.4 Ma. With the addition of the new magnetostratigraphic section of Cells 13–14 and 397 other lithostratigraphic sections excavated since 2017, the ACM composite sequence now 398 has a thickness of 300 m (Fig. 8) and includes up to 12 magnetozones (Table 1), ranging in 399 time from ~12.6 to ~11.1 Ma. The newly added magnetostratigraphic section allows us to 400 refine the interpolated ages of previously known ACM localities from the uppermost portion 401 of the composite sequence. These interpolated ages were formerly based on the 402 stratigraphic situation of the top of C5r.2r in the nearby sequence of Camí de Can Vila (Alba 403 et al., 2017), which has been slightly corrected based on our new results (Table 1). 404 Furthermore, our magnetostratigraphic analyses for the Cells 13–14 section enable an 405 accurate dating of the new fossil localities (and isolated finds) from ACM that have been 17 406 discovered since 2017, as well as of CM1. A comprehensive updated list of ACM localities 407 and sectors, based on the subchron chronological and stratigraphic boundaries reported in 408 Table 1, is provided in SOM Tables S4 and S5, respectively. In turn, an updated list of ACM 409 primate-bearing localities as compared with CM1 is also reported in Figure 8 and SOM Table 410 S6. 411 Our results necessitate us to reconsider the previously published correlations for the 412 hominoid-bearing locality of CM1, as they support an unambiguous correlation with C5r.1r. 413 These results contradict the commonly held notion that CM1 (and CM2) are late Aragonian 414 (MN7+8) in age (see the Introduction) and indicate an estimated age of ~11.1 Ma for both 415 CM1 and CM3. Indeed, CM1 slightly postdates the short normal magnetic polarity subchron 416 C5r.1n (11.188–11.146 Ma), where Hippotherium is first recorded in the Vallès-Penedès 417 Basin (Garcés et al., 1996, 1997; Agustí et al., 1997; Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a, 2016b; 418 Alba et al., 2019). According to this, CM1 and CM3 would be slightly younger than both Creu 419 de Conill 20 and Castell de Barberà (~11.2 Ma), but older than most of the ECM composite 420 sequence—with the exception of its lowermost portion (e.g., ECM/VCE-A1), which on 421 lithostratigraphic grounds appears to be latest Aragonian in age (contra Alba et al., 2012b; 422 Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016b). The age of CM2 cannot be estimated with certainty, given 423 that its exact geographic location and stratigraphic position above CM1 are unknown. 424 However, given the geographical proximity to the Can Mata farmhouse, CM2 must be 425 roughly penecontemporaneous with CM1 (~11.1 Ma), in agreement with Crusafont-Pairó’s 426 (1952) original dating based on the presence of hipparionin remains in the same area 427 (although not in the same stratigraphic horizon). 428 429 4.2. Biostratigraphic and biochronological implications 18 430 Small mammals The earliest Vallesian micromammal assemblages have previously been 431 found to be taxonomically identical to the late Aragonian ones (see Section 1.2 as well as 432 SOM S3.1 for further details). Similarly, the local zone H of the Calatayud-Montalbán Basin 433 was originally correlated to the earliest Vallesian (Daams and Freudenthal, 1981) but is 434 currently considered to span the latest Aragonian and the early Vallesian (Álvarez Sierra et 435 al., 2003; Van Dam et al., 2014; García-Paredes et al., 2016). This interpretation is based on 436 the fact that neither Nombrevilla 9 nor 10 (~11.2 Ma) record Hippotherium, which is not 437 found there until Nombrevilla 1 (~10.8 Ma). A pre-Vallesian age for Nombrevilla 9 is further 438 supported by its magnetostratigraphic correlation to the uppermost portion of C5r.2r with 439 an interpolated age of 11.20 Ma, whereas Nombrevilla 10 correlates with C5r.1n with an 440 interpolated age of 11.18 Ma (Garcés et al., 2003; Van Dam et al., 2014) has not yielded 441 large mammal remains (Álvarez-Sierra et al., 2003). Megacricetodon ibericus is recorded in 442 the latest Aragonian and the earliest Vallesian both in the Vallès-Penedès Basin and the 443 Calatayud-Montalbán Basin (SOM S3.1), being thus irrelevant for determining the 444 Aragonian/Vallesian boundary. Only the later appearance of the cricetid Cricetulodon 445 hartenbergeri denotes a significant change in the rodent faunas (SOM S3.2), roughly 446 coinciding with the extinction of the cricetids Dem. crusafonti and M. ibericus, which were 447 generally dominant elements of the latest Aragonian and earliest Vallesian rodent faunas in 448 both basins (SOM S3.2). 449 Nevertheless, the revised correlation of CM1 to the earliest Vallesian highlights the 450 potential biostratigraphic significance of Hispanomys species during the latest Aragonian 451 and earliest Vallesian, which had been previously neglected due to incorrect correlation of 452 various localities (including CM1) to the latest Aragonian. In the Calatayud-Montalbán and 453 Duero basins (López-Guerrero et al., 2014, 2019; Van Dam et al., 2014; Castillo et al., 2018; 19 454 SOM S3.3), His. lavocati is restricted to the late Aragonian (zone G3), whereas His. 455 nombrevillae is recorded around the Aragonian/Vallesian transition (zone H), and His. 456 aragonensis appears later in early Vallesian (zone I). In contrast, in the Vallès-Penedès Basin 457 His. lavocati persists into the earliest Vallesian, which is characterized by two different 458 species of this genus: His. dispectus and Hispanomys daamsi. Neither of these species has 459 been thus far recorded from Aragonian levels from ACM, being restricted to earliest 460 Vallesian localities of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (and also the Empordà basin in the case of 461 His. dispectus; Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a; SOM S3.3). The only exception is the presence 462 of His. dispectus at Hostalets Inferior. However, the fact that the latter assemblage 463 potentially includes Vallesian material from levels previously considered to predate the 464 dispersal of Hippotherium (such as CM1) make it uncertain the record of the species before 465 the Vallesian. In contrast, later early Vallesian localities from ECM record His. aragonensis, 466 which is first recorded at ~10.8 Ma (Alba et al., 2012b; Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016b; SOM 467 S3.3). In summary, both His. dispectus and His. daamsi appear conclusively recorded only 468 from a short time period during the earliest Vallesian (accurately dated localities between 469 ~11.2–11.0 Ma), thus potentially being a biochronological marker of the Vallesian in its type 470 area (see SOM S3.3 for further details). 471 Hipparionins European Hippotherium originated from a single dispersal event of 472 Cormohipparion from North America sometime after 11.5 Ma (Woodburne, 2007, 2009; 473 Bernor et al., 2017, 2020, 2021). Cormohipparion has been recorded in the Old World since 474 10.8 Ma in Asia (Bernor et al., 2003; Wolf et al., 2013) and 10.7 Ma in Africa (Bernor et al., 475 2004; Bernor and White, 2009), but not in Europe, where Hippotherium is recorded earlier 476 and almost simultaneously in the Vallès-Penedès Basin in Spain at ~11.2 Ma (Garcés et al., 477 1996; Agustí et al., 1997; Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a, 2016b; Alba et al., 2019) and in the 20 478 Pannonian C sites of the Vienna Basin (Gaiselberg, Atzelsdorf, and Mariathal) in Austria at 479 ~11.4–11.0 Ma (Bernor et al., 2017). An earlier age of ~11.5 Ma has been proposed for the 480 first occurrence of hipparionins in China (Fang et al., 2016; Sun et al., 2022), thus being 481 slightly older than the record of Hippotherium in the Vienna and Vallès-Penedès basins. 482 However, the corresponding magnetostratigraphy (Fang et al., 2016) is missing many 483 relevant subchrons, such that alternative correlations—including C5r.1r, which could imply a 484 younger age roughly coeval with the European Hippotherium datum—cannot be discounted 485 (SOM S4.1). 486 Different species of Hippotherium are recorded in the Vallesian of the Vallès-Penedès and 487 Calatayud-Montalbán basins. In the former, Hippotherium catalaunicum is customarily 488 recognized as a distinct species (Bernor et al., 1980, 1996, 2021; Woodburne and Bernor, 489 1980), whereas Hippotherium koenigswaldi is recorded at Nombrevilla 1 (~10.8 Ma). Both 490 species have been interpreted as derived in facial and dental morphology compared with 491 Hippotherium primigenium from Central Europe (Bernor et al., 1996). A third species, 492 Hippotherium melendezi, is recorded from MN9 of the Duero Basin (SOM S4.2), although its 493 cranial morphology rather supports its inclusion in Hipparion s.s. (Bernor et al., 1996), which 494 is otherwise first recorded at MN10 in Iran (Bernor et al., 2017). Available evidence thus 495 indicates that vicariant speciation events occurred during MN9 after the initial dispersal of 496 Hippotherium into the Iberian Peninsula. Nevertheless, the identity of the earliest Vallesian 497 (~11.2–11.0 Ma) hipparionins from the Vallès-Penedès Basin, which are older than either 498 Hip. catalaunicum and Hip. koenigswaldi and include the remains from els Hostalets de 499 Pierola (this paper) and Castell de Barberà (Rotgers and Alba, 2011; Alba et al., 2019), 500 remains to be clarified (Alba et al., 2019). The dental specimens from Can Mata reported in 501 this paper show a similar morphology to the Pannonian C Hippotherium remains from the 21 502 Vienna Basin, which are more plesiomorphic than those of Hipp. primigenium (Woodburne 503 2009; Bernor et al., 2017), and may be thus identified as Hippotherium sp. 504 Giraffids and other large mammals The giraffid remains from CM2 described by Crusafont- 505 Pairó (1952), and the whole giraffid sample from earliest Vallesian sites of the Vallès- 506 Penedès Basin, have traditionally been assigned to Palaeotragus instead of Decennatherium 507 (e.g., Agustí et al., 1985, 2001)—albeit it is noteworthy that Crusafont-Pairó (1952) noted 508 similarities with species currently included in Schansitherium sp. (SOM S4.3). Nevertheless, 509 like the new dental remains reported here from ACM and ECM, the remainder of the Vallès- 510 Penedès giraffid sample from the earliest Vallesian only includes scarce dental and 511 postcranial remains, which are not informative enough to justify an attribution to genus 512 rank. Both Schansitherium and Decennatherium belong to the samothere-sivathere clade 513 and the former only appears slightly more basal than Decennatherium in cladistic analyses 514 (Ríos et al., 2017). Decennatherium has been reported not only from the Vallesian of Spain 515 (Ríos et al., 2016, 2017) but also of Pakistan (Ríos et al., 2019; see SOM S4.3 for further 516 details), where it is first tentatively recorded at 13.5 Ma (Ríos et al., 2019). The combination 517 of more primitive features than in Decennatherium with some apparently derived 518 characters raises the possibility that ‘Palaeotragus’ sp. from the Vallès-Penedès Basin might 519 belong to a very basal species of Decennatherium, or at least to a genus closely related to 520 the latter. Therefore, both ‘Palaeotragus’ sp. from the Vallès-Penedès and Dec. pachecoi 521 from elsewhere in Spain might have originated from the earliest giraffid immigrants that 522 dispersed from the east. 523 Despite the lack of giraffids and Hippotherium at CM1, our results conclusively indicate 524 that this locality postdates, even if slightly, the earliest well-dated record of giraffids in the 525 area of els Hostalets at ~11.1 Ma (Fig. 8) and elsewhere in the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Castell 22 526 de Barberà at ~11.2 Ma; Alba et al., 2019). This indicates that the lack of both giraffids and 527 hipparionins at CM1 is either a sampling bias and/or must be attributed to local 528 paleoenvironmental reasons. Giraffid remains assigned to Palaeotragus have also been 529 cited from multiple Vallès-Penedès localities of controversial age (latest Aragonian or 530 earliest Vallesian; see SOM 4.3. for further details). Many of these localities were initially 531 correlated to the Vallesian given that Crusafont Pairó (1950) conceived this land mammal 532 age as characterized by the presence of both hipparionins and giraffids. However, the 533 subsequent more detailed characterization of the Vallesian by Crusafont Pairó and Truyols 534 Santonja (1960) only emphasized the dispersal of hipparionins as a biochronological 535 marker—even though the association with giraffids was still noted. Ultimately, Crusafont 536 Pairó and Golpe Posse (1971) defined a new pre-Vallesian biozone characterized by the lack 537 of hipparionins and the presence of giraffids, to which CM2 and other localities of uncertain 538 age around the Aragonian/Vallesian boundary were correlated (e.g., Golpe-Posse, 1974; 539 Crusafont Pairó, 1975; SOM S4.3). This view was subsequently followed by Agustí and 540 coauthors (Agustí et al., 1985, 1997, 2001; Agustí and Moyà-Solà, 1990), leading to the idea 541 that giraffids of genus Palaeotragus would constitute a biochronological marker of MN7+8 542 and that only the giraffid Decennatherium would be indicative of the Vallesian (see SOM 543 S4.3 for additional details). In contrast, during the last decade an earliest Vallesian age has 544 been favored for many of these localities (Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a, 2016b; Alba et al., 545 2019). Our results further indicate that a latest Aragonian age is no longer tenable for CM2, 546 as CM1 correlates to the Vallesian despite the lack of Hippotherium. The fact that giraffids, 547 as shown here, are recorded slightly before Hippotherium at els Hostalets de Pierola might 548 simply result from insufficient sampling, paleoecological biases, and the lack of stratigraphic 549 control for most historical finds of Hippotherium in the area. At ACM, giraffids have yet to 23 550 be found in the late Aragonian levels (Alba et al., 2006, 2017), suggesting that giraffids and 551 hipparionins might have dispersed approximately at the same time (as previously supported 552 by Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016b). 