El registro fósil de vertebrados y patrimonio paleontológico más representativo de los pirineos occidentales

Los Pirineos occidentales son un territorio con una notable diversidad geológica y un importante registro fósil, que constituye un gran archivo de paleobiodiversidad. En lo que respecta al registro fósil de vertebrados, los Pirineos occidentales (Región Vasco-Cantábrica, Cuenca de Pamplona y sector noroccidental de la Cuenca del Ebro) son relevantes tanto desde el punto de vista de los yacimientos paleontológicos como de las colecciones de fósiles procedentes de ellos. Varios yacimientos de vertebrados forman parte del Inventario de Lugares de Interés Geológico (LIG) con alto o muy alto interés paleontológico en la Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco. Destacan los yacimientos de peces cretácicos de Zeanuri en Bizkaia, mamíferos eocenos de Zambrana e icnitas miocenas de Salinas de Añana en Álava/Araba y la asociación de vertebrados pleistocenos de Kiputz cerca de Mutriku, en Gipuzkoa. Otros yacimientos notables en el área de estudio deberían ser objeto de iniciativas de geoconservación: es el caso de la cantera de Laño (Condado de Treviño), con asociaciones fi nicretácicas de vertebrados continentales y marinos, los afloramientos con icnitas de aves y mamíferos del Eoceno al Mioceno inferior de Navarra/Nafarroa y la cueva vizcaína de Santa Isabel de Ranero (Pleistoceno), por citar únicamente los ejemplos más sobresalientes. Asimismo, existen colecciones de fósiles de vertebrados en los Pirineos occidentales que destacan por su elevado interés paleontológico, aunque algunos no provengan de LIG reconocidos. Estas colecciones están depositadas en diversos centros e instituciones de Bilbao, Irún, Leioa, Pamplona-Iruñea, y Vitoria-Gasteiz. La valoración de la paleobiodiversidad y el registro fósil es un paso importante para el conocimiento del patrimonio paleontológico de un territorio y la creación de fi guras de geoconservación (e.g., LIG, geosites). Sin embargo, la mera inclusión de los yacimientos paleontológicos en estas fi guras no garantiza su protección y conservación, ni la adecuada gestión de las colecciones de fósiles procedentes de ellos. Por lo tanto, es necesario diseñar estrategias de conservación transversales teniendo en cuenta las particularidades de cada yacimiento y/o colección. La divulgación científi ca y cultural del patrimonio paleontológico de un territorio, como el aquí estudiado, debe contar con una mayor colaboración entre los paleontólogos que han valorado los bienes paleontológicos y los técnicos que los gestionan. Para ello, es necesaria la disposición de partidas presupuestarias específicas que posibiliten el desarrollo de diferentes acciones encaminadas a la investigación, conservación y difusión social de este patrimonio.The western Pyrenees is a territory with a remarkable geodiversity and an important fossil record, which constitutes a large archive of palaeobiodiversity. With respect to the vertebrate fossil record, the western Pyrenees (Basque-Cantabrian Region, Pamplona Basin and the north-western sector of the Ebro Basin) are relevant both from the point of view of palaeontological sites and fossil collections. Several vertebrate fossil sites are integrated into the Inventory of Geological Interest Sites (LIG) with high to very high palaeontological interest of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country. It is worth highlighting the Cretaceous fish sites of Zeanuri in Biscay, Eocene mammals of Zambrana and Miocene ichnites of Salinas de Añana in Araba, and the Pleistocene vertebrate fossil assemblage of Kiputz near Mutriku, in Gipuzkoa. Other highly significant sites in the study area should be subject to geoconservation initiatives. This is the case of the Laño quarry in the Condado de Treviño, which has provided continental and marine vertebrate fossil assemblages from the latest Cretaceous, Eocene to Early Miocene sites with bird and mammal tracks in Navarre, and the Pleistocene cave deposits of Santa Isabel de Ranero in Biscay, to mention only the most outstanding examples. There are also vertebrate fossil collections in the western Pyrenees that stand out for their high palaeontological interest, although some do not come from recognized LIG. These collections are deposited in several centres and institutions of Bilbao, Irun, Leioa, Pamplona-Iruñea and Vitoria-Gasteiz. The valuation of the palaeobiodiversity and fossil record is an important step for the study of palaeontological heritage of a territory and the set-up of geoconservation designations (e.g., LIG, geosites). However, the mere inclusion of the palaeontological assents in these geoconservation designations does not guarantee either their protection and conservation or the suitable management of the fossil collection. Therefore, it is necessary to design conservation strategies taking into account the particularities of each palaeontological site and/or fossil collection. The scientific and cultural dissemination of the palaeontological heritage of a territory like one studied here should have greater collaboration between the palaeontologists that have valued the palaeontological assets and the technicians and institutions that manage them. This requires the provision of specific budgetary items that enable the development of the different activities of research, conservation and social dissemination of this heritage.Fil: Badiola, Ainara. Universidad del País Vasco; EspañaFil: Arlegi, Mikel. Universidad del País Vasco; España. Université de Bordeaux; FranciaFil: Astibia, Humberto. Universidad del País Vasco; EspañaFil: Bardet, Nathalie. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle; Francia. Université Pierre et Marie Curie; FranciaFil: Berreteaga, Ana. Universidad del País Vasco; EspañaFil: Corral, J. Carmelo. Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Álava/; EspañaFil: Díaz Martínez, Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Sede Alto Valle. Instituto de Investigaciones en Paleobiología y Geología; ArgentinaFil: Gómez Olivencia, Asier. Universidad del País Vasco; España. IKERBASQUE. Basque Foundation for Science; España. Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto de Salud; EspañaFil: Lopez Horgue, Mikel A.. Universidad del País Vasco; EspañaFil: Perales Gogenola, Leire. Universidad del País Vasco; EspañaFil: Pereda Suberbiola, Xabier. Universidad del País Vasco; Españ

Reassessment of the Neandertal fossil collection from Abri Suard (La Chaise de Vouthon, Charente, France)

Abri Suard is one of the sites localized at La Chaise de Vouthon in Charente. La Chaise is a well-known prehistoric place, historically and archaeologically as it preserved long stratigraphic sequences documenting Lower to Upper Palaeolithic human occupations. A substantial number of Neandertal human remains have been discovered in a sedimentary unit associated to MIS 6-5 (250-120 kya) from Abri Suard, which makes them some of the earliest Western European Neandertals. Although most of the Ne..

Cueva de los Torrejones revisited. New insights on the paleoecology of inland Iberia during the Late Pleistocene

34 p.The interior of the Iberian Peninsula has orographic conditions that make this territory especially vulnerable to Quaternary climate oscillations and which actually could have made it decisive for Paleolithic human populations at critical points. For this reason, the information provided by paleontological sites is important for reconstructing climatic and environmental conditions during the Late Pleistocene and understanding how they influenced the species that inhabited them, including humans. Nevertheless, the archaeo-paleontological record is scarce in central Iberia for the Late Pleistocene. A central Iberian site that is key to addressing this issue is Cueva de los Torrejones, which was discovered and excavated during the nineties. Clues indicating the presence of Neandertal populations near the cave site were announced during prior field excavations, including Neandertal remains, Middle Paleolithic artifacts, and evidence of anthropic exploitation of faunal resources at the site. Here we report the new results from the recent excavations and research, including detailed studies on stratigraphy, micromorphology, macro and microvertebrate paleontology, physical and molecular anthropology, taphonomy and zooarchaeology, and analysis of lithic and pottery remains. Our research has led to the detection of three Prehistoric chronologies recorded at the site. The oldest episode corresponds to between MIS 5 and MIS 4 in which the cave was used by carnivores. The second episode is represented by a faunal association dated to 30.0 ka cal BP and is indicative of cooler and more arid environmental conditions and, therefore, compatible with the worsening climate detected previously for MIS 3 in this area. The last episode corresponds to the Chalcolithic, directly dated to ~5000 cal BP in which humans used the cavity for funerary purposes. The DNA analysis of the human remain was assigned to mtDNA haplogroup K, which was originated in the Near East and reached western Europe through the Neolithic expansion. Human occupation during the Paleolithic has been ruled out, including Paleolithic human remains and any kind of anthropic intervention on the Hermann’s tortoise and leopard as was previously proposed at the site.European Research CouncilJunta de Comunidades de Castilla la ManchaMinisterio de Ciencia e InnovaciónCentro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH

New data on the Quaternary of Navarre: the paleontological collection from Koskobilo (Olazti/Olazagutía)

Libro de resúmenes disponible para su descarga gratuita en el enlace: http://www.aranzadi.eus/catalogo/xv-reunion-nacional-cuaternario-libro-de-resumenesThe archaeopaleontological collection from Koskobilo is composed of hundreds of fossil and thousands of lithic remains, mostly recovered during the middle part of the 20th century. Here we present the complete paleontological study of the collection, which includes 36 mammal taxa, 6 avian taxa and a small fish vertebral collection. Additionally we have performed direct dating of a speleothem crust covering one of the rhinoceros teeth, which provides a minimum of 219 ka for part of the collection, the rest being from the Upper Pleistocene, mixed with some Holocene/recent elements. The paleontological collection from Koskobilo is one of the most important in the Western Pyrenees due to the scarcity of the local Middle Pleistocene fossil record and the rarity of some of the taxa represented, such as Ursus thibetanus, Macaca sylvanus and cf. Megaceroides.La presente investigación ha contado con el apoyo del grupo de investigación IT1044-16 de Eusko Jaurlaritza-Gobierno Vasco, del Grupo PPG17/05 de la Universidad del País Vasco-Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea y del Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (proyecto PGC2018-093925-B-C33)

On the aversion to incomplete preferences

International audienceWe propose an axiomatization of aversion to incomplete preferences. Some prevailing models of incomplete preferences rely on the hypothesis that incompleteness is temporary and that by keeping their opportunity set open individuals reveal a preference for flexibility. We consider that the maintenance of incomplete preference is also aversive. Our model allows us to show how incompleteness induces an aversive attitude in two different ways: intrinsic and instrumental. Intrinsic aversion holds when one instance of incomplete preference in the set suffices to decrease its utility. Instrumental aversion holds only insofar dominating options are affected by incompleteness. Given two partially overlapping sets of axioms on the binary relation over sets we formalize their consistency with the two types of aversion to incompleteness. Finally, we relate our model to the classical Sen’s distinction between tentative and assertive incompleteness. The spelling out of this distinction in the terms of our approach uncovers to what extent aversion to incompleteness may be compatible with a preference for flexibility

Attitudes toward choice with incomplete preferences: An experimental study

International audienceWe present an experiment to test different individual attitudes toward choice, such as preference for flexibility, choice aversion, betweenness and choice neutrality. Unlike other related experimental papers, we want to analyze whether different choice attitudes can coexist for the same subject, depending on the characteristics of the choice set she is facing. In particular, our main hypothesis is that the presence of incomparability among the alternatives in the choice set, and the time at which such incomparability is solved, affect crucially the kind of attitude towards choice that the subject will exhibit. We find that, indeed, choice attitudes are not homogeneous across choice sets, yet they are conditional on the preferences over the alternatives. We also find some evidence supporting that subjects tend to value heuristically sets as a whole

Cranial and mandibular morphology of Middle Pleistocene cave bears (Ursus deningeri): implications for diet and evolution

Deninger’s bears (Ursus deningeri) have been studied less frequently than Ursus spelaeus s.l. Our objective is to present, for the first time, an analysis of the skull shape of U. deningeri. Bear crania and mandibles were digitised with a Microscribe or CT-scanned and the surface models subsequently landmarked. The landmarks were chosen based on a compromise between functional morphology and sample size. Results show that U. deningeri and U. spelaeus mandibles display very similar morphologies and allometric trajectories, both to each other and to Ailuropoda melanoleuca. It is inferred that masticatory adaptations to a herbivorous diet were already present in the Middle Pleistocene. U. deningeri displays a cranial morphology that is similar to that of U. spelaeus when comparing all species, but U. deningeri has a relatively narrower and dorsoventrally lower zygomatic arch than U. spelaeus, although the masticatory signal is less strong in the skull. We observe intraspecific differences between different populations of U. deningeri, which could parallel the genetic diversity found in U. spelaeus. The intraspecific differences found within U. deningeri may be temporal and/or geographical in nature and could be related to the evolution of the Late Pleistocene cave bear, but this hypothesis remains to be tested

The role of allometry and posture in the evolution of the hominin subaxial cervical spine

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