Inferencias paleoambientales del Mioceno Medio de Somosaguas (Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid) basadas en la estructura de tamaños coroporales de su fauna de mamíferos

El presente trabajo es una aproximación a la inferencia de las condiciones paleoambientales y paleoclimáticas del yacimiento de vertebrados fósiles del Mioceno medio de Somosaguas (Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid; biozona E, MN5, Aragoniense medio). Realizamos una serie de análisis discriminantes sobre las variables descritas para la estructura de tamaños corporales de las comunidades de mamíferos mediante el cenograma y el espectro de tamaños corporales. A partir de la comparación con comunidades actuales pertenecientes a bosque tropical deciduo, sabana y desierto subtropical, nuestros resultados sugieren que el ecosistema de Somosaguas podría estar situado en un área de semi-desierto, reflejando un ecotono entre sabana y desierto. Esto coincide con la información obtenida a partir de otros estudios

Cenogramas, análisis bioclimático y muestreo en faunas de mamíferos: implicaciones para la aplicación de métodos de análisis paleoecológico

In this work we analyzed the problems derived from the potential species loss associated to the taphonomic processes occurring in fossil sites. We seek to resolve the possible utility of cenograms and bioclimatic analysis as methodologies applicable in Paleoecology. Supposedly, if species are deleted in a community, significant changes in its structure might appear, which would make these paleoecological techniques dysfunctional. The analysis has been carried out with the data of two modern mammalian communities, Barrow (Alaska) and Jaipur (India), on which we have deleted species randomly. Our results have allowed us to conclude that these methodologies are useful in Paleoecology, since they are functional with a satisfactory level of confidence, as long as the species loss is not excessively elevated (for communities with 20-40% of the original species).En este trabajo hemos analizado la problemática derivada de la posible pérdida de especies asociada a los procesos tafonómicos que se dan en los yacimientos de fósiles, para determinar la posible utilidad de los cenogramas y el análisis bioclimático como metodologías aplicables en Paleoecología. Podría suponerse que si eliminamos especies en una comunidad se podrían producir cambios significativos en su estructura que convertirían en no funcionales a estas metodologías. El análisis se ha llevado a cabo con los datos de dos comunidades de mamíferos actuales, Barrow (Alaska) y Jaipur (India), de las que hemos eliminado progresivamente especies de forma aleatoria. Los resultados obtenidos nos han permitido concluir que tanto los cenogramas como el análisis bioclimático son útiles en Paleoecología, ya que son funcionales con un nivel de confianza adecuado, siempre y cuando la pérdida de especies no sea excesivamente elevada (en comunidades con un 20-40% de las especies originales).La presente investigación ha sido parcialmente financiada por los proyectos PR1/06-14470-B (UCM) y CGL2006-01773/BTE (MEC) y por una ayuda de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid y la Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid al Grupo de Investigación UCM-CAM 910607 sobre Evolución de Mamíferos y Paleoambientes Continentales Cenozoicos, dirigido por Marián Álvarez Sierra. Asimismo, el mencionado grupo de investigación ha financiado la presentación de estos resultados en las XXII Jornadas de la Sociedad Española de Paleontología. M.H.F. disfruta de un contrato UCM del Programa «Ramón y Cajal» del Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia.Peer reviewe

El suelo y la sostenibilidad. Recurso para una aproximación multidisciplinar en la enseñanza de las Ciencias

El proyecto pretende dar a conocer el suelo como recurso natural al alumnado. Se trata de un recurso vital, profundamente desconocido y escasamente trabajado en las aulas. Apenas aparece de forma explícita en el currículo de Secundaria y menos aún en el de Primaria. Muchos organismos internacionales han resaltado la necesidad de que el ciudadano de a pie conozca el suelo, su enorme valor en la alimentación del ser humano y el grave riesgo en el que se encuentra hoy en día pues su fertilidad está descendiendo a un ritmo alarmante debido fundamentalmente a la acción humana. El valorar este recurso pasa por conocerlo y para ello es necesario trabajarlo en las aulas, pero antes hemos de formar a los futuros docentes,esto es lo que nos hemos propuesto desde la Facultad de Educación. Por otro lado nos resulta fundamental el que los ciudadanos conozcan el compostaje, actividad fácil de desarrollar tanto en los centros docentes como en el propio domicilio; compostar permite cuidar el medio ambiente de forma doble, por un lado reduciendo los desechos y por otro produciendo un material (el compost) con muchas ventajas para la agricultura, contribuyendo de esta forma a la sostenibilidad

Influencia de los cambios climáticos globales en la estructura de las comunidades de mamíferos del Neógeno-Cuaternario

Tesis inédita de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Departamento de Paleontología, leída 04-03-2015Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y PaleontologíaFac. de Ciencias GeológicasTRUEunpu