553 In the Calatayud-Montalbán Basin, the earliest record of giraffids corresponds to Dec. 554 pachecoi from Nombrevilla 9, correlated to C5r.2r with an interpolated age of 11.20 Ma and 555 been considered latest Aragonian in age due to the lack of Hippotherium (Álvarez-Sierra et 556 al., 2003; Van Dam et al., 2014). If such a correlation is accurate, it implies that giraffids 557 might have immigrated into Iberia during the latest Aragonian immediately before the entry 558 of Hippotherium (as recorded in the Vallès-Penedès Basin at 11.18 Ma). On the other hand, 559 Nombrevilla 9 already records several typically Vallesian elements, such as Dec. pachecoi, 560 Deinotherium giganteum, Tetralophodon longirostris, and His. nombrevillae (Álvarez Sierra 561 et al., 2003; Van Dam et al., 2014; García-Paredes et al., 2016; Ríos et al., 2016). Given that 562 the dispersal of Hippotherium seems to have been roughly synchronous across Europe 563 (Vasiliev et al., 2011; Bernor et al., 2017; this paper), it is conceivable that Hippotherium had 564 already dispersed into Iberia when Nombrevilla 9 was deposited, being absent from this 565 locality because of the same (likely paleoenvironmental) reasons as to why this taxon is 566 missing or very rare in many earliest MN9 sites of the Vallès-Penedès Basin. 567 While the presence of Hippotherium indicates a Vallesian age by definition, its absence 568 cannot be taken as unambiguously indicating a pre-Vallesian age (Alba et al., 2019). For 569 example, no hipparionin remains have thus far been identified from the nearby ECM 570 composite series despite the unambiguous Vallesian age of most of the series (Alba et al., 571 2012b; this paper). The cases of CM2 and Castell de Barberà further highlight the risk of 572 relying almost exclusively on the purported absence of Hippotherium when making 573 biostratigraphic correlations for sites located close to the Aragonian/Vallesian boundary— 24 574 particularly because other large mammal taxa, such as giraffids, also appear indicative of a 575 Vallesian age. 576 There are other eastern immigrants that first appear in the Iberian Peninsula and 577 elsewhere in Europe coinciding with the beginning of the Vallesian, such as the 578 machairodontine felid Machairodus and the suid Propotamochoerus palaeochoerus (see 579 SOM S4.4 for further details). These taxa co-occur with Hippotherium at Creu de Conill 20 580 are also present at presumably Vallesian levels from els Hostalets de Pierola, although it is 581 uncertain when they are first recorded there (SOM S4.4). Further research would be 582 required to discern if the dispersal of Hippotherium and other Vallesian faunal elements was 583 synchronous or part of a more protracted faunal turnover across the Aragonian/Vallesian 584 transition. Nevertheless, currently available data indicate that the large mammal 585 assemblages from the earliest Vallesian of the Vallès-Penedès Basin were characterized by 586 an array of new immigrants including at least Hippotherium, giraffids, Propotamochoerus, 587 and Machairodus, even if these taxa do not always co-occur. 588 589 4.3. Implications for primate evolution 590 In the past decades, dryopithecines have been variously interpreted as pongines, 591 hominines, and stem hominids, so that conclusively deciphering their closest phylogenetic 592 affinities would be key for deciding among competing scenarios about the place of origin of 593 crown hominids (see discussion in Almécija et al., 2021; Pugh, 2022). Not so long ago, late 594 Middle and early Late Miocene dryopithecines from Europe were still included in a single 595 genus Dryopithecus (e.g., Andrews et al., 1996; Begun, 2002), largely as a result of the 596 limited knowledge of Middle Miocene dryopithecines at the time. This constrasts with the 597 panoply of genera that are currently recognized, following the discovery of more complete 25 598 Middle Miocene ape remains at ACM in the 2000s, which prompted the realization that 599 dryopithecine diversity could not be accommodated within the single genus (Begun, 2009; 600 Moyà-Solà et al., 2009a). Two alternative proposals were then put forward: Moyà-Solà et al. 601 (2004, 2009a, 2009b) distinguished various Middle Miocene genera (Pierolapithecus, 602 Anoiapithecus, Dryopithecus) and included the Late Miocene material from Spain and 603 Hungary into a single genus Hispanopithecus; in contrast, Begun (2009) and Begun et al. 604 (2012) considered that Pierolapithecus and Anoiapithecus could be synonyms of 605 Dryopithecus and distinguished instead Hispanopithecus from Rudapithecus in the Late 606 Miocene. The distinction between the two latter genera is currently also favored by Alba, 607 Moyà-Solà and colleagues (e.g., Almécija et al., 2021; Fortuny et al., 2021; Urciuoli et al., 608 2021), while the existence of more than a single genus at ACM is also generally 609 acknowledged (e.g., Böhme et al., 2019; Andrews, 2020). To recognize the fact that the Late 610 Miocene dryopithecines appear more derived and closely related than the Middle Miocene 611 ones, Alba (2012) distinguished the tribes Dryopithecini and Hispanopithecini, although this 612 picture became more complicated after the description of Danuvius, which is dated to ~11.6 613 Ma (Kirscher et al., 2016; Böhme et al., 2019) and thus roughly coeval with the youngest 614 dryopithecines from ACM (Alba et al., 2017). 615 On paleobiogeograpic grounds, it would be most reasonable to assume that 616 hispanopithecins from the Vallesian evolved locally in central and/or western Europe from 617 Middle Miocene dryopithecin ancestors. However, this cannot be conclusively asserted, 618 owing to phylogenetic uncertainties surrounding the internal phylogeny of dryopithecines 619 coupled with the fragmentary nature of the hominoid fossil record in Europe throughout 620 the Aragonian/Vallesian boundary. Regarding phylogeny, it is generally considered that 621 hispanopithecins are more derived than dryopithecins (e.g., Alba, 2012), but it is currently 26 622 uncertain whether dryopithecines as a whole constitute a clade or a paraphyletic 623 assemblage (Almécija et al., 2021), because few cladistic analyses have analyzed 624 dryopithecins and hispanopithecins separately. Alba et al.’s (2015) analysis recovered 625 Hispanopithecus and Pierolapithecus as stem hominids, whereas Pugh’s (2022) analyses 626 more conclusively showed that dryopithecines are best interpreted as stem hominids, with 627 hispanopithecins appearing more closely related to crown hominids than dryopithecins. 628 Danuvius appears intermediate in the degree of suspensory adaptations and other 629 morphological features between dryopithecins and hispanopithecins (Almécija et al., 2021), 630 thus favoring the regional continuity hypothesis by strengthening the view that the more 631 suspensory hispanopithecins might have evolved from the Middle Miocene dryopithecins. 632 However, Danuvius predates the beginning of the Vallesian by more than 0.5 Myr and the 633 earliest record of hispanopithecin genera by about 1.5 Myr. Therefore, Danuvius cannot be 634 automatically taken as an evolutionary link between dryopithecins and hispanopithecins—at 635 least, until a formal cladistic analysis shows that this genus is more closely related to the 636 latter. 637 The hypothetical phylogenetic link between dryopithecins and hispanopithecins is further 638 complicated by the fact that Pugh’s (2022) analyses sometimes recovered a close link 639 between dryopithecines and kenyapithecines (Kenyapithecus and Griphopithecus), as 640 previously argued by Moyà-Solà et al. (2009b), whereas ‘Lufengpithecus’ hudienensis from 641 the Late Miocene (8.2–7.2 Ma) of China (Kelley and Gao, 2012) tended to group with 642 hispanopithecins instead of Lufengpithecus lufengensis (the type species of the genus), 643 which clusters with other Asian hominids in a pongine clade (Pugh, 2022). This closer 644 phylogenetic of ‘L.’ hudienensis with hispanopithecins instead of pongines agrees with the 645 lack of pongine synapomorphies in this species (Kelley and Gao, 2012) and the possession of 27 646 some dental similarities (in canine and incisor morphology; Begun and Kelley, 2016). 647 Coupled with faunal similarities suggesting “a strong biogeographic link between Europe 648 and China” by the Late Miocene (Begun, 2013: 143; see also Begun and Kelley, 2016), 649 currently available evidence suggests that dryopithecines might have been present in both 650 Europe and Asia during the Late Miocene and at the very least supports more complex 651 paleobiogeographic scenarios than customarily assumed (Gilbert et al., 2020). Although ‘L.’ 652 hudienensis is younger than the European hispanopithecins, the the oldest and less well- 653 known species included in the same genus—Lufengpithecus keiyuanensis from the Middle 654 Miocene of China (12.5–11.6 Ma; Kelley, 2002; Ji et al., 2013)—has not been analyzed from 655 a cladistic viewpoint yet and it is thus uncertain whether it belongs to the pongine radiation. 656 Such a possibility is supported by the fact that closer morphological similarities between the 657 samples of L. keiyuanensis from Xiaolongtan and ‘L.’ hudienensis from Yuanmou (as opposed 658 to L. lufengensis from Shihuiba, Lufeng) have been noted by previous authors, who even 659 included the two former within a single species (Gao, 1998; Harrison et al., 2002). Given that 660 the beginning of the Vallesian, as discussed above, is not only marked by the dispersal of 661 hipparionin horses, but also by the more or less simultaneous arrival of other taxa that 662 dispersed from the east—including the machairodontine felid Machairodus, giraffids, and 663 the suid Propotamochoerus—the possibility that hispanopithecins did not locally evolve 664 from dryopithecins but dispersed from elsewhere roughly coinciding with the 665 Aragonian/Vallesian boundary deserves further consideration. 666 Unfortunately, the identity of earliest Vallesian hominoids from Europe is not well 667 known. In particular, during the time interval between the latest Aragonian (~11.5 Ma, i.e., 668 after Danuvius) and the earliest well-dated occurrences of Hispanopithecus (~10.3–10.0 Ma; 669 Alba et al., 2018) and Rudapithecus (~10.0–9.8 Ma; Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2011) in the 28 670 Vallesian, the record of European hominids is very scarce. In the Vallès-Penedès Basin, 671 earliest Vallesian dryopithecines are known from Castell de Barberà (~11.2 Ma; Alba et al., 672 2019) and CM1 (~11.1 Ma; this paper). The former material was assigned to cf. D. fontani 673 based on its inferred body mass when Castell de Barberà was still correlated to the latest 674 Aragonian (Alba et al., 2011b; Alba, 2012; Marigó et al., 2014), but such an allocation is 675 tentative given the lack of craniodental specimens (Almécija et al., 2012; Alba et al., 2019; 676 Pina et al., 2019). With regard to the CM1 canine (Crusafont-Pairó and Golpe-Posse, 1973), a 677 secure taxonomic allocation is not possible (as it cannot be directly compared with ACM 678 dryopithecin taxa). Elsewhere in Europe, when poorly dated localities are excluded, the 679 earliest Vallesian material is restricted to an isolated molar from Mariathal, Austria (Thenius, 680 1982), which has yielded a form of Hippotherium (Hip. aff. primigenium) slightly more 681 derived than those from Gaiselberg and Atzelsdorf (Hippotherium sp.), suggesting a slightly 682 younger age within Pannonian C (but still be older than 11 Ma; Bernor et al., 2017). The 683 Mariathal hominoid molar was formerly assigned to Dryopithecus brancoi by several authors 684 (Thenius, 1982; Begun, 2002), or alternatively to Dryopithecus carinthiacus by Andrews et al. 685 (1996), but more recently it was considered of uncertain attribution (Casanovas-Vilar et al., 686 2011; Pickford, 2012). 687 Discovering additional fossil great ape finds from the time span comprised between 688 ~11.5 and ~10.5 Ma is thus required to determine their taxonomic identity as well as to 689 further clarify the phylogenetic relationships between the late Aragonian dryopithecins, 690 Danuvius, ‘L.’ hudienensis and other species of Lufengpithecus from China, and the Vallesian 691 hispanopithecins from Europe. Given that the fossiliferous accumulations from both Castell 692 de Barberà (Almécija et al., 2019) and CM1 (this paper) are exhausted, fieldwork efforts 693 should be redirected to other earliest Vallesian sites. In this regard, the site of Creu de Conill 29 694 20 (representing the earliest appearance of Hippotherium in western Europe) has some 695 potential, even though it displays marked paleoenvironmental differences as compared with 696 Castell de Barberà (Alba et al., 2019) and has not yielded any hominoid remains yet despite 697 several successive fieldwork campaigns since 2016. Thus far, Vallès-Penedès hominoids 698 dating to the Vallesian were considered to be restricted to the Vallès Sector of the basin. 