Taphonomy of small mammals and palaeoenvironment of the QS-2/3 unit from the Quibas site (Early Pleistocene, southern Iberian Peninsula).
Navarro-Gil, Albert (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l'Oceà)
García-Morato, Sara (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales)
Furió Bruno, Marc (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Geologia)
Pal, Shubham (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Iannicelli, Claudia (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social)
Laborda-López, Casto (Universidad de Jaén)
Agustí, Jordi 1954- (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Piñero, Pedro (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)

Date:	2025
Abstract:	The site of Quibas (Early Pleistocene, Murcia, Spain) represents the only European continuous succession preserving a record of continental vertebrates from pre-Jaramillo to post-Jaramillo age. The Quibas sequence immediately postdates the oldest known hominin records in the Early Pleistocene of Europe, represented at Barranco León and Fuente Nueva 3 (southern Spain), and Sima del Elefante (northern Spain). This study presents new evidence on the taphonomic processes that facilitated the accumulation of small vertebrates at the unit QS-2/3 of the Quibas-Sima section. We analysed alterations caused by predators (digestion and chewing), root marks, mineral precipitation, bone breakage, abrasion, corrosion, and the count of long bones. The results indicate that the accumulation of small mammals occurred in situ, primarily due to the activity of nocturnal birds of prey such as Strix aluco. The hydrodynamic influence is minimal. The palaeoecological analysis supports the development of a forest-mosaic environment with a significant presence of open spaces in the surroundings of the Quibas site at the onset of the Jaramillo subchron.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2021-123092NB-C21 Generalitat de Catalunya 2021/SGR-1238 Agencia Estatal de Investigación RYC2023-044218-I
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Jaramillo subchron ; Small mammal accumulation ; Birds of prey ; Hydrodynamics ; Bone alteration
Published in:	Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, Vol. 40, Num. 2 (August 2025) , ISSN 2660-9568

DOI: 10.7203/sjp.29840

17 p, 6.4 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles