A cave occupied by cave bears for thousands of years in the Sobrarbe-Pirineos UNESCO Global Geopark (Huesca, Aragon, Spain)

The Sobrarbe-Pirineos UNESCO Global Geopark shows an extremely well-developed underground karst relief as a result of the great abundance and thickness of its limestone formations. The most important Pleistocene vertebrate site within the Geopark is Coro Tracito Cave at Tella. The fossil association is made up exclusively of bones belonging to Ursus spelaeus from the upper Pleistocene, accumulated over several thousand years. Based on scientific analysis of the fossil bones, an interesting public outreach project has been organized, involving the refurbishment of the site within the cave and the creation of a permanent exhibition called the Tella Cave Bear Museum. These two infrastructures are visited by thousands of tourists each year and constitute the main geoscientific tourist attraction of the Sobrarbe-Pirineos Geopark

Exceptional crocodylomorph biodiversity of “La Cantalera” site (Lower barremian; lower cretaceous) in Teruel, Spain

The palaeontological site of La Cantalera in Teruel, Spain (Blesa Formation, Lower Cretaceous) can be characterized as the site with the greatest biodiversity of vertebrates (32 taxa) from the lower Barremian of the Iberian Peninsula. Remains of amphibians, lizards, turtles, crocodiles, pterosaurs, dinosaurs and mammals have been recovered. The most common taxa are crocodylomorphs, and their most abundant remains are small isolated teeth. Six morphotypes have been identified, which may correspond to at least four different sympatric crocodylomorph taxa. This site presents a similar assemblage to other European Lower Cretaceous sites, with morphotypes that may correspond to the families Goniopholididae, Bernissartiidae, Atoposauridae and multiple ziphodont crocodylomorphs. The crocodylomorph assemblage of La Cantalera is characterized by the absence of large individuals and presents a wide variety of dental morphologies adapted to diets ranging from generalist to highly specialized. This rich biodiversity could be due to concentration of vertebrates into restricted flooded areas during dry seasons within a marsh ecosystem. Furthermore, La Cantalera could also be close to a nesting area, which would explain the abundance of small-sized individuals and the presence of fossil crocodiloid eggshells

Bone accumulation by leopards in the Late Pleistocene in the Moncayo Massif (Zaragoza, NE Spain)

Eating habits of Panthera pardus are well known. When there are caves in its territory, prey accumulates inside them. This helps to prevent its kill from being stolen by other predators like hyenas. Although the leopard is an accumulator of bones in caves, few studies have been conducted on existing lairs. There are, however, examples of fossil vertebrate sites whose main collecting agent is the leopard. During the Late Pleistocene, the leopard was a common carnivore in European faunal associations. Here we present a new locality of Quaternary mammals with a scarce human presence, the cave of Los Rincones (province of Zaragoza, Spain); we show the leopard to be the main accumulator of the bones in the cave, while there are no interactions between humans and leopards. For this purpose, a taphonomic analysis is performed on different bone-layers of the cave

Los Batanes (Biescas, Spain), a roost site for horseshoe bats in the Pyrenees during the late Pleistocene

Los Batanes C4 is a cave-site in the Spanish Pyrenees, the minimum sediment calendar age was determined to be 15, 234 ± 223 cal BP by radiocarbon dating. The cave opens on the northern bank of an eastern tributary of the River Gállego, at an altitude of 1025 m. The small vertebrates recorded are mainly bats, in order of abundance Rhinolophus euryale, R. ferrumequinum, Myotis sp. and Miniopterus schreibersii. The association suggests that at the time of the accumulation the climate was reasonably similar to the current climate; we situate it within a period of local retreat of the ice-cover in the Gállego Valley during the Lateglacial. This is the highest record of these species of Rhinolophus in the Iberian Quaternary, showing that the R. euryale altitudinal range was similar to its extant range during the favourable periods of the Lateglacial. This could indicate that this taxon was relatively quick in spreading into higher regions whenever climate conditions allowed it

Un itinerario paleoicnológico por el Prepirineo y Valle del Ebro de Aragón

Se pretende poner en valor la gran riqueza de yacimientos de icnitas de mamíferos y aves del Cenozoico del Prepirineo y del Valle del Ebro de Aragón diseñando un itinerario paleoicnológico que incluya los principales yacimientos. Además de la importancia científica, se quiere destacar el valor de este patrimonio paleontológico como recurso turístico y didáctico. En algunos de estos yacimientos se han llevado a cabo a lo largo de las últimas décadas diversas acciones de conservación y adecuación que permiten el acceso y la visita a los mismos, lo que posibilita su potenciación como recurso socio-económico del territorio. This work aims to put in value the great wealth of mammal and avian tracksites of the Cenozoic from the Pre- pyrenees and the Ebro Valley, by designing a paleoichnological itinerary which includes the main sites. In addition to the scientific importance, we want to emphasize the value of this paleontological heritage as a tourist and educational resource. In some of these sites, conservation and adaptation actions have been carried out over the last decades. That allows accessing and visiting these sites, and thus, strengthening them as socio-economic resource of the region