699 Redating CM1 is thus important because it conclusively shows that these primates were also 700 recorded in the earliest Vallesian of the Penedès Sector, thereby opening new research 701 prospects for the future. In particular, ongoing works of paleontological surveillance during 702 the new phase of enlargement of the Can Mata landfill—mostly focused on deposits that 703 cover the Aragonian/Vallesian transition (~11.5–11.0 Ma)—represent one of the best 704 opportunities to find additional dryopithecine remains that might clarify their taxonomic 705 and phylogenetic status in years to come. 706 707 5. Conclusions 708 We revisit the age of the hominoid-bearing locality of CM1 (or Bretxa de Can Mata), 709 where a dryopithecine canine of a female individual was found in the 1970s. Can Mata 1 is 710 located in the Penedès sector of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula), in the 711 fossiliferous area of els Hostalets de Pierola. This locality has traditionally been considered 712 latest Aragonian (pre-Vallesian) in age, supposedly predating the earliest record of giraffids 713 (CM2) and hipparionins (CM3) in the area. Currently, CM1 is included with the area affected 714 by the enlargement works of the Can Mata landfill (i.e., the ACM macrosite), which thanks 715 to paleontological surveillance and rescue excavations has delivered tens of thousands of 716 fossil vertebrate remains from the late Aragonian during the last two decades. Here we 717 report new magnetostratigraphic data that include CM1 and extend the ACM composite 30 718 section upward toward the Vallesian. The updated composite section is 300 m-thick and 719 spans from ~12.6 to 11.1 Ma (latest MN6 to earliest MN9), with CM1 being correlated to 720 subchron C5r.1r, with an estimated age of 11.1 Ma. Our results indicate that, despite slightly 721 predating the oldest well-dated record of Hippotherium in the area of els Hostalets de 722 Pierola (CM3), CM1 is younger than the first appearance datum of this taxon in the Vallès- 723 Penedès Basin (correlated with C5r.1n, with an estimated age of 11.2 Ma), on which the 724 definition of the Vallesian land mammal age hinges. Our results thus unambiguously 725 indicate that CM1 does not correlate to the latest Aragonian (MN7+8)—as previously 726 assumed based on the absence of Hippotherium and giraffids—but to the earliest Vallesian. 727 We note that Hippotherium remains from Can Mata show resemblances to the roughly 728 coeval remains from Pannonian C sites of the Vienna Basin (Austria). We further show, 729 based on new remains from ACM, that the oldest well-dated record of giraffids in the area 730 of Can Mata is not younger (as previouly thought) but slightly older than CM1, with a similar 731 estimated age of 11.1 Ma. A critical assessment of Vallès-Penedès localities with giraffids, 732 previously considered latest Aragonian owing to the lack of Hippotherium, indicates that this 733 view is no longer tenable. In contrast, hipparionins and giraffids might have dispersed more 734 or less simultaneously across Europe ~11.2 Ma, together with other large mammal 735 immigrants from eastern Eurasia. All in all, our results highlight the need to stop considering 736 the lack of Hippotherium as a reliable criterion for correlation with the latest Aragonian 737 without the aid of magnetostratigraphic data or, at least, without taking into consideration 738 other biochronologically important taxa. These include other large mammals and the 739 cricetid Hispanomys, since based on currently available data both His. dispectus and His. 740 daamsi might be characteristic of the earliest Vallesian. 31 741 Further research is necessary to ascertain to what extent the Aragonian/Vallesian 742 transition was a relatively protracted faunal turnover or a more punctuted event. From a 743 paleobiogeographic viewpoint, this has potential implications for hominoid evolution, 744 because it is currently uncertain whether Vallesian dryopithecines evolved locally from their 745 late Aragonian counterparts or immigrated from elsewhere at the beginning of the Vallesian 746 (along with other eastern immigrants such as giraffids, Machairodus, or Propotamochoerus). 747 Testing these competing hypotheses is hampered by the incompleteness and fragmentary 748 nature of the hominoid fossil record, which is particularly meager for the earliest Vallesian 749 (including scarce remains from CM1, Castell de Barberà, and Mariathal). Our study thus 750 highlights the need to strengthen fieldwork efforts focused on this particular time interval, 751 approximately between 11.5 and 10.5 Ma. In this sense, the revised (earliest Vallesian) age 752 for CM1 conclusively shows that dryopithecines were also present in this sector of the basin 753 by this time. Therefore, currently ongoing paleontological surveillance at ACM offers the 754 most promising prospects to recover additional fossil ape remains from this key interval in 755 years to come. This might help disentangle the controversial phylogenetic relationships 756 among dryopithecine taxa, as well as the potential link between hispanopithecins and Late 757 Miocene species from China that appear to be excluded from the pongine radiation. 758 759 Acknowledgments 760 This publication is the result of R+D+I projects PID2020-117289GB-I00, PID2020- 761 116908GB-I00, PID2020-116220GB-I00, PID2020-117118GB-I00, and PID2019-106440GB- 762 C21, funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación/Agencia Estatal de 763 Investigación/10.13039/501100011033/. The research has been funded also by the 764 Generalitat de Catalunya, including: CERCA Programme; Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts 32 765 Universitaris i de Recerca (Consolidated Research Groups 2017 SGR 086, 2017 SGR 116, and 766 2017 SGR 596); and Departament de Cultura (CLT009/18/00071). Fieldwork at ACM was 767 defrayed by CESPA Gestión de Residuos S.A.U. and UTE Ampliació Can Mata. We are grateful 768 to Jordi Agustí for sharing his remembrances about the Hippotherium find from CM3 as well 769 as the numerous field paleontologists that worked at ACM over the years. We further 770 acknowledge the collaboration of the Centre d’Interpretació i Restauració Paleontològica 771 (Ajuntaments dels Hostalets de Pierola) and the Servei d’Arqueologia i Paleontologia of the 772 Generalitat de Catalunya. 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Hallazgo del "Dryopithecus fontani", 1127 Lartet, en el Vindoboniense de la cuenca Vallés-Penedés. Bol. Inst. Geol. Min. Esp. 55, 1128 131–142. 1129 Villalta Comella, J.F. de, Crusafont Pairó, M., 1941b. Noticia preliminar sobre la fauna de 1130 carnívoros del Mioceno continental del Vallés-Penedés. Bol. R. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. 39, 1131 201–208. 1132 Villalta Comella, J.F. de, Crusafont Pairó, M., 1943. Los vertebrados del Mioceno continental 1133 de la cuenca del Vallés-Panadés (provincia de Barcelona). I. Insectívoros. II. Carnívoros. 1134 Bol. Inst. Geol. Min. Esp. 56, 145–336. 1135 Villalta Comella, J.F. de, Crusafont Pairó, M., 1944. Dos nuevos antropomorfos del Mioceno 1136 español y su situación dentro de la moderna sistemática de los símidos. Not. Com. Inst. 1137 Geol. Min. Esp. 13, 91–139. 48 1138 Wolf, D., Bernor, R.L., Hussain, S.T., 2013. A systematic, biostratigraphic, and 1139 paleobiogeographic reevaluation of the Siwalik hipparionine horse assemblage from the 1140 Potwar Plateau, Northern Pakistan. Palaeontographica A 300, 1–115. 1141 Woodburne, M.O., 2007. Phyletic diversification of the Cormohipparion occidentale complex 1142 (Mammalia; Perissodactyla, Equidae), Late Miocene, North America, and the origin of the 1143 Old World Hippotherium datum. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 306, 1–138. 1144 Woodburne, M.O., 2009. The early Vallesian vertebrates of Atzelsdorf (Late Miocene, 1145 Austria) 9. Hippotherium (Mammalia, Equidae). Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien 111A, 585– 1146 604. 1147 Woodburne, M.O., Bernor, R.L., 1980. On superspecific groups of some Old World 1148 hipparionine horses. J. Paleontol. 54, 1319–1348. 1149 1150 Figure captions 1151 1152 Figure 1. Right C1 of a female individual from CM1 IPS1766 (old Nos. IPS49, H.223, VP339), 1153 in occlusal (a), lingual (b), mesial(c), buccal (d), and distal (e) views. 1154 1155 Figure 2. Simplified geological map of the Vallès-Penedès Basin: a) location of the Vallès- 1156 Penedès Basin within the Iberian Peninsula; b) location of Abocador de Can Mata (denoted 1157 by a black dot, including Can Mata 1) within the basin. Modified from Casanovas-Vilar et al. 1158 (2016a: Fig. 1). 1159 1160 Figure 3. Photographs of Can Mata 1 (CM1) in the early 1940s (a–d) and in 2004 (e): a, b) 1161 general views; c–e) detail of CM. The location of the fossiliferous level is indicated by the 49 1162 paleontologists excavating in panels b and d (denoted by arrows); I.C.V. denotes the 1163 approximate location of CM1 in February 2004, although the excavation spot is covered by 1164 debris. Photographs in panels a and c by Crusafont, reproduced from Villalta Comella and 1165 Crusafont Pairó (1943: Pl. XV); photographs in panels b and d by Bataller, reproduced from 1166 Villalta Comella and Crusafont Pairó (1941b: Pl. XVI Figs. 1 and 2, respectively); photograph 1167 in panel e by D.M.A., © Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont. 1168 1169 Figure 4. Aerial photographs showing the location of CM1 relative to ACM and the nearby 1170 farmhouses of Can Mata de la Garriga and Can Vila; the ACM hominoid-bearing locality of 1171 BCV1 is also provided for reference. a, b) Orthophotos taken in 1946 (a) and 2019 (b) to the 1172 same scale; the extension of the Can Mata landfill is shown in semitransparency in green (up 1173 to 2017) and pink (portion enlarged since 2017 and until early 2021), while the extension of 1174 the works performed at ECM a decade ago is marked in orange. c) Orthophoto taken in 1175 2021, depicting the inset marked in panel b at a greater scale; the location of CM1 is here 1176 denoted by a yellow circle, while that of CM3 is denoted by a white square; the base of the 1177 lithostratigraphic composite section of ECM is marked by a red triangle. Universal 1178 Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates (European Terrestrial Reference System 1989 1179 [ETRS89]): CM1 = 31N 399765E, 4598400N, 285 m a.s.l.; CM3 = 31N 399848E, 4598585N, 1180 312 m a.s.l.; base of ECM = 31 N 400221E, 4598659N, 325 m a.s.l. Base orthophotomaps: © 1181 Institut Cartogràfic i Geològic de Catalunya, downloaded from VISSIR v. 3.26 and reproduced 1182 with permission by means of a Creative Commons license CC BY 4.0 (ICGC, 2021). 1183 Abbreviations: ACM = Abocador de Can Mata; BCV1 = Barranc de Can Vila 1; CM1 = Can 1184 Mata 1; ECM = Ecoparc de Can Mata. 1185 50 1186 Figure 5. Photographs of Can Mata 1 (CM1) in 2001 (b–f) compared with 2004 (a): a) the 1187 dashed line indicates the break along which a large block of rock was detached sometime 1188 before 2021, while the circle denotes the approximate location of the CM1 fossiliferous 1189 accumulation (see Fig. 3); b, c) panoramic (b) and detailed (c) view of CM1 in January 2021, 1190 before the area was deforested; d–f) different perspectives on the excavation of CM1 with 1191 the help of a digger machine in May 2021; g) detail of the original excavation spot once 1192 exposed. Note that, within the circle in panel g, the stratigraphic layer of intense red 1193 coloration (denoted by a dashed line) is partly interrupted by a hole filled with debris that 1194 corresponds to the original excavation; this spot was excavated until the whole depth of the 1195 layer was exposed, and no further fossil finds were found anywhere nearby. The numbers 1196 have been added to facilitate the recognition of the same physiographic structures across 1197 different panels and despite different perspectives. Photographs by D.M.A. (a–c), J.M.R. (e, 1198 f), and V.V. (d, g), © Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont. 1199 1200 Figure 6. New magnetostratigraphic results for the Cells 13–14 section at Abocador de Can 1201 Mata, where the locality of Can Mata 1 (CM1, denoted by a four-pointed red star) is located. 1202 Sideways triangles denote the stratigraphic position of paleomagnetic samples. Normal 1203 polarity (positive VGP latitude) and reversed polarity (negative VGP latitutide) 1204 magnetozones are denoted in black and white, respectively. Abbreviations: M = mudstones; 1205 S = sandstones; CG = conglomerates; VGP = virtual geomagnetic pole. 1206 1207 Figure 7. Magnetostratigraphic correlation of the Abocador de Can Mata (ACM) and Riera 1208 de Claret sections with the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale (GPTS) after Ogg (2020), as well 1209 as European land mammal ages (ELMA) and local biozones of the Vallès-Penedès Basin 51 1210 (after Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016b). The location of Can Mata 1 (CM1)—being correlated to 1211 the Hippotherium–Cricetulodon hartenbergeri interval subzone—is denoted by a four- 1212 pointed red star. Note that the boundary between this subzone and the preceding Dem. 1213 crusafonti–Hippotherium interval subzone is defined by the first local occurrence of 1214 Hippotherium in the Vallès-Penedès Basin at the base of C5r.1n (see Fig. 8 for further 1215 details). Short white lines in the GPTS represent short geomagnetic excursions within 1216 C5n.2n after Evans et al. (2007). Short horizontal lines to the left of the polarity column 1217 represent ‘tiny wiggles’ from sea floor magnetic anomaly stacks (Cande and Kent, 1992) that 1218 have been interpreted to represent geomagnetic polarity intervals (e.g., Roberts and Lewin- 1219 Harris, 2000). Note the inclusion in the GPTS of cryptochron C5r.2r-1 within C5r.2r (Abdul- 1220 Aziz et al., 2003; Ogg, 2020) and that the bottom boundary of the lowermost local biozone is 1221 unknown. See SOM Figure S3 for detailed magnetostratigraphic results of the three sampled 1222 sections that cover the uppermost portion of the ACM sequence. Abbreviations: M = 1223 mudstones; S = sandstones; CG = conglomerates. 1224 1225 Figure 8. Synthetic correlation of the composite local magnetostratigraphy of ACM and 1226 nearby areas with the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale (GPTS; after Ogg, 2020), as well as 1227 European land mammal ages (ELMA), Mammal Neogene units (MN9), and local biozones of 1228 the Vallès-Penedès Basin after Casanovas-Vilar et al. (2016b)—note that, for the local 1229 biozonation, a plus symbol denotes a concurrent range subzone, whereas an en dash 1230 denotes an interval subzone. The stratigraphic position of CM1, CM3 and the ACM primate- 1231 bearing localities (reported in SOM Table S4) is shown to the right on the composite 1232 lithostratigraphic column (black arrows), together with the first local occurrences of some 1233 biochronologically relevant taxa commented in the text (red arrows). The first local 52 1234 occurrence of hipparionins (Hippotherium datum) in the Vallès-Penedès Basin as recorded in 1235 Creu de Conill 20 [CCN20]) is denoted by a green discontinuous arrow. Modified after Alba 1236 et al. (2017: Fig. 3) based on the results reported in Figure 7 (see the caption for further 1237 details) and in the main text. The ACM primate-bearing localities were listed by Alba et al. 1238 (2017: Table 2) except for ACM/C8-Au, where a damaged upper premolar of Dryopithecinae 1239 indet. (IPS121187) was recently identified while preparing a deinothere tooth, with an 1240 interpolated age of 11.77 Ma. 53 Table 1 Subchrons correlated with the ACM composite section, including their boundaries and duration according to the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale (Ogg, 2020), their stratigraphic position and thickness in the composite sequence, and their computed within-subchron sedimentary rate. Updated from Alba et al. (2017) based on fieldwork performed during 2018–2021. CM1 is located in meter 284 of the sequence and correlated with C5r.1r, which postdates the first subchron on the Vallesian (C5r.1n), while CM3 is located 8 m above CM1 (meter 292 of the sequence) and hence approximately correlated to the top of C5r.1r. Subchron Bottom Top Duration Bottom Top Thickness Sedimentation (Ma) (Ma) (Myr) (m) (m) (m) (cm/kyr) C5n.2n 11.056 9.984 1.072 292.8a — — — C5r.1r 11.146 11.056 0.090 277.5a 292.8a 15.3a 17.0a C5r.1n 11.188 11.146 0.042 272.9a,c 277.5a 4.6a 11.0a C5r.2r (2nd 11.263 11.188 0.075 251.5a 272.9a,c 21.4a 28.5a portion) C5r.2r-1 11.308 11.263 0.045 238.6a 251.5a 12.9a 28.7a C5r.2r (1st 11.592 11.308 0.284 204.2b 238.6a 34.4a 12.1a portion) C5r.2n 11.657 11.592 0.065 177.1b 204.2b 27.1 41.7 C5r.3r 12.049 11.657 0.392 84.1b 177.1b 93.0 23.7 C5An.1n 12.174 12.049 0.125 68.6b 84.1b 15.5 12.4 C5An.1r 12.272 12.174 0.098 47.2b 68.6b 21.4 21.8 C5An.2n 12.474 12.272 0.202 15.9b 47.2b 31.3 15.5 C5Ar.1r 12.735 12.474 0.261 — 15.9b ≥16.0 — a New results reported in this paper. 1 b Results previously reported by Alba et al. (2017). b Alba et al. (2017) noted that the top of C5r.2r was not recorded at ACM but reported its top at 262.2 m based on the nearby sequence of Camí de Can Vila. New samplings within the ACM area sensu stricto enable to refine the subchron top within the ACM composite series. 2 11 13 12 Age (Ma) MIDDLE MIOCENE LATE MIOCENE Epoch late Aragonian early Vallesian ELMA MN6 MN7+8 MN9 MN Hispanomys Assembage Zone Cricetulodon Local M. crusafonti M. crusafonti D. crusafonti – Hippotherium – Cricetulodon biozone + D. larteti – D. crusafonti Hippotherium C. hartenbergeri hartenbergeri C5AA C5Ar C5An C5r C5n Chron r n 3r 3r 2r 1r 1r 1r 1n 2r 1n 2n 2n 2n 2n 1n 2r-1 Subchron Polarity 400 m 0 100 200 300 Composite Local Magnetostratigraphy CM3 CM1 C3-Aj BCV5 BCV1 C8-B* C1-E* C8-Au C3-B2 C5-A8 C4-A1 C8-A4 C4-Ap C4-Cp C5-C2 C5-D1 C5-C4 C4-Cb C5-C3 C3-Ae C3-Az, BCV 4 H. lavocati Giraffidae M. ibericus HIPPOTHERIUM DATUM (CCN20) D. nemoralis D. crusafonti H. dispectus Hippotherium ACM sequence Supplementary Online Material (SOM): A revised (earliest Vallesian) age for the hominoid-bearing locality of Can Mata 1 based on new magnetostratigraphic and biostratigraphic data from Abocador de Can Mata (Vallès- Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula) David M. Alba a,*, Josep M. Robles a, Isaac Casanovas-Vilar a, Elisabet Beamud b-c, Raymond L. Bernor d-e, Omar Cirilli d,f, Daniel DeMiguel g,a, Jordi Galindo a, Itziar Llopart a, Guillem Pons-Monjo a, Israel M. Sánchez a, Víctor Vinuesa a, Miguel Garcés c,h a Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTA-ICP, c/ Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain b Paleomagnetic Laboratory CCiTUB–Geo3Bcn CSIC, c/ Lluís Solé i Sabarís s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain c Institut Geomodels, Grup de Recerca Consolidat de Geodinàmica i Anàlisi de Conques, Universitat de Barcelona, c/ Martí i Franqués s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain d College of Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology, 520 W St. N.W., 20059, Washington D.C., USA e Human Origins Program, Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution, 20560, Washington D.C., USA f Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Paleo[Fab]Lab, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Via G. La Pira 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy g ARAID foundation / Universidad de Zaragoza, Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, and Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ciencias Ambientales de Aragón (IUCA), Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain h Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l’Oceà, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, c/ Martí i Franqués s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain *Corresponding author. E-mail address: david.alba@icp.at (D.M. Alba). 1 SOM S1 Details about the Can Mata localities 1.1. Historical details about the discovery and definition of Can Mata localities The locality of CM1 was discovered in 1941 and initially referred to as “an ossiferous breccia” in the surroundings of the farmhouse of Can Mata de la Garriga (Villalta Comella and Crusafont Pairó, 1941: 206, Pl. XVI Figs. 1 and 2) or as “the breccia from Hostalets de Pierola” (Villata Comella and Crusafont Pairó, 1943: 172, Pl. XV)—our translations from Spanish. The term “ossiferous breccia” used by the authors implied a rich fossil bone bed rather than a breccia in the geological sense of the term. In turn, Crusafont and Truyols (1954) first mentioned the locality of Can Mata 2 (CM2), from which they reported the giraffid Palaeotragus sp., in all probability corresponding to the find of scarce dentognathic and postcranial remains previously reported by Crusafont Pairó (1952: Pls. XVIII Fig. 1 and XIX Figs. 1–5). These remains had been recovered from “the inferiormost layers of the Meotian [i.e., Vallesian] in the region of Hostalets de Pierola, nearby «Can Mata» and, thus, almost on the contact with Vindobonian [i.e., Aragonian] levels, […] in a small breccia located almost on the bottom of a ravine” (Crusafont Pairó, 1952: 71, our translation from the original in Spanish). They were found together with molars of the bovid Protragocerus chantrei and considered Vallesian based on the find of Hippotherium molars in the same area (Crusafont Pairó, 1952). Finally, the locality of Can Mata 3 (CM3) was first mentioned by Alba et al. (2006), corresponding to an isolated find of Hippotherium that thus far represents the oldest hipparionin find of known provenance from the area of Can Mata. Indeed, among the collections of the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont in Sabadell there are multiple dental or postcranial remains of Hippotherium labeled as coming from Vallesian levels of els Hostalets de Pierola, including a few from nearby Can Mata or its surroundings. However, they mostly correspond to finds made by Crusafont and Villalta, whose exact geographic and stratigraphic provenance is unknown. In contrast, according to Alba et al. (2006) CM3 would be located ~200 m in NE direction from CM1, based on a personal communication of Jordi Agustí to J.G. Consulted again by the same author in December 2021, Agustí confirmed that the Hippotherium specimen was found during a survey undertaken by him with Josep Gibert in 1976. 1.2. Considerations about the faunal list from Can Mata 1 The published faunal list of large mammals CM1 (Crusafont-Pairó and Golpe-Posse, 1973; Golpe-Posse, 1974; Agustí et al., 1985) needs to be updated and revised, to confirm the 2 identity of multiple taxa that is confusing according to published sources. In particular, from a biostratigraphic viewpoint it would be interesting to ascertain whether CM1 records typically Aragonian taxa instead of their respective Vallesian counterparts. The former includes the gomphothere Gomphotherium, the deinothere Deinotherium levius, the chalicothere Anisodon grande, or the cervid Euprox aff. furcatus (Golpe-Posse, 1974; Agustí et al., 1985; Azanza and Menéndez, 1990)—compared with Tetralophodon, Deinotherium giganteum, Chalicotherium goldfussi, or Euprox dicranoceros, which are typically Vallesian (Azanza and Menéndez, 1990; Anquetin et al., 2007; Mazo and van der Made, 2012; Pickford and Pourabrishami, 2013). Nevertheless, despite being mostly Vallesian in age, both Tetralophodon (Mazo and Van der Made, 2012) and Chalicotherium (Anquetin et al., 2007), are first recorded within MN7+8. In turn, both Dei. levius (Konidaris and Koufos, 2019; Alba et al., 2020) and E. furcatus (Azanza and Menéndez, 1990; Vislobokova, 2007) apparently persisted since the Aragonian until the earliest Vallesian. Therefore, the usefulness of all these taxa to date localities around the Aragonian/Vallesian boundary is restricted. In contrast, it would probably be more relevant the identification of the large non-listriodontine suid from CM1, customarily attributed to Propotamochoerus palaeochoerus (Villalta Comella and Crusafont Pairó, 1943; Golpe-Posse, 1971, 1972, 1974; Crusafont-Pairó and Golpe-Posse, 1973; Agustí et al., 1985), which is currently considered to be conclusively recorded only from the early Vallesian (MN9) across Europe (Pickford, 2016a). Revising the faunal list of CM1 is outside the scope of this paper and will not be an easy task because Crusafont and coauthors seldom provided collection numbers and many of the remains from CM1 housed in the collections of the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP) are not labeled as such, but merely referred to Hostalets or Hostalets Inferior. SOM S2 Descriptions and comparisons of equid and giraffid material from Can Mata 2.1. Hipparionins The best preserved M3 (IPS124307; SOM Fig. S5a–c) shows a well-developed pli caballinid on the labial side of the hypoconid—a primitive feature that can be found among the Pannonian C Hippotherium from Atzeldorf, Gaiselberg, and Mariathal in the Vienna Basin, Austria (Bernor et al., 2017, 2021). Bernor et al. (2017) provided a detailed summary of the upper and lower dental morphology of the Pannonian C hipparionins from the Vienna Basin, identifying the presence of pli caballinids and ectostylids. However, these occlusal and buccal structures of the lower cheek teeth are not always present (Bernor et al., 2017), as their 3 occurrence may be related to dental wear stage and preservation of the specimens (e.g., pli caballinids may be obliterated in late wear stages and ectostylids may be short, welded to the buccal enamel wall, and buried within the cementum). Although the sample does not include maxillary cheek teeth, the presence of a well-developed pli caballinid in IPS124307 hints at similarities between the Austrian and Iberian samples. 2.2. Giraffids The P2 and P3 from CM2 assigned by Crusafont-Pairó (1952: Pl. XVIII Fig. 1) to Palaeotragus sp., like the P3 and P4 from les Martines assigned by the same author to a different but unnamed species of the same genus (Crusafont-Pairó, 1952: Pl. XVIII Figs. 2 and 3), are buccolingually extended (not only the P4). In this regard, the Vallès-Penedès remains differ from those of species such as Palaeotragus primaevus that have more or less elongated P2 and P3 as well as rounded/subtriangular P4. Instead, they more closely resemble, among others, Giraffokeryx punjabiensis, Palaeotragus germaini, Decennatherium spp., and the extant Giraffa and Okapia (see, e.g., Colbert, 1933; Churcher, 1978; Ríos et al., 2017), which have derived rounded upper premolars that are buccolingually extended. The M3s from ACM (SOM Fig. S6a–f), in turn, are characterized by well-developed cristae, column-like and very rectilinear styles and buccal structures, and presence of protoconal folds. The upper molars from les Martines described by Crusafont-Pairó (1952: Pl. XVIII Figs. 4 and 5) also closely resemble those from ACM in the possession of relatively high and internally flattish cristae, thin and column-like buccal structures, and a strong protoconal fold. A minor difference between the ACM and les Martines upper molars consists in the alignment of the cusps in the buccal wall, which is totally straight in ACM and slightly angled in the latter. The lower molars from Ecoparc de Can Mata (ECM; SOM Fig. S6m–r) also have extended cristids, higher than those of Injanatherium (e.g., Morales et al., 1987), among others. Also, the cuspids in the ECM material are flatter and the third lobe of the M3 is relatively larger than in Injanatherium. The M3 displays a protruding metastylid which projects distally above the pre-entocristid, as in Giraffokeryx punjabiensis. The P4 (SOM Fig. S6j–l) is similar to that of Palaeotragus: rectangular, short, and with a complex occlusal surface that has all cuspids united by their cristids. As in these forms, the P4 has a large distal region, as noted by Hamilton (1978). However, the posterior wing (distolingual conid and distolabial stylid) is short, being covered lingually by an extended distolingual cristid that reaches the distolingual corner of the crown. In contrast, both Giraffokeryx and Palaeotragus have a very large posterior wing that occupies the entire distal lobe. Furthermore, contrary to 4 Palaeotragus and many other giraffids, in the ECM giraffid the distal lobe is not particularly separated from the rest of the crown by a marked constriction, being more similar to the standard ruminant morphology. On the other hand, Decennatherium, a basal member of the samothere-sivathere clade recorded from the Vallesian of the Iberian Peninsula (Ríos et al., 2016, 2017), has flatter cuspids in the lower molars and more elongated P4 with clear posterior lobe separation, although the metastylid projection is very similar to the form recorded at ECM. The transversal section of the metacarpal III–IV from Can Mata described by Crusafont- Pairó (1952: Pl. XIX Fig. 1) shows a medium deep palmar trough (as described by Ríos et al., 2017: character 97, state 0) very similar to that of the early Vallesian Decennatherium rex—a character state that can be considered basal for giraffids (Ríos et al, 2017). The (derived) deep condition of the palmar trough is diagnostic of the clade including Birgerbohlinia + Bramatherium (Ríos et al., 2017) and thus the Can Mata form can be excluded from that lineage of very derived giraffids. However, its relationship with more basal samotheres- sivatheres (as pointed out by Crusafont-Pairó, 1952) should be subjected to further scrutiny in the future. Similarly, the proximal phalanx of the Can Mata giraffid (Crusafont-Pairó, 1952: Pl. XIX Fig. 3) is somewhat primitive—i.e., elongated and more similar to a regular pecoran phalanx—compared to that of basal members of the samothere-sivathere clade such as Dec. rex, which have proximally broadened and overly blunter proximal phalanges. Also, the proximal surface of the metacarpal III–IV shows a more triangular and laterally elongated unciform facet than that of Dec. rex. However, as in the latter, the Can Mata giraffid displays a totally enclosed nonarticular fossette (or synovial fossa) between the facets for the unciform and the magnotrapezoid. Finally, the astragalus (Crusafont-Pairó, 1952: Pl. XIX Fig. 5) has equally deep proximal and distal trochleae, being different from the stouter astragalus of giraffids such as Decennatherium, in which the distal trochlea is shorter than the proximal one, and the astragalus is overall short and square. 