Tempo and mode in the influence of global climatic changes on mammalian evolution

Comunicación presentada en: XVIII INQUA Congress, 21st–27th July, 2011, Bern, Switzerland.Due to their extraordinary fossil record during the Cenozoic, mammals are a key factor in order to understand how global climatic changes have shaped biotic evolution, especially in continental environments. During the last decades, climatic influence on the evolution of mammal faunas has been reflected mainly in two sets of studies. First, there are works focused in the use of observed variations in the structure of mammalian palaeocommunities through extensive time sequences in order to detect significant palaeoclimatic changes. These studies are based in the concepts of community convergence and uniformitarism, and make use of modern ecological analogues to infer the climatic conditions in which the extinct faunas lived. On the other hand, when data on faunal change through time are confronted with independent data on palaeoclimatic changes it may be statistically inferred whether there has been simultaneous occurrence of climatic changes, faunal turnover and modifications in the ecological structure of the palaeofaunas. The second set of studies is based on the statistical analysis of ecological data from modern faunas. Extant assemblages reflect in their ecological characteristics the past influence of global climate changes on the evolution of mammalian lineages living today, both in geographical and cladal basis. Finally, there are new works based on the study of the phylogenetic signal that can be found in modern clades, which are able to identify periods of enhanced or reduced cladogenesis. Although all these approaches cannot be used simultaneously because of latent problems derived of circular reasoning, the development of methodological protocols for the combined analysis of their results has the potential to shed new light on the question of how and when climate changes affect evolution of biotic communities.The authors also thank the Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI-CSIC) for the co-financing of this publication in Open Access.Peer reviewe

The Somosaguas palaeontology project: an envision of Nieves López Martínez for linking science and society

The palaeontological site of Somosaguas is located in Pozuelo de Alarcón, to the west of the city of Madrid (Spain), and contains fossils of Miocene age corresponding to 24 species of micro- and macromammals as well as other vertebrates. The Somosaguas Palaeontology Project is focused on this site and was coordinated by Nieves López Martínez between 1998 and 2010 as an example of management of a palaeontological site by university students and young researchers. This project began with fi eld seasons for students in natural sciences grades and today is a multidisciplinary project open to students from any university degree. The signifi cance of the investigations around this fossil site is refl ected in a large number of papers published in national and international journals. Additionaly, there are numerous outreach activities in geology and palaeontology with special attention to what we call Social Palaeontology. Finally, this project has a strong commitment to educational innovation in both non-formal (during school visits, open days at the site and science fairs) and formal university education, with the establishment of an introduction to investigation group in order to prepare young researchers in different fi elds of geology, palaeontology and education

MICE (Mammalian Intercontinental Communities for Ecology): Organizando datos a escala global para lograr una paleoecología más integradora

This paper introduces a new database, “Mammalian Intercontinental Communities for Ecology” (MICE), which seeks to increase and improve, among others, the available material used in palaeoecological studies. Information on climate and terrestrial mammalian communities will be obtained for 500 localities from all around the world. Based on such information, both palaeoecological and neoecological studies will be produced. Problems identified in previous works are being taken into account while the new database is being compiled. When complete, this database will be uploaded to the World Wide Web in order to make it available to the scientific community. It will be interesting to see how the future development of MICE, with a strong dynamic and interactive character, will stimulate production in various scientific fields

Dental microwear analysis in Gliridae (Rodentia): methodological issues and paleodiet inferences based on Armantomys from the Madrid Basin (Spain)

In the present study we analyze the microwear of the species included in the lineage Armantomys aragonensis-A. tricristatus of two samples from two middle Miocene localities from the Madrid Basin (El Cañaveral and Casa Montero). The methodological part of the study compares light stereomicroscope photographs from resin casts and Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) photographs from original material. Furthermore two regions of the tooth crown (the most lingual part of the anteroloph, and the most lingual part of the protoloph) and two homologous regions of first and second upper molars have been analyzed. The paleoecological part includes the results of the microwear analyses of the two species included in the lineage A. aragonensis-A. tricristatus. The replacement of A. aragonensis with A. tricristatus in the Madrid Basin occurred during the Middle Miocene Climate Transition (MMCT) and is marked by a change in dental morphology. Therefore, in order to infer changes in diet associated to a shift in the environment, we checked for correlations on microwear features between the two different morphologies of the species. The two methodologies tested, ESEM on original teeth and light stereomicroscopy on resin casts, showed similar results on microwear analysis in the glirid Armantomys. Besides, both regions of the tooth crown and dental elements showed the same microwear patterns. The substitution of the species included in the lineage Armantomys aragonensis-A. tricristatus might not imply a change in diet