Pleistocene cave hyenas in the Iberian Peninsula: New insights from los aprendices cave (Moncayo, Zaragoza)

A new Pleistocene paleontological site, Los Aprendices, located in the northwest-ern part of the Iberian Peninsula in the area of the Moncayo (Zaragoza) is presented. The layer with fossil remains has been dated by amino acid racemization to 143.8 ± 38.9 ka (earliest Late Pleistocene or latest Middle Pleistocene). Five mammal species have been identified in the assemblage: Crocuta spelaea (Goldfuss, 1823) Capra pyre-naica (Schinz, 1838), Lagomorpha indet, Arvicolidae indet and Galemys pyrenaicus (Geoffroy, 1811). The remains of C. spelaea represent a mostly complete skeleton in anatomical semi-connection. The hyena specimen represents the most complete skel-eton ever recovered in Iberia and one of the most complete remains in Europe. It has been compared anatomically and biometrically with both European cave hyenas and extant spotted hyenas. In addition, a taphonomic study has been carried out in order to understand the origin and preservation of these exceptional remains. The results sug-gest rapid burial with few scavenging modifications putatively produced by a medium sized carnivore. A review of the Pleistocene Iberian record of Crocuta spp. has been carried out, enabling us to establish one of the earliest records of C. spelaea in the recently discovered Los Aprendices cave, and also showing that the most extensive geographical distribution of this species occurred during the Late Pleistocene (MIS4-2)

La Cantalera: an exceptional window onto the vertebrate biodiversity of the Hauterivian-Barremian transition in the Iberian Peninsula.

La Cantalera is an accumulation site for fossil vertebrates consisting mainly of teeth and isolated postcranial remains. It has the greatest vertebrate biodiversity of any site from the Hauterivian-Barremian transition in the Iberian Peninsula. Up to now, 31 vertebrate taxa have been recognized: an osteichthyan (Teleostei indet.), two amphibians (Albanerpetonidae indet. and Discoglossidae indet.), a chelonian (Pleurosternidae? indet.), a lizard (Paramacellodidae? indet.), four crocodylomorphs (cf. Theriosuchus sp., Bernissartiidae indet., Goniopholididae indet., cf. Lisboasaurus sp.), two pterosaurs (Istiodactylidae? indet., Ornithocheiridae? indet.), four ornithopod dinosaurs (Iguanodontoidea indet., Hadrosauroidea? indet., “Hypsilophodontidae” indet., Rhabdodontidae? indet.), a thyreophoran (Polacanthidae indet.), a sauropod (Euhelopodidae indet.), eleven theropods (Carcharodontosauridae? indet., Baryonychinae indet., aff. Paronychodon sp., Maniraptora indet. 1-3, Dromaeosaurinae indet. 1-3, Velociraptorinae indet., Avialae? indet.) and three or four multituberculate mammals (Cantalera abadi, Eobaatar sp., Plagiaulacidae or Eobaataridae gen. et sp. indet., “Plagiaulacida” indet.). Nine ootaxa have also been distinguished at the site of La Cantalera. Oofamilies assigned to dinosaurs (Elongaloolithidae, Prismatoolithidae, cf. Spheroolithidae), to crocodiles (Krokolithidae) and eggshells of two oofamilies incertidae sedis are represented. This association is consistent with the record of bone and tooth remains from the site. La Cantalera was formed in a marshy environment where there was an intermittent body of water. The great majority of the vertebrate fossil remains lack evidence of transport, so the preserved association is a good representation of the vertebrate ecosystem in or around the marshy area of La Cantalera. The vertebrate association of La Cantalera displays certain differences with respect to those from lacustrine environments of the Hauterivian-Barremian transition of the Iberian Range. These differences include, for example, the absence of Chondrichthyes, the merely token presence of the osteichthyans, the scarcity of chelonians, the presence of exclusively multituberculate mammals, the lower diversity of sauropods and the greater diversity of theropods

El Curso Mamíferos del Pirineo, 2012-2018

[No abstract available

A Palaeoichnological itinerary through the Cenozoic of the Southern Margin of the Pyrenees and the Northern Ebro Basin (Aragón, Northeast Spain)

This work aims to bring to light the great wealth of mammal and avian