5 SOM S3 Biostratigraphic remarks based on rodents 3.1. Similarities between latest Aragonian and earliest Vallesian rodent assemblages According to the most recent local rodent biozonation of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a), the latest Aragonian corresponds to the Democricetodon crusafonti–Hippotherium interval subzone (from the first local occurrence [FLO] of Dem. crusafonti to that of Hippotherium), whereas the earliest Vallesian is represented by the Hippotherium–Cricetulodon hartenbergeri interval subzone (from the FLO of Hippotherium to that of C. hartenbergeri). Both subzones belong to the Hispanomys assemblage zone (Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a), and they are exceptionally based on the equid Hippotherium because the respective micromammal assemblages have been considered indistinguishable in taxonomic composition. The presence of Megacricetodon ibericus is not informative regarding the placement of the Aragonian/Vallesian boundary in the Vallès-Penedès Basin, because it is not only recorded from the late Aragonian (Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a) but also from the earliest Vallesian sites of Creu de Conill 20 and 22 (Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2006, 2016a), CM1 and Hostalets Superior (Agustí and Gibert, 1982; Agustí et al., 1985; Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a), and tentatively also Can Missert and ECM (Agustí et al., 2005; Alba et al., 2012; Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a). Similarly, despite its later appearance in the Calatayud- Montalbán Basin, M. ibericus s.s. is already recorded there from unambiguously late Aragonian (zone G3) sites (Álvarez Sierra et al., 2003; Van Dam et al., 2014; Oliver Pérez, 2015), persisting until the early Vallesian site of Nombrevilla 1 at ~10.8 Ma (Daams and Freudenthal, 1988; Álvarez Sierra et al., 2003; Van der Meulen et al., 2003; Oliver Pérez, 2015). 3.2. The Cricetulodon event The cricetid Cricetulodon hartenbergeri is first recorded at ~10.6 Ma (zone I) in the Calatayud-Montalbán Basin (Van Dam et al., 2014) and at ~10.3 Ma in the Vallès-Penedès (Autopista de Rubí-Terressa 8 locality, with an interpolated age of 10.34 Ma; Casanovas- Vilar et al, 2016a). An isolated M1 from Hostalets Inferior, originally ascribed to Democricetodon nemoralis by Agustí (1981) but no longer present in the ICP collections, was subsequently attributed to Cricetulodon hartenbergeri by Agustí and Gibert (1982: Pl. II Fig. 5; see also Agustí et al., 1985; Alba et al., 2006). However, this specimen is slightly larger than the M1s of C. hartenbergeri and we concur with Agustí (1981) that, despite the 6 presence of a double protolophule (very common in C. hartenbergeri and much rarer in Dem. nemoralis), it better fits with the latter species, which is first recorded in the ACM composite section at ACM/C6-C2, with an interpolated age of 11.60 Ma. On the other hand, no Cricetulodon material has been recovered from Can Mata—not even from well-sampled ECM localities (ECM/VCE-B2 and ECM/VCE-C1; Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a), which have an estimated age of ~10.8 and ~10.7 Ma, respectively. This supports the hypothesis that a major turnover of small mammal faunas, characterized by the appearance of C. hartenbergeri and the disapperace of Dem. crusafonti and M. ibericus, did not occur until much later than the Aragonian/Vallesian boundary. 3.3. The Hispanomys succession across the Aragonian/Vallesian boundary Hispanomys species offer some prospects to distinguish between the latest Aragonian and the earliest Vallesian based on micromammals. Casanovas-Vilar et al. (2016a: 209) already noted that “Hispanomys species could also be of great use in refining the diagnoses for some zones and their boundaries”, although they did not specifically note its potential utility for characterizing the Aragonian/Vallesian transition. The succession of Hispanomys species in the Vallès-Penedès Basin is different from that in other Iberian basins. In the Calatayud- Montalbán Basin, Hispanomys lavocati co-occurs with M. ibericus and Dem. crusafonti in MN7+8 (zone G3) sites dating to ~11.9–11.8 Ma (López-Guerrero et al., 2014, 2019; Van Dam et al., 2014), whereas localities dating to zone H (Nombrevilla 9, 10, and 1) are characterized by the appearance of Hispanomys nombrevillae (López-Guerrero et al., 2014, 2019; Van Dam et al., 2014; García-Paredes et al., 2016). The latter species is also recorded in early Vallesian sites from the Duero Basin before the appearance of Hispanomys aragonensis (see Castillo et al., 2018). In summary, in both the Calatayud-Montalbán and Duero basins, His. lavocati is restricted to zone G3 (latest Aragonian), His. nombrevillae to zone H (around the Aragonian/Vallesian transition), and His. aragonensis to zone I (early Vallesian; Castillo et al., 2018; López-Guerrero et al., 2019). In the Vallès-Penedès Basin, His. lavocati co-occurs with M. ibericus and Dem. crusafonti since it is first recorded from ACM at ~11.6 Ma, as well as in other MN7+8 sites such as Trinxera del Ferrocarril in Sant Quirze (Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a), suggesting that the latter is similar in age to the latest Aragonian localities from ACM. However, unlike in the Calatayud-Montalbán and Duero basins, in the Vallès-Penedès Basin His. lavocati persists into the earliest Vallesian and His. nombrevillae is not recorded. In contrast, two different species of Hispanomys (Hispanomys dispectus and Hispanomys daamsi) are recorded during 7 the earliest Vallesian of the Vallès-Penedès Basin. Indeed, in NE Iberia His. dispectus is also recorded, together with M. ibericus, from various localities of the Empordà Basin (La Bisbal 2, Can Colomer 1, and Abocador de Vacamorta 4; Gibert et al., 1979, 1980; Agustí Ballester, 1980; Llenas et al., 2002; Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2010) that are correlated to the earliest Vallesian (Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2010; Tosal et al., 2022). In the Vallès-Penedès Basin, this species was originally reported from Hostalets Inferior, Can Feliu, Castell de Barberà, and Hostalets Superior (Agustí Ballester, 1980), and subsequently from CM1, Can Valls in Masquefa, and Can Missert (Agustí et al., 1985), Autopista de Rubí-Terrassa km 11 and Can Coromines 2 (Agustí et al., 1997), and Creu de Conill 20 and 22 (Agustí et al., 1997; Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2006). The material from Can Missert was later used by Agustí et al. (2005) to erect a His. daamsi, to which the material from Castell de Barberà was also reassigned (Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a; Alba et al., 2019). Despite earlier preliminary claims (Alba et al., 2006, 2011; Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2008), ACM localities record Hispanomys cf. aguirrei, Hispanomys decedens, and His. lavocati (depending on the locality) but not His. daamsi (see Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a). Similarly, we have been unable to confirm the citation of His. dispectus from the later Vallesian locality Can Coromines 2, which is correlated to C5n.1r (Agustí et al., 1997), indicating an age of ~10.0–9.9 Ma, as the only cricetid specimen from this locality found in the ICP collections (the M3 IPS18100) cannot be assigned to genus (authors’ observation). All the localities conclusively recording either His. dispectus (Hostalets Inferior and Superior, CM1, Can Feliu, Can Valls, Creu de Conill 20 and 22, and Autopista de Rubí- Terrassa km 11) or His. daamsi (Castell de Barberà and Can Missert) are currently considered earliest Vallesian in age (Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016b)—including Autopista de Rubí-Terrassa km 11, which is correlated to C5n.2n (Agustí et al., 1997) with an interpolated age of 10.98 Ma (Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a)—with the sole exception of Hostalets Inferior. However, the fact that the micromammal assemblage from Hostalets Inferior includes material from CM1 (presumably in most instances not labeled as such), which is here conclusively dated to the earliest Vallesian, makes it uncertain the presence of either species in the late Aragonian levels of this area (or elsewhere). This is further supported by the absence of both species from ACM, suggesting that they might be characteristic of the early Vallesian or, at most, the Aragonian/Vallesian transition more broadly. Later early Vallesian localities from ECM record His. aragonensis instead (Alba et al., 2012; Casanovas- Vilar et al., 2016a), which is first conclusively recorded at ECM/VCE-B2 at ~10.8 Ma (updated from Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a), i.e., slightly earlier than in the Calatayud- 8 Montalbán Basin, where it is first recorded from Nombrevilla 13 at ~10.7 Ma (López- Guerrero et al., 2014; Van Dam et al., 2014). This supports that His. dispectus may be restricted to early MN9, thus potentially being—together with H. daamsi—a biochronological marker of the Vallesian in its type area. Further refinements will probably be possible once the large sample of Hispanomys remains from ACM and ECM (including >4000 specimens) is studied in detail. The study of the micromammal remains recently recovered from the uppermost sectors of the ACM composite section (ACM/C12, ACM/C13, ACM/C14 and ACM/PTA)—jointly extending from 11.4 to 11.1 Ma (from C5r.2r to C5r.1r)—will hopefully show, in the future, whether His. dispectus makes it first appearance before the Aragonian/Vallesian boundary or coinciding with the earliest Vallesian. 9 SOM S4 Biochronological remarks about large mammals 4.1. Age of the earliest hipparionins from China In the earliest Vallesian, China records Hippotherium weihoense, which is characteristic of the Guonigou Fauna of the Linxia Basin and co-occurs with ‘Hipparion’ dongxiangense (~11.2–11.1 Ma; Deng et al., 2004, 2013; Sun et al., 2022). The Guonigou Fauna is correlated to the early Bahean Asian Land Mammal Age, correlative with the early Vallesian (Deng et al., 2013). Fang et al. (2016) reviewed the tectonosedimentary evolution of the Linxia Basin based on new paleomagnetic analyses, suggesting an age of ~11.5 Ma for the first occurrence of hipparionins in the Guonigou Fauna, thus being slightly older than the record of Hippotherium in the Vienna and Vallès-Penedès basins (see also Sun et al., 2022). However, the Guonigou hipparionin record lacks documentation of specimens as well as specific stratigraphic occurrence and magnetostratigraphic correlation within the Linxia Basin, and as such it needs further documentation to be adequately vetted. Indeed, the magnetostratigraphy provided by Fang et al. (2016: Fig. 7) is missing many relevant subchrons, the Chinese Hippotherium datum being correlated to a reverse polarity magnetozone interpreted as C5r.1r–C5r.2r (Fang et al., 2016). These subchrons span from 11.59 to 11.15 Ma and include C5r.1n, when the earliest Hippotherium is recorded in the Vallès-Penedès Basin. The inability to detect these polarity reversals questions Fang et al.’s (2016) unambiguous magnetostratigraphic correlation of the Chinese Hipparion datum with C5r.2r. Alternative correlations cannot be thus entirely discounted, including C5r.1r, which could imply a younger age roughly coeval with the European Hippotherium datum. 4.2. Hipparionins from the Duero Basin In the Duero Basin, hipparionins are recorded together with Decennatherium in El Lugarejo, Ávila (Crusafont Pairó et al., 1968; Morales et al., 1981) and in the much better- known site of Los Valles de Fuentidueña, Segovia, which also records Machairodus (Crusafont Pairó, 1952; Crusafont-Pairó and Ginsburg, 1973; Alberdi, 1981; Alberdi et al., 1981; Ginsburg et al., 1981; Morales and Soria, 1981; Ríos et al., 2016; Fernández- Monescillo et al., 2019). Both sites are considered similar in age, as supported by similarities in large mammal composition (the giraffid, hipparionin, and Hispanomeryx species; Crusafont Pairó et al., 1968; Alberdi, 1974, 1981; Morales et al., 1981; Sánchez and Morales, 2006), being sometimes correlated to zone H (Sánchez and Morales, 2006). However, there are no micromammals from El Lugarejo, while the small mammals from Los Valles de 10 Fuentidueña (Agustí Ballester, 1978; Alberdi et al., 1981; Sesé Benito and López Martínez, 1981) do not provide a precise dating. The Hispanomys species from the latter site, in particular, shows similarities with both His. aragonensis and His. nombrevillae, whereas a species assignment is neither possible for a member the Megacricetodon minor– Megacricetodon minutus lineage (Sesé Benito and López Martínez, 1981; Castillo et al., 2018)—the latter species considered here a senior synonym of Megacricetodon debruijni. Only the lack of Cricetulodon indicates that Los Valles de Fuentidueña should be correlated to zone H (early MN9) instead of zone I (see Van Dam et al., 2014). The hipparionin recorded in these localities from the Duero Basin was originally considered by Crusafont Pairó et al. (1968) an archaic form probably different from Hippotherium catalaunicum. It was subsequently described as Hippotherium primigenium melendezi by Alberdi (1974, 1981), who also considered Hip. catalaunicum as a subspecies of Hip. primigenium. The hipparionin from the Duero Basin is smaller and more gracile than Hip. catalaunicum, but based on the cranial evidence from El Lugarejo, Bernor et al. (1980, 1990) first referred it to ‘Group 1’ (i.e., Hippotherium). Nevertheless, differences in the morphology of the preorbital fossa noted by Bernor and Hussain (1985), who considered it a distinct species, eventually led to its transferral to Hipparion s.s. (Bernor et al., 1996). In contrast, other authors have considered this species to be conspecific with the Turolian species Hipparion concudense (Forstén, 1982; Pesquero and Alberdi, 2012), which Zouhri and Bensalmia (2005) referred to Cremohipparion. This is not only at odds with the Vallesian age of these sites, but also with the morphology displayed by the cranium from El Lugarejo, which rather resembles those of Hipparion s.s. (group 3 of Woodburne and Bernor, 1980), first recorded at MN10 in Iran (Bernor et al., 2017). Detailed comparisons would be required to determine the taxonomic identify of the hipparionin species from El Lugarejo and Los Valles de Fuentidueña, but differences relative to Hippotherium from both the Vallès- Penedès and Calatayud-Montalbán basins suggest that an earliest Vallesian age is unlikely. 4.3. Earliest Vallesian giraffids from the Vallès-Penedès Basin Crusafont Pairó (1952) noted dental similarities between the CM2 giraffid material and the somewhat smaller Palaeotragus quadricornis (currently in Schansitherium; Solounias, 2007), hypothesizing that the former might belong to a new species, and refrained from including it in Decennatherium pachecoi—which he described based on the Vallesian material from other Spanish localities (see also Ríos et al., 2016). Ríos et al. (2016, 2017) considered that this genus is only recorded conclusively from MN9 and MN10 localities of Spain (Catalatayud- 11 Montalbán, Duero, and Madrid basins; Ríos et al., 2016, 2017). However, more recently it has also been reported from the Siwaliks in Pakistan (Ríos et al., 2019). The latter material is Late Miocene in age (10.1–8.2 Ma, MN10–MN11) and more derived than Dec. pachecoi, except for some ossicone fragments from locality Y503 (13.5 Ma) that have been assigned with doubts to cf. Decennatherium (Ríos et al., 2019). The latter occurrence supports the view that Dec. pachecoi and probably ‘Palaeotragus’ sp. from the Vallès-Penedès Basin are local endemisms that originated from a dispersal event from the east. The earliest well-dated record of giraffids in the Vallès-Penedès Basin corresponds to the earliest Vallesian site of Castell de Barberà (~11.2 Ma), followed by the recent find reported here from ACM/C13/C14-A (~11.1 Ma, probably roughly coeval to the remains from CM2 described by Crusafont-Pairó, 1952) and ECM/VCE-Bb (~10.9 Ma). Besides these specimens, giraffid remains traditionally assigned to Palaeotragus have also been cited from the Vallès Sector of the Vallès-Penedès Basin—sites of Can Feliu, Can Missert, Can Poncic 2, Castell de Barberà, les Martines, Poble Nou de Sant Quirze, Sant Miquel de Toudell, and Santiga (Crusafont Pairó, 1952, 1953, 1965; Crusafont and Truyols, 1954; Crusafont-Pairó and Golpe, 1972; Crusafont-Pairó and Golpe-Posse, 1972; Golpe-Posse, 1974; Crusafont- Pairó and Golpe-Posse, 1974a; Crusafont Pairó, 1975, 1982; Agustí et al., 1985, 2005). Some of these sites (Sant Miquel de Toudell and Santiga) are clearly Vallesian (e.g., Casanovas- Vilar et al., 2016a, 2016b), but the age of most of the remaining ones has proven controversial due to the absence of Hippotherium coupled with the lack of magnetostratigraphic data and clear differences between the latest Aragonian and earliest Vallesian rodent assemblages (but see SOM S2.3). Such controversies are best exemplified by Castell de Barberà, whose correlation to the latest Aragonian was maintained despite the find of a hipparionin fragment (Crusafont-Pairó and Golpe-Posse, 1974b; see also Rotgers and Alba, 2011), until the find of additional Hippotherium remains and magnetostratigraphic data more unambiguously supported a Vallesian age (Alba et al., 2019). Among the aforementioned localities of ambiguous age with ‘Paleotragus’ sp., only the Vallesian dating of les Martines in Terrassa, based on the regional context (Crusafont Pairó, 1952, 1953; Crusafont and Truyols, 1954), has remained uncontroversial. Indeed, the location of the clay quarry where the giraffid remains were recovered in unknown, but the area of les Martines is near that of Creu de Conill, so that an early Vallesian age is plausible. Can Feliu (Crusafont and Truyols, 1954), Can Poncic 2 (Crusafont and Truyols, 1956), and Can Missert (Crusafont-Pairó and Golpe-Posse, 1974a) were originally considered Vallesian as well, whereas Poble Nou de Sant Quirze was first considered (with doubts) pre-Vallesian 12 (Crusafont and Truyols, 1956), but subsequently dated to the Vallesian by Crusafont Pairó (1962) based on the fact that it was calculated to be 30 m stratigraphically above Trinxera del Ferrocarril (which is likely equivalent in age to the uppermost latest Aragonian portion of the ACM sequence; see SOM 2.3). Following the definition of a new pre-Vallesian biozone characterized by the lack of hipparionins and the presence of giraffids (Crusafont Pairó and Golpe Posse, 1971), most of the aforementioned localities (CM2, Can Poncic 2, Castell de Barberà, Poble Nou de Sant Quirze, and Can Missert) were considered pre-Vallesian (Crusafont-Pairó and Golpe, 1972; Golpe-Posse, 1972, 1974; Crusafont Pairó, 1975; Agustí et al., 1985). Also on this basis, Agustí et al. (1985) considered that CM1 predated CM2, given the lack of giraffids in the former. The definition of the above-mentioned biozone (Crusafont Pairó and Golpe Posse, 1971) prompted the definitive abandonment of Crusafont Pairó’s (1950) original concept of the Vallesian based on the presence of both hipparionins and giraffids, in favor of the view that only the giraffid Decennatherium (but not ‘Palaeotragus’) would be indicative of the Vallesian (Agustí et al., 1985, 1997, 2001). Agustí and Moyà-Solà (1991: 111) even considered that “no other dispersal event is associated with the appearance of Hipparion in Europe, the entry of this equid being an isolated datum”, while Agustí (1999: 103) remarked that “the latest Aragonian and earliest Vallesian faunas in the Vallès-Penedès share the same small and large mammal elements”. These assertions are surprising, given that Agustí et al. (1997) considered the dispersal of Hippotherium and Machairodus to be synchronous. Notwithstanding the latter, the notion that giraffids dispersed into the Vallès-Penedès Basin before the entry of Hippotherium was thus perpetuated by Agustí and colleagues (Agustí and Moyà-Solà, 1990; Agustí et al., 1997, 2005; Agustí, 1999) and further extended to Western Europe as a whole by Agustí et al. (2001), who considered that, unlike Hippotherium and the felid Machairodus, the giraffid Palaeotragus dispersed during MN7+8. More recently, however, an earliest Vallesian age was favored for Can Missert, Can Feliu, Can Poncic 2, and Castell de Barberà (Robles et al., 2011; Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2016a, 2016b; Alba et al., 2019). Only Poble Nou de Sant Quirze and CM2 remained as putative latest Aragonian sites from the Vallès-Penedès Basin where giraffids are recorded. However, the fauna from Poble Nou de Sant Quirze is only poorly known, whereas our results further indicate that a latest Aragonian age is no longer tenable for CM2, as CM1 correlates to the Vallesian despite the lack of Hippotherium. Furthermore, our results indicate that CM1 is penecontemporaneous with the oldest well-dated record of giraffids in the area, which in turn slightly postdates the earliest record of Hippotherium in the Vallès-Penedès Basin. At ACM, giraffids have yet to 13 be found in the late Aragonian levels despite the huge sampling effort (Alba et al., 2006, 2017), thus challenging the traditional notion (e.g., Crusafont Pairó and Golpe Posse, 1971; Golpe-Posse, 1974; Crusafont Pairó, 1975; Agustí et al., 1985, 1997, 2001) that giraffids dispersed into the Vallès-Penedès Basin before hipparionin equids. Rather the contrary, our results suggest that giraffids and hipparionins might have dispersed at approximately the same time, as originally considered by Crusafont Pairó (1950). 4.4. Other Vallesian taxa of eastern origin The machairodontine felid Machairodus aphanistus is one of the large mammal species that first appears in the Iberian Peninsula and elsewhere in Europe coinciding with the beginning of the Vallesian (Agustí et al., 1997; Agustí, 1999; Agustí and Antón, 2002). The geographic and evolutionary origin of Machairodus is somewhat uncertain (Werdelin et al., 2010; Morlo et al., 2020) but has been related to the more plesiomorphic sabertoothed cat ‘Miomachairodus’ pseudailuroides, which is first recorded in the late Aragonian (MN7+8) of Turkey (Schmidt-Kittler, 1976; de Beaumont, 1978; Werdelin et al., 2010; Morlo et al., 2020). This would support the view that Machairodus dispersed into Western Europe from the east at the beginning of the Vallesian (Agustí et al., 1997, 2001), rather than locally evolving from a Pseudaelurus ancestor. Another relevant example refers to the suine P. palaeochoerus, whose first appearance datum was until recently correlated to the late MN7+8 (Van der Made and Moyà-Solà, 1989; Van der Made et al., 1999; Agustí et al., 2001; Fortelius et al., 2005; Alba et al., 2006). However, this was in part due to the incorrect dating of some sites (e.g., Castell de Barberà, where P. palaeochoerus is unambiguously recorded; Pickford, 2016a), and also—as in the Vallès-Penedès sites of Sant Quirze (Van der Made and Moyà-Solà, 1989; Van der Made, 1990a, 1990b) and ACM (Alba et al., 2006, 2011)—owing to the confusion with a large tetraconodontine currently referred to Parachleuastochoerus valentini by Pickford (2014, 2016a, 2016b). Although there is disagreement about the taxonomic validity of the latter species (Van der Made, 2020), P. palaeochoerus is currently considered to be conclusively recorded only from MN9 localities (Pickford, 2016a). The genus is however already recorded in the Middle Miocene of Asia (Harris and Liu, 2007), from where it would have dispersed into Europe (Agustí, 2015). In the Vallès-Penedès Basin, the earliest published record of Machairodus corresponds to Can Mata (Madurell-Malapeira et al., 2014), but the lack of stratigraphic details precludes confirming whether it predates or postdates the Aragonian/Vallesian boundary. The citation of Machairodus from the earliest Vallesian locality of Creu de Conill 20 (Agustí et al., 1997; 14 Agustí and Galobart, 1998; Casanovas-Vilar et al., 2006), was dismissed by Madurell- Malapeira et al. (2014). However, recent fieldwork at Creu de Conill 20 (Almécija et al., 2019) has demonstrated the co-occurrence of Machairodus, Propotamochoerus and Hippotherium coinciding with the first appearance datum of the latter taxon in the Vallès- Penedès Basin. Unfortunately, our efforts to locate within the ICP collections the suid remains that led to the citation of P. palaeochoerus from CM1 (e.g., Golpe-Posse, 1974; Agustí et al., 1985) have been unsuccessful. Only Golpe-Posse (1971), in her unpublished dissertation, listed catalog numbers for the specimens from Hostalets assigned to this taxon, but she did not note which specimens came from CM1 or even distinguish between Hostalets Inferior and Superior. As a result, it is currently impossible to confirm whether P. palaeochoerus is recorded there (as opposed to stratigraphically superior levels customarily included in Hostalets Superior), or whether the previous citations are just another confusion with Pa. valentini, as argued by Pickford (2016a, 2016b). 15 A Up/West B Up/West C Up/West 610C 100C 250C 300C 400C 580C 100C 200C 520C NRM 100C C13-03C PA5-01A NRM C13-22B 7.5m 20.5m 47.5m D E F Up/West 200C Up/West Up/West 350C 100C NRM 580C 550C 300C 250C 580C 100C 100C C13-27B NRM BCM-3B BCM-5B 53.0m 70.0m 75.0m SOM Figure S1. Examples of stepwise thermal demagnetization of samples representative of all recorded magnetozones in the Abocador de Can Mata composite section. Diagrams represent orthogonal projections of vector endpoint demagnetization data; black and white dots represent the projection onto the horizontal and vertical planes, respectively. Red lines represent least-squares fits that define the characteristic paleomagnetic direction. Stratigraphic position in meters is indicated in the lower left corner of each diagram. 16 SOM Figure S2. Equal area stereonet projection of paleomagnetic directions and the mean normal and reversed polarity directions in geographic and bedding corrected coordinates (blue stars). Green star represents the mean direction after conversion of all the directions to normal polarity. See also SOM Table S3 for numerical values and Fisher statistics parameters. 17 Riera de Claret Abocador de Can Mata Camí de Can Vila Cells 13-14 Cells 3-4 CM1 -90 0 90 M S CG M S CG VGP latitude CCV1 -90 0 90 VGP latitude 100 m Rock type: red mudstones sandstones conglomerates Fossil localities 50 m Magnetostratigraphic sites Magnetostratigraphic correlation 0m -90 0 90 M S CG VGP latitude SOM Figure S3. Magnetostratigraphic correlation of the new Cells 13–14 section, where Can Mata 1 is located (denoted by a four-pointed red star), with the Camí de Can Vila–Cells 3–4 (Abocador de Can Mata) and the Riera de Claret sections (after Moyà-Solà et al., 2009 and Alba et al., 2017, with some corrections). Sideways triangles denote the stratigraphic position of paleomagnetic samples. Abbreviations: M = mudstones; S = sandstones; CG = conglomerates; VGP = virtual geomagnetic pole. 18 SOM Figure S4. (The source image is provided separately in much higher resolution as a PDF file). Detailed lithostratigraphic panel showing the correlation between the 51 local sections sampled at Abocador de Can Mata, updated after Alba et al. (2017). The used correlation levels and the defined fossil localities (SOM Table S4) are shown. Correlation levels are denoted by red subhorizontal stripes that cross different sections (except for level α, depicted in blue). Each section is represented by a column depicting the following details (from left to right): stratigraphic thickness (in meters, all to the same scale); approximate coloration (streaked patterns represent mixed colorations); approximate granulometric composition (white = mudstones; light gray = sandstones; darker gray = conglomerates); and rock hardness and type of contact with overlying and underlying strata (see also the symbols’ legend within the figure). 19 SOM Figure S5. Remains of Hippotherium sp. from the area of els Hostalets de Pierola: a–c) IPS124307, left M3 in occlusal (a), lingual (b), and buccal (c) views; d–f) IPS30897, left M2– M3 in occlusal (d), lingual (e), and buccal (f) views. IPS30897 comes in all probability from the locality of Can Mata 3. 20 SOM Figure S6. Dental remains of Giraffidae indet. from els Hostalets de Pierola. a–f) IPS121859, right (a–c) and left (d–f) M3 germs from ACM/C13/C14-A (meter 283 of the ACM composite section; interpolated age of 11.11 Ma), in occlusal (a, d), lingual (b, e), and buccal (c, f) views. g–i) IPS88203, right P2 from ECM/VCE-Bb (~10.9 Ma), in occlusal (g), buccal (h), and lingual (i) views. j–r) IPS88086, right P4 (j–l), partial right M1 (m–o), and right M3 (p–r) from ECM/VCE-Bb (~10.9 Ma), in occlusal (j, m, p), buccal (k, n, q), and lingual (l, o, r) views. 21 SOM Table S1 Magnetic susceptibility (*10-06 SI) after each demagnetization step (in °C). Sample sus ini 100 200 250 300 350 400 440 480 520 550 580 610 630 BCM-1B 865 870 875 870 880 930 935 1015 955 905 820 — — — BCM-2A 245 240 240 240 295 385 385 480 360 230 240 220 210 200 BCM3B 595 595 600 585 630 690 695 760 725 240 570 550 535 515 BCM4C 255 255 250 255 305 395 400 500 495 475 315 280 265 — BCM-5B 560 560 560 550 570 620 625 760 775 310 725 625 590 490 BCM-6A 230 230 230 225 240 295 330 400 410 305 395 310 290 275 PTA-1.1A 430 430 430 420 420 430 455 470 455 845 375 — — — PTA-2.1A 265 265 260 260 260 260 300 300 260 260 215 210 205 200 PTA-3.1A 250 250 250 250 245 245 340 355 285 605 220 215 215 205 PTA-4.1A 495 495 495 500 500 490 615 630 550 390 440 430 420 410 PTA-5.1A 330 330 330 330 330 330 435 450 370 765 290 280 275 265 PTA-6.1A 320 315 315 315 320 320 460 475 390 400 280 270 265 255 C13-1A 250 250 255 250 245 255 300 340 370 300 260 250 245 — C13-2A 365 365 365 365 365 395 465 520 505 385 345 320 305 — C13-3C 310 305 310 300 310 350 400 450 400 310 285 265 250 250 C13-4A 185 185 185 185 200 260 330 365 270 205 185 — — — C13-5C 235 235 235 235 260 340 415 460 385 290 265 255 255 — C13-6A 360 360 360 355 365 415 460 485 415 345 325 310 300 — C13-7C 260 255 260 255 275 345 415 450 365 275 250 230 220 — C13-8A 220 215 220 215 230 305 375 415 350 245 215 195 185 185 C13-9A 275 275 275 270 270 310 365 415 375 300 280 — — — C13-10B 255 255 255 255 255 295 370 470 455 330 275 — — — C13-11B 270 270 270 270 270 295 370 420 520 440 315 260 240 245 C13-12A 245 240 245 245 240 250 290 300 405 425 330 — — — C13-13A.A 400 400 400 405 395 395 405 435 470 490 445 — — — C13-13B 430 425 430 430 430 420 430 495 510 525 530 380 360 360 C13-14A.B 220 220 220 220 220 220 225 265 295 345 380 230 215 220 C13-14B-A 205 205 205 200 205 200 205 235 255 300 330 225 210 215 C13-15A 430 430 430 430 420 430 465 510 550 485 405 395 375 360 C13-16A 285 285 290 285 285 315 390 465 470 330 285 290 275 240 C13-17B 280 280 280 275 285 330 395 455 400 295 265 270 270 225 C13-18A 290 290 290 285 290 330 365 395 345 270 245 250 250 215 C13-19B 355 355 355 345 360 425 495 545 450 350 315 320 — — 22 C13-20A 510 515 515 505 515 565 610 640 580 500 475 460 — — C13-21A 400 400 400 395 410 470 530 575 510 400 370 350 340 325 C13-22B 625 625 625 615 625 685 740 785 685 610 580 550 540 525 C13-23B 480 485 485 480 485 535 595 645 640 530 475 460 435 420 C13-24A 260 260 260 255 270 335 420 505 500 360 290 245 — — C13-25B 310 310 315 310 315 360 440 515 535 415 325 275 — — C13-26B 275 275 275 275 275 305 395 480 530 470 340 275 255 250 C13-27B 370 370 370 370 360 370 400 440 475 475 380 305 290 285 C13-28A 395 395 400 395 385 390 405 430 455 480 445 340 — — C13-29C 365 365 365 365 355 355 385 440 485 540 535 350 310 300 C13-30A 450 450 450 455 450 445 455 495 520 570 585 — — — C13-31A 795 795 800 775 785 790 845 850 850 895 915 905 — — C13-32A 880 880 895 860 865 885 950 955 955 960 975 995 — — Abbreviation: sus ini = initial susceptibility; BCM = Bretxa de Can Mata [Can Mata Breccia]; C1–C13 = Cel·la 13 [Cells 13]; PTA = Préstec de Terres de l'Abocador [Landfill Earth Loan]. 23 SOM Table S2 Directions of the characteristic components in geographic and stratigraphic coordinates calculated for each individual sample. Sample Level Dg Ig Ds Is VGPlat int MAD Q T range PTA1-1A 0.5 242.8 06.1 242.8 -05.5 -17.7 229.6 7.6 2 250–480 C13-1A 2.5 204.7 -62.5 178.4 -65.2 -71.9 260.3 6.9 2 300–520 PTA2-1A 5.0 203.2 06.3 204.0 01.1 -40.2 200.8 9.0 1 350–630 C13-2A 6.5 183.5 -39.1 172.9 -38.7 -69.9 732.4 3.2 2 250–480 C13-3C 7.5 167.9 -60.8 148.2 -55.8 -81.0 509.0 3.7 1 300–580 PTA3-1A 7.5 167.5 -55.0 151.5 -50.3 -78.3 202.0 14.3 2 * 350–550 C13-4A 9.5 230.2 -50.8 216.3 -59.8 -49.1 118.2 11.9 2 * 300–440 C13-5C 10.5 166.4 -37.5 157.6 -33.4 -66.1 297.5 6.4 2 250–520 C13-6C 11.5 177.9 -30.9 170.3 -29.5 -64.6 292.0 9.2 2 250–480 C13-7C 13.0 159.8 -46.0 148.8 -40.3 -68.0 289.7 4.6 1 250–520 C13-8A 14.0 163.9 -40.3 154.4 -35.6 -66.7 641.5 8.0 2 250–520 PTA4-1A 14.0 194.6 -45.8 180.9 -47.5 -71.0 3136.5 2.8 1 300–580 C13-9A 15.5 225.0 04.3 224.9 -04.9 -30.0 61.0 20.5 3 * 250–520 C13-10B 16.5 090.4 56.3 090.5 69.3 23.4 98.5 8.4 3 300–440 C13-11B 17.5 265.3 74.3 267.4 61.3 33.6 180.7 9.9 3 300–480 C13-12A 18.5 054.6 25.2 049.9 35.5 34.9 166.6 20.5 3 250–400 C13-13B 20.0 010.3 58.7 348.8 58.5 81.8 1334.5 4.7 1 250–580 PTA5-1A 20.5 035.5 58.8 013.4 64.2 63.2 1057.3 2.7 1 400–610 C13-14A 21.0 009.0 54.2 350.9 54.1 79.8 444.8 5.1 1 300–550 C13-15A 23.0 009.6 62.2 345.0 61.6 82.8 1808.0 4.4 1 300–580 C13-16A 27.5 017.7 42.5 005.5 45.1 67.2 421.8 6.0 1 300–550 C13-17B 30.0 026.8 17.4 022.5 22.8 49.4 724.7 2.8 1 250–520 PTA6-1A 30.5 155.9 -27.2 150.6 -21.3 -55.4 535.1 6.3 1 300–580 C13-18A 31.0 222.0 -47.9 208.4 -55.4 -53.8 434.3 6.4 2 300–550 C13-19B 34.0 227.3 -52.8 211.8 -61.1 -52.0 951.1 3.3 1 300–550 C13-20A 39.0 213.5 -31.8 205.6 -38.2 -52.1 1191.0 3.7 1 250–480 C13-21A 46.0 215.0 -39.8 204.4 -46.3 -55.0 243.4 7.2 2 250–480 C13-22B 47.5 207.8 -41.3 196.2 -46.2 -60.5 1624.0 4.6 1 250–520 C13-23B 48.0 192.7 -34.3 183.5 -36.1 -64.5 539.9 6.7 2 * 350–610 C13-24A 50.0 218.8 -27.4 212.3 -35.0 -46.8 138.3 21.3 2 250–520 C13-25B 50.5 265.8 -48.7 264.2 -61.6 -22.2 224.1 12.1 3 250–440 C13-26B 51.5 308.5 31.0 304.8 20.5 39.5 305.8 9.2 1 300–580 24 C13-27B 53.0 021.3 50.0 005.2 53.0 69.6 2583.0 1.4 1 250–550 C13-28a 56.0 235.6 25.4 238.2 14.5 -17.7 105.0 8.1 3 300–440 C13-29C 58.5 202.2 -30.7 194.2 -34.7 -58.2 455.8 8.3 2 400–550 C13-30A 59.0 199.4 -43.4 186.7 -46.3 -66.9 168.8 22.5 3 250–440 BCM-1B 62.0 147.6 -20.3 144.4 -12.9 -47.6 140.0 34.9 2 * 350–520 C13-32A 62.0 222.9 -46.8 210.0 -54.6 -52.6 678.7 18.4 3 250–440 BCM-2A 67.0 303.0 64.5 292.9 52.9 49.8 146.3 16.2 2 520–580 BCM-3B 70.0 206.4 -48.5 191.3 -52.7 -65.3 978.2 5.0 1 350–580 BCM-4C 72.0 341.4 37.2 333.1 32.1 63.6 97.1 11.5 3 250–400 BCM-5B 75.0 012.6 53.1 354.9 53.9 77.1 2162.6 2.8 1 300–580 BCM-6A 77.0 018.1 56.6 018.1 56.6 75.2 370.0 3.8 2 350–580 Abbreviations: level = stratigraphic position (m); Dg = declination in geographic coordinates; Ig = inclination in geographic coordinates; Ds = declination in stratigraphic coordinates; Is = inclination in stratigraphic coordinates; VGPlat = latitude of the virtual geomagnetic pole; int = intensity (E 10-6 A/m); MAD = maximum angular deviation; Q = quality; T range = temperature interval selected to calculate the characteristic component forced to origin, unless specified by *, which means not forced to origin; BCM = Bretxa de Can Mata [Can Mata Breccia]; C1–C13 = Cel·la 13 [Cells 13]; PTA = Préstec de Terres de l'Abocador [Landfill Earth Loan]. 25 SOM Table S3 Mean directions and their Fisher statistics parameters. See also SOM Figure S2. Geographic coordinates Bedding corrected coordinates Polarity n Dg Ig k a95 Dg Ig k a95 Normal 11 006.9 53.6 12.3 13.6 351.0 53.2 11.8 13.9 Reverse 23 194.6 -40.7 9.1 10.6 183.1 -42.7 9.1 10.6 All to normal 34 012.4 45.0 9.6 8.4 359.6 46.3 9.6 8.4 Abbreviations: n = number of samples; Dg = declination in geographic coordinates; Ig = inclination in geographic coordinates; k = precision parameter; a95 = alpha 95. 26 SOM Table S4 List of fossil localities at Abocador de Can Mata (ACM), in chronological order from youngest to oldest (top to bottom), updated from Alba et al. (2017). Their stratigraphic position within the composite series, their correlated geomagnetic subchron, and their interpolated and estimated ages are provided. Each locality is designated by the ACM acronym, followed by a slash, the acronym of each sector (named after the various cells and other structures of the landfill), sometimes a slash and an uppercase letter denoting a division in subsectors, and a few additional letters and/or numbers designating the particular locality. Primate-bearing localities are bolded. Alternative locality names are given within parentheses for the sake of completeness in relation to field reports and museum inventories. See SOM Table S5 for a list of ACM subsectors and their age ranges. Locality Stratigraphic position Subchron Interpolated age (Ma) Estimated age (Ma) (m) CM3a 292 C5r.1r 11.06 11.1 CM1a 284 C5r.1r 11.11 11.1 ACM/C13-A2a 279 C5r.1r 11.14 11.1 ACM/C13-A3a 278 C5r.1r 11.14 11.1 ACM/C13-A5 (=ACM/C13/C14-Ag)a 276 C5r.1n 11.16 11.2 ACM/C13/C14-Afa 275 C5r.1n 11.17 11.2 ACM/C13/C14-Ada 274 C5r.1n 11.18 11.2 ACM/C13-A6 (=ACM/C13/C14-Ah) 270 C5r.2r [2/2] 11.20 11.2 ACM/C14-Ba 269 C5r.2r [2/2] 11.20 11.2 ACM/PTA-A1 (=ACM/PTA-Ac) 268 C5r.2r [2/2] 11.21 11.2 ACM/PTA-A2 268 C5r.2r [2/2] 11.21 11.2 27 ACM/C14-Bb 266 C5r.2r [2/2] 11.21 11.2 ACM/C14-B1 266 C5r.2r [2/2] 11.21 11.2 ACM/C13/C14-Aa 264 C5r.2r [2/2] 11.22 11.2 ACM/C13-A1 (=ACM/C13-Ab) 263 C5r.2r [2/2] 11.22 11.2 ACM/C13-A7 263 C5r.2r [2/2] 11.22 11.2 ACM/C13/C14-Ai 263 C5r.2r [2/2] 11.22 11.2 ACM/C13-Aa 262 C5r.2r [2/2] 11.23 11.2 ACM/C13/C14-Ab 262 C5r.2r [2/2] 11.23 11.2 ACM/C13/C14-Aj 260 C5r.2r [2/2] 11.23 11.2 ACM/C13-A4 (=ACM/C13/C14-Ae) 254 C5r.2r [2/2] 11.25 11.3 ACM/C12-A1(=ACM/C12-Ab) 252 C5r.2r [2/2] 11.26 11.3 ACM/PTA-Aa 251 C5r.2r-1 11.26 11.3 ACM/C12-Ba 248 C5r.2r-1 11.28 11.3 ACM/PTA-Ab 245 C5r.2r-1 11.29 11.3 ACM/PTA-Ad 243 C5r.2r-1 11.29 11.3 ACM/C13/C14-Ac 241 C5r.2r-1 11.30 11.3 ACM/PTA-A3 (=ACM/PTA-Ae) 232 C5r.2r [1/2] 11.36 11.4 ACM/C12-Aa 230 C5r.2r [1/2] 11.38 11.4 ACM/CCV1 221 C5r.2r [1/2] 11.45 11.5 ACM/C8-B1 212 C5r.2r [1/2] 11.53 11.5 ACM/C6-Cc 212 C5r.2r [1/2] 11.53 11.5 28 ACM/C8-Ca 211 C5r.2r [1/2] 11.54 11.5 ACM/C8-Bb 211 C5r.2r [1/2] 11.54 11.5 ACM/C6-Ca 211 C5r.2r [1/2] 11.54 11.5 ACM/C8-Bd 210 C5r.2r [1/2] 11.54 11.5 ACM/C8-Be 210 C5r.2r [1/2] 11.54 11.5 ACM/C6-Aa 209 C5r.2r [1/2] 11.55 11.6 ACM/C8-Ba 209 C5r.2r [1/2] 11.55 11.6 ACM/C8-Bi 209 C5r.2r [1/2] 11.55 11.6 ACM/C8-Br 207 C5r.2r [1/2] 11.57 11.6 ACM/C8-Bc 204 C5r.2n 11.59 11.6 ACM/C8-Ae 204 C5r.2n 11.59 11.6 ACM/C8-Bm 204 C5r.2n 11.59 11.6 ACM/C8-Bq 204 C5r.2n 11.59 11.6 ACM/C5-Ad 203 C5r.2n 11.59 11.6 ACM/C6-Ac 203 C5r.2n 11.59 11.6 ACM/C6-Ab 203 C5r.2n 11.59 11.6 ACM/C6-C1 203 C5r.2n 11.59 11.6 ACM/C8-Bn 203 C5r.2n 11.59 11.6 ACM/C8-Bo 203 C5r.2n 11.59 11.6 ACM/C8-Bh 203 C5r.2n 11.59 11.6 ACM/C8-Bs 203 C5r.2n 11.59 11.6 29 ACM/C6-C2 202 C5r.2n 11.60 11.6 ACM/C8-B3 (=ACM/C8-Bk) 202 C5r.2n 11.60 11.6 ACM/C8-Bp 202 C5r.2n 11.60 11.6 ACM/C8-Bv 202 C5r.2n 11.60 11.6 ACM/C8-By 202 C5r.2n 11.60 11.6 ACM/C8-Bf 201 C5r.2n 11.60 11.6 ACM/C8-Ac 201 C5r.2n 11.60 11.6 ACM/C8-Ad 201 C5r.2n 11.60 11.6 ACM/C6-C4 201 C5r.2n 11.60 11.6 ACM/C8-Bg 200 C5r.2n 11.60 11.6 ACM/C6-C3 (=ACM/C6-Cd) 200 C5r.2n 11.60 11.6 ACM/C8-B2 (=ACM/C8-Bj) 200 C5r.2n 11.60 11.6 ACM/C8-Ab 198 C5r.2n 11.61 11.6 ACM/C6-Ad 198 C5r.2n 11.61 11.6 ACM/C5-Ac 198 C5r.2n 11.61 11.6 ACM/C6-C5 (=ACM/C6-Ce) 197 C5r.2n 11.61 11.6 ACM/C6-A2 197 C5r.2n 11.61 11.6 ACM/C6-A1 197 C5r.2n 11.61 11.6 ACM/C8-Bt 197 C5r.2n 11.61 11.6 ACM/C8-Bd' 197 C5r.2n 11.61 11.6 ACM/C5-Dc 196 C5r.2n 11.61 11.6 30 ACM/C8-Aj 195 C5r.2n 11.61 11.6 ACM/C8-A4 194 C5r.2n 11.62 11.6 ACM/C5-A1 (=ACM/C5-Aa) 194 C5r.2n 11.62 11.6 ACM/C8-Bl 194 C5r.2n 11.62 11.6 ACM/C8-B4 (=ACM/C8-Bw) 194 C5r.2n 11.62 11.6 ACM/C8-Bx 192 C5r.2n 11.62 11.6 ACM/C6-Cb 192 C5r.2n 11.62 11.6 ACM/C4-Ad 192 C5r.2n 11.62 11.6 ACM/C6-Ah 191 C5r.2n 11.62 11.6 ACM/C7-Ba 190 C5r.2n 11.63 11.6 ACM/C6-A4 190 C5r.2n 11.63 11.6 ACM/C5-Db 189 C5r.2n 11.63 11.6 ACM/C6-Af 189 C5r.2n 11.63 11.6 ACM/C5-Dm 188 C5r.2n 11.63 11.6 ACM/C5-D1 (=ACM/C5-Da) 188 C5r.2n 11.63 11.6 ACM/C4-Aa 188 C5r.2n 11.63 11.6 ACM/C5-Dg 187 C5r.2n 11.63 11.6 ACM/C5-D2 (=ACM/C5-De) 187 C5r.2n 11.63 11.6 ACM/C8-A3 (=ACM/C8-Ah) 187 C5r.2n 11.63 11.6 ACM/C8-Ai 187 C5r.2n 11.63 11.6 ACM/C8-A1 186 C5r.2n 11.64 11.6 31 ACM/C5-Dl 186 C5r.2n 11.64 11.6 ACM/C5-Dk 186 C5r.2n 11.64 11.6 ACM/C7-Aa 186 C5r.2n 11.64 11.6 ACM/C8-A2 (=ACM/C8-Aa) 185 C5r.2n 11.64 11.6 ACM/C7-Ab 185 C5r.2n 11.64 11.6 ACM/C8-Ak 185 C5r.2n 11.64 11.6 ACM/C8-Af 185 C5r.2n 11.64 11.6 ACM/C8-Ag 185 C5r.2n 11.64 11.6 ACM/C6-A5 (=ACM/C6-Ag) 184 C5r.2n 11.64 11.6 ACM/C5-D3 183 C5r.2n 11.64 11.6 ACM/C5-Dd 183 C5r.2n 11.64 11.6 ACM/C6-Ai 183 C5r.2n 11.64 11.6 ACM/C5-D4 (=ACM/C5-Df) 182 C5r.2n 11.65 11.6 ACM/C5-A4 (=ACM/C5-Ab) 181 C5r.2n 11.65 11.6 ACM/C8-Am 180 C5r.2n 11.65 11.7 ACM/C7-Bc 180 C5r.2n 11.65 11.7 ACM/C6-Ae 180 C5r.2n 11.65 11.7 ACM/C7-Ca 179 C5r.2n 11.65 11.7 ACM/C5-A7 179 C5r.2n 11.65 11.7 ACM/C8-B* 178.5 C5r.2n 11.65 11.7 ACM/C5-D7 (=ACM/C5-Dn) 178 C5r.2n 11.65 11.7 32 ACM/C5-A3 178 C5r.2n 11.65 11.7 ACM/C8-Bu 176 C5r.3r 11.66 11.7 ACM/C8-Ba' 176 C5r.3r 11.66 11.7 ACM/C8-Bc' 176 C5r.3r 11.66 11.7 ACM/C5-A5 (=ACM/C5-Ae) 174 C5r.3r 11.67 11.7 ACM/C6-A3 173 C5r.3r 11.67 11.7 ACM/C5-A6 (=ACM/C5-Af) 173 C5r.3r 11.67 11.7 ACM/C7-Bb 172 C5r.3r 11.68 11.7 ACM/C7-A1 171 C5r.3r 11.68 11.7 ACM/C7-A2 171 C5r.3r 11.68 11.7 ACM/C8-Bb' 171 C5r.3r 11.68 11.7 ACM/C8-Be' 171 C5r.3r 11.68 11.7 ACM/C8-Ar 170 C5r.3r 11.69 11.7 ACM/C8-Al 170 C5r.3r 11.69 11.7 ACM/C7-Bd 168 C5r.3r 11.70 11.7 ACM/C8-Bz 168 C5r.3r 11.70 11.7 ACM/C6-Aj 167 C5r.3r 11.70 11.7 ACM/C4-A1 (=ACM/C4-Ae) 166 C5r.3r 11.70 11.7 ACM/C5-D5 (=ACM/C5-Dh) 166 C5r.3r 11.70 11.7 ACM/C5-Di 165 C5r.3r 11.71 11.7 ACM/C8-As 164 C5r.3r 11.71 11.7 33 ACM/C4-Ac 163 C5r.3r 11.72 11.7 ACM/C8-Ap 162 C5r.3r 11.72 11.7 ACM/C8-Aq 160 C5r.3r 11.73 11.7 ACM/C4-A3 159 C5r.3r 11.73 11.7 ACM/C5-Dj 158 C5r.3r 11.74 11.7 ACM/C6-Ak 157 C5r.3r 11.74 11.7 ACM/C4-Ab 157 C5r.3r 11.74 11.7 ACM/C5-Ag 155 C5r.3r 11.75 11.8 ACM/C8-Av 154 C5r.3r 11.75 11.8 ACM/C8-Ao 153 C5r.3r 11.76 11.8 ACM/C4-A4 151 C5r.3r 11.77 11.8 ACM/C8-At 151 C5r.3r 11.77 11.8 ACM/C8-Au 151 C5r.3r 11.77 11.8 ACM/C5-D6 150 C5r.3r 11.77 11.8 ACM/C6-Bc 150 C5r.3r 11.77 11.8 ACM/C5-A8 (=ACM/C5-Ah) 150 C5r.3r 11.77 11.8 ACM/C6-Bb 149 C5r.3r 11.78 11.8 ACM/C6-Ba 148 C5r.3r 11.78 11.8 ACM/C5-A9 (=ACM/C5-Ai) 148 C5r.3r 11.78 11.8 ACM/C8-An 148 C5r.3r 11.78 11.8 ACM/RP2 148 C5r.3r 11.78 11.8 34 ACM/C6-Bd 146 C5r.3r 11.79 11.8 ACM/C5-C2 (=ACM/C5-Cb) 146 C5r.3r 11.79 11.8 ACM/C5-C1 (=ACM/C5-Ca) 146 C5r.3r 11.79 11.8 ACM/C4-Cb 145 C5r.3r 11.79 11.8 ACM/BPAa 143 C5r.3r 11.80 11.8 ACM/C4-Cc 142 C5r.3r 11.80 11.8 ACM/C4-C1 (=ACM/C4-Ca) 141 C5r.3r 11.81 11.8 ACM/C4-Af 141 C5r.3r 11.81 11.8 ACM/C5-Cd 137 C5r.3r 11.83 11.8 ACM/C3-AT 134 C5r.3r 11.84 11.8 ACM/C3-A1 133 C5r.3r 11.84 11.8 ACM/C2-A1 133 C5r.3r 11.84 11.8 ACM/C5-C4 (=ACM/C5-Ce) 133 C5r.3r 11.84 11.8 ACM/C5-Cf 133 C5r.3r 11.84 11.8 ACM/BNL-Ba 130 C5r.3r 11.86 11.9 ACM/C5-C3 (=ACM/C5-Cc) 129 C5r.3r 11.86 11.9 ACM/C4-Cd 128 C5r.3r 11.86 11.9 ACM/C3-Aa 126 C5r.3r 11.87 11.9 ACM/C3-A2 126 C5r.3r 11.87 11.9 ACM/C3-Ak 125 C5r.3r 11.88 11.9 ACM/C3-Af 125 C5r.3r 11.88 11.9 35 ACM/C3-Ae 125 C5r.3r 11.88 11.9 ACM/C4-Ap 124 C5r.3r 11.88 11.9 ACM/C3-A4 121 C5r.3r 11.89 11.9 ACM/C4-C2 (=ACM/C4-Ce) 120 C5r.3r 11.90 11.9 ACM/C3-A5 (=ACM/C3-Ac) 120 C5r.3r 11.90 11.9 ACM/C3-Ah 119 C5r.3r 11.90 11.9 ACM/C4-C3 118 C5r.3r 11.91 11.9 ACM/BCV5 117 C5r.3r 11.91 11.9 ACM/C4-Cf 116 C5r.3r 11.91 11.9 ACM/C3-A3 116 C5r.3r 11.91 11.9 ACM/C3-Ab 114 C5r.3r 11.92 11.9 ACM/C4-Cg 110 C5r.3r 11.94 11.9 ACM/C3-Az 110 C5r.3r 11.94 11.9 ACM/C3-A6 (=ACM/C3-Ad) 110 C5r.3r 11.94 11.9 ACM/BCV4 110 C5r.3r 11.94 11.9 ACM/VIE-C1 109 C5r.3r 11.94 11.9 ACM/C4-Cp 108 C5r.3r 11.95 11.9 ACM/VIE-C2 107 C5r.3r 11.95 12.0 ACM/BCV1 (=ACM/BDA-SW2, ACM/BDA-SW3) 105 C5r.3r 11.96 12.0 ACM/C2-A2 105 C5r.3r 11.96 12.0 ACM/C2-Aa 105 C5r.3r 11.96 12.0 36 ACM/C3-Ag 104 C5r.3r 11.97 12.0 ACM/C3-Aj 104 C5r.3r 11.97 12.0 ACM/NPLa 103 C5r.3r 11.97 12.0 ACM/BDA1 102 C5r.3r 11.97 12.0 ACM/C3-Ap 102 C5r.3r 11.97 12.0 ACM/BCV3 (=ACM/BDA-SW4) 101 C5r.3r 11.98 12.0 ACM/C3-Aq 100 C5r.3r 11.98 12.0 ACM/C2-A3 100 C5r.3r 11.98 12.0 ACM/C3-Al 98 C5r.3r 11.99 12.0 ACM/C3-An 98 C5r.3r 11.99 12.0 ACM/VIE-C3 98 C5r.3r 11.99 12.0 ACM/C3-A7 95 C5r.3r 12.00 12.0 ACM/VIE-C4 95 C5r.3r 12.00 12.0 ACM/BCV2 (=ACM/BDA-SW1) 90 C5r.3r 12.02 12.0 ACM/C3-Ai 89 C5r.3r 12.03 12.0 ACM/BDA2 88 C5r.3r 12.03 12.0 ACM/BDA7 (=ACM/BDAb) 87 C5r.3r 12.04 12.0 ACM/C2-A4 83 C5An.1n 12.06 12.1 ACM/C3-B2 (=ACM/C3-Bb) 83 C5An.1n 12.06 12.1 ACM/C3-Am 82 C5An.1n 12.07 12.1 ACM/C3-Ba 80 C5An.1n 12.08 12.1 37 ACM/C1-A1 80 C5An.1n 12.08 12.1 ACM/BDA8 (=ACM/BDAa, ACM/BDAc) 77 C5An.1n 12.11 12.1 ACM/BDA3 77 C5An.1n 12.11 12.1 ACM/C1-A2 76 C5An.1n 12.11 12.1 ACM/C2-Ba 75 C5An.1n 12.12 12.1 ACM/C2-B1 75 C5An.1n 12.12 12.1 ACM/C2-Bb 75 C5An.1n 12.12 12.1 ACM/C2-B2 73 C5An.1n 12.14 12.1 ACM/C1-A3 72 C5An.1n 12.15 12.1 ACM/C1-A5 70 C5An.1n 12.16 12.2 ACM/C1-A4 70 C5An.1n 12.16 12.2 ACM/C2-B3 69 C5An.1n 12.17 12.2 ACM/C3-Bc 67 C5An.1r 12.18 12.2 ACM/C2-Bc 66 C5An.1r 12.19 12.2 ACM/BDAd 65 C5An.1r 12.19 12.2 ACM/C3-Bd 58 C5An.1r 12.22 12.2 ACM/C1-E4 51 C5An.1r 12.25 12.3 ACM/C3-B3 47 C5An.2n 12.27 12.3 ACM/C1-E10 46 C5An.2n 12.28 12.3 ACM/C1-E9 (=ACM/C1-Ef) 45 C5An.2n 12.29 12.3 ACM/BDA4 42 C5An.2n 12.31 12.3 38 ACM/C1-C1 39 C5An.2n 12.32 12.3 ACM/C1-Ed 38 C5An.2n 12.33 12.3 ACM/C1-Ea 38 C5An.2n 12.33 12.3 ACM/C1-E6 38 C5An.2n 12.33 12.3 ACM/C1-Eb 36 C5An.2n 12.34 12.3 ACM/C1-E5 36 C5An.2n 12.30 12.3 ACM/C1-E3 36 C5An.2n 12.30 12.3 ACM/C1-Fa 35 C5An.2n 12.35 12.4 ACM/C1-C3 34 C5An.2n 12.36 12.4 ACM/C1-E* ~34–46 C5An.2n 12.36–12.28 12.4–12.3 ACM/C1-E2 32 C5An.2n 12.37 12.4 ACM/C1-C4 30 C5An.2n 12.38 12.4 ACM/C1-Ee 30 C5An.2n 12.30 12.4 ACM/C1-E7+8 (=ACM/C1-Ec) 29 C5An.2n 12.39 12.4 ACM/VIE-E1 (=ACM/VIE-Ea) 29 C5An.2n 12.39 12.4 ACM/C1-E1 28 C5An.2n 12.40 12.4 ACM/C1-ET2 26 C5An.2n 12.41 12.4 ACM/C1-ET 26 C5An.2n 12.41 12.4 ACM/C10-A1 25 C5An.2n 12.42 12.4 ACM/C1-Ex 25 C5An.2n 12.42 12.4 ACM/C1-D1 20 C5An.2n 12.45 12.4 39 ACM/C9-A1 19 C5An.2n 12.45 12.5 ACM/BDL3 16 C5An.2n 12.47 12.5 ACM/BDL2 15,5 C5Ar.1r 12.48 12.5 C5Ar.1r– ACM/BDAe ~11–77 C5An.1n 12.51–12.11 12.5–12.1 ACM/BDA6 11 C5Ar.1r 12.51 12.5 ACM/BDL1 9 C5Ar.1r 12.52 12.5 ACM/BDA5 2 C5Ar.1r 12.56 12.6 Abbreviations: ACM = Abocador de Can Mata [Can Mata Landfill]; BCV = Barranc de Can Vila [Can Vila Ravine]; BDA = Bassa de Decantació d'Aigües Pluvials [Settling Pond of Rainwater]; BDA-SW = Bassa de Decantació d'Aigües Pluvials Sud-Oest [Settling Pond of Rainwater South-West]; BDL = Bassa de Lixiviats [Pond of Leachates]; BNL = Bassa Nova de Lixiviats [New Pond of Leachates]; BPA = Base de la Pila d'Acopi [Base of the Stockpile]; C1–C13 = Cel·les 1–13 [Cells 1–13]; CCV = Camí de Can Vila [Can Vila's Trackway]; CM = Can Mata; NPL= Nova Planta de Lixiviats [New Pond of Leachates]; PTA = Préstec de Terres de l'Abocador [Landfill Earth Loan]; RP = Rasa de Desguàs d'Aigües Pluvials [Rainwater Drainage Ditch]; VIE = Vial Intern d'Explotació [Internal Operating Road]. a Vallesian localities according to the earliest appearance of Hippotherium in the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Garcés et al., 1996). 40 SOM Table S5 List of fossiliferous (sub)sectors at Abocador de Can Mata (ACM), in chronological order from youngest to oldest (top to bottom). Their stratigraphic range within the composite series, their correlated geomagnetic subchron(s), and their interpolated and estimated age ranges are provided. Each sector is designated by the ACM acronym, followed by a slash, the acronym of each sector (named after the various cells and other structures of the landfill), and sometimes a slash and an uppercase letter denoting a division in subsectors. Alternative (sub)sector names are given within parentheses for the sake of completeness in relation to field reports and museum inventories. See SOM Table S4 for an updated list of ACM fossil localities. (Sub)sector Stratigraphic position (m) Subchron Interpolated age (Ma) Estimated age (Ma) ACM/C14-Ba 268–286 C5r.2r [2/2]–C5r.1r 11.21–11.10 11.2–11.1 ACM/PTA-Ba 268–286 C5r.2r [2/2]–C5r.1r 11.21–11.10 11.2–11.1 ACM/C12-Ba 245–286 C5r.2r-1–C5r.1r 11.29–11.10 11.3–11.1 ACM/C13-Aa 238–286 C5r.2r [2/2]–C5r.1r 11.31–11.10 11.3–11.1 ACM/C13/C14-A (=ACM/C14-A)a 238–286 C5r.2r [1/2]–C5r.1r 11.31–11.10 11.3–11.1 ACM/PTA-A 224–271 C5r.2r [1/2]–C5r.2r [2/2] 11.43–11.19 11.4–11.2 ACM/C12-A 223–269 C5r.2r [1/2]–C5r.2r [2/2] 11.44–11.20 11.4–11.2 ACM/CCV 195–234 C5r.2n–C5r.2r [1/2] 11.61–11.35 11.6–11.4 ACM/C6-Camí 195–234 C5r.2n–C5r.2r [1/2] 11.61–11.35 11.6–11.4 ACM/RPA-2 72–234 C5An.1n–C5r.2r [1/2] 12.15–11.35 12.2–11.4 ACM/RP 121–225 C5r.3r–C5r.2r [1/2] 11.89–11.42 11.9–11.4 ACM/C6-C 194–222 C5r.2n–C5r.2r [1/2] 11.62–11.45 11.6–11.5 ACM/C8-C 210–221 C5r.2r [1/2] 11.54–11.45 11.5 41 ACM/C8-B 166–221 C5r.3r–C5r.2r [1/2] 11.70–11.45 11.7–11.5 ACM/VIE-A 166–221 C5r.3r–C5r.2r [1/2] 11.70–11.45 11.7–11.5 ACM/C5-A 138–220 C5r.3r–C5r.2r [1/2] 11.81–11.46 11.8–11.5 ACM/C6-A 143–209 C5r.3r–C5r.2r [1/2] 11.80–11.55 11.8–11.6 ACM/C8-A 141–207 C5r.3r–C5r.2r [1/2] 11.81–11.57 11.8–11.6 ACM/C11-A 141–207 C5r.3r–C5r.2r [1/2] 11.81–11.57 11.8–11.6 ACM/C11-B 141–207 C5r.3r–C5r.2r [1/2] 11.81–11.57 11.8–11.6 ACM/VIE-B 141–207 C5r.3r–C5r.2r [1/2] 11.81–11.57 11.8–11.6 ACM/C5-D 150–200 C5r.3r–C5r.2n 11.77–11.60 11.8–11.6 ACM/C4-A 107–195 C5r.3r–C5r.2n 11.95–11.61 12.0–11.6 ACM/C7-A 168–190 C5r.3r–C5r.2n 11.70–11.63 11.7–11.6 ACM/C7-B 168–185 C5r.3r–C5r.2n 11.70–11.64 11.7–11.6 ACM/C7-C 175–183 C5r.3r–C5r.2n 11.67–11.64 11.7–11.6 ACM/C6-B 136–160 C5r.3r 11.83–11.73 11.8–11.7 ACM/C6-B 136–160 C5r.3r 11.83–11.73 11.8–11.7 ACM/C5-C 126–158 C5r.3r 11.87–11.74 11.9–11.7 ACM/C3-A 79–153 C5An.1n–C5r.3r 12.08–11.76 12.1–11.8 ACM/BPA 106–151 C5r.3r 11.96–11.77 12.0–11.8 ACM/C2-A 55–150 C5An.1r–C5r.3r 12.24–11.77 12.2–11.8 ACM/BNL-B 110–145 C5r.3r 11.94–11.79 11.9–11.8 ACM/BNL-A/B 98–145 C5r.3r 11.99–11.79 12.0–11.8 42 ACM/VIE-C 88–145 C5r.3r 12.03–11.79 12.0–11.8 ACM/C4-C 80–145 C5An.1n–C5r.3r 12.08–11.79 12.1–11.8 ACM/C4-B 80–142 C5An.1n–C5r.3r 12.08–11.80 12.1–11.8 ACM/C5-B 135–140 C5r.3r 11.83–11.81 11.8 ACM/BCV (=ACM/BDA-SW) 64–122 C5An.1r–C5r.3r 12.20–11.89 12.2–11.9 ACM/C1-A 70–113 C5An.1n–C5r.3r 12.16–11.93 12.2–11.9 ACM/C1-B 50–113 C5An.1r–C5r.3r 12.26–11.93 12.3–11.9 ACM/BNL-A 98–110 C5r.3r 11.99–11.94 12.0–11.9 ACM/C2-Base 55–109 C5An.1r–C5r.3r 12.24–11.94 12.2–11.9 ACM/NPL 62–107 C5An.1r–C5r.3r 12.20–11.95 12.2–12.0 ACM/C3-A/B 79–104 C5An.1n–C5r.3r 12.08–11.97 12.1–12.0 ACM/C3-B 40–104 C5An.2n–C5r.3r 12.32–11.97 12.3–12.0 ACM/BDA 2–102 C5Ar.1r–C5r.3r 12.56–11.97 12.6–12.0 ACM/C2-B 64–78 C5An.1r–C5An.1n 12.20–12.10 12.2–12.1 ACM/C1-E 23–51 C5An.2n–C5An.1r 12.43–12.25 12.4–12,3 ACM/C1-F 33–46 C5An.2n 12.36–12.28 12.4–12.3 ACM/C1-C 28–43 C5An.2n 12.40–12.30 12.4–12.3 ACM/VIE-E 25–35 C5An.2n 12.42–12.35 12.4 ACM/C10-A 8–33 C5Ar.1r–C5An.2n 12.52–12.36 12.5–12.4 ACM/BDL 0–25 C5Ar.1r–C5An.2n 12.58–12.42 12.6–12.4 ACM/C1-D 18–23 C5An.2n 12.46–12.43 12.5–12.4 43 ACM/C9-A 17–23 C5An.2n 12.47–12.43 12.5–12.4 ACM/VIE-D 17–23 C5An.2n 12.47–12.43 12.5–12.4 ACM/RBL 10–20 C5Ar.1r–C5An.2n 12.51–12.45 12.5 Abbreviations: ACM = Abocador de Can Mata [Can Mata Landfill]; BCV = Barranc de Can Vila [Can Vila Ravine]; BDA = Bassa de Decantació d'Aigües Pluvials [Settling Pond of Rainwater]; BDA-SW = Bassa de Decantació d'Aigües Pluvials Sud-Oest [Settling Pond of Rainwater South-West]; BDL = Bassa de Lixiviats [Pond of Leachates]; BNL = Bassa Nova de Lixiviats [New Pond of Leachates]; BPA = Base de la Pila d'Acopi [Base of the Stockpile]; C1–C13 = Cel·les 1–13 [Cells 1–13]; CCV = Camí de Can Vila [Can Vila's Trackway]; NPL= Nova Planta de Lixiviats [New Pond of Leachates]; PTA = Préstec de Terres de l'Abocador [Landfill Earth Loan]; RBL = Rasa de la Bassa de Lixiviats [Pond of Leachates Ditch]; RP = Rasa de Desguàs d'Aigües Pluvials [Rainwater Drainage Ditch]; RPA-2 = Rasa Perimetral de L'Abocador 2 [Perimetric Ditch of the Landfill 2]; VIE = Vial Intern d'Explotació [Internal Operating Road]. a Sectors recording the Aragonian/Vallesian boundary according to the earliest appearance of Hippotherium in the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Garcés et al., 1996). 44 SOM Table S6 List of primate-bearing fossil localities at Abocador de Can Mata (ACM), in chronological order from youngest to oldest (top to bottom), updated from Alba et al. (2017). Their interpolated and estimated ages are provided (for further details, see SOM Table S4). Locality Taxon Interpolated age (Ma) Estimated age (Ma) CM1 Dryopithecinae indet. 11.11 11.1 ACM/C8-A4 Pliobates cataloniae 11.62 11.6 ACM/C5-D1 Pliobates cataloniae, Dryopithecinae indet. 11.63 11.6 ACM/C8-B* Dryopithecinae indet. 11.65 11.7 ACM/C4-A1 Pliopithecus canmatensis 11.70 11.7 ACM/C8-Au Dryopithecinae indet. 11.77 11.8 ACM/C5-A8 Pliopithecus canmatensis 11.77 11.8 ACM/C5-C2 Pliopithecus canmatensis 11.79 11.8 ACM/C4-Cb Pliopithecus canmatensis 11.79 11.8 ACM/C5-C4 Pliopithecus canmatensis 11.84 11.8 ACM/C5-C3 Pliopithecus canmatensis 11.86 11.9 ACM/C3-Ae Dryopithecus fontani 11.88 11.9 ACM/C4-Ap Dryopithecus fontani 11.88 11.9 ACM/BCV5 Pliopithecus canmatensis 11.91 11.9 ACM/C3-Az cf. Dryopithecus fontani 11.94 11.9 ACM/BCV4 ‘Sivapithecus’ occidentalis species inquirenda 11.94 11.9 ACM/C4-Cp Anoiapithecus brevirostris 11.95 11.9 45 ACM/BCV1 Pierolapithecus catalaunicus 11.96 12.0 ACM/C3-Aj Anoiapithecus brevirostris 11.97 12.0 ACM/C3-B2 Pliopithecoidea indet. 12.06 12.1 ACM/C1-E* Anoiapithecus brevirostris 12.36–12.28 12.4–12.3 Abbreviations: See SOM Table S4. 46 SOM References Agustí Ballester, J., 1978. El Vallesiense inferior de la Península Ibérica y su fauna de roedores (Mamm.). Acta Geol. Hisp. 13, 137–141. Agustí Ballester, J., 1980. La asociación de Hispanomys y Cricetodon (Rodentia, Mammalia) en el Mioceno Superior del Vallès-Penedès (Cataluña, España). Acta Geol. Hisp. 15, 51– 60. Agustí, J., 1981. Roedores miomorfos del Neógeno de Cataluña. Ph.D. Dissertation, Universidad de Barcelona. Agustí, J., 1999. A critical re-evaluation of the Miocene mammal units in Western Europe: dispersal events and problems of correlation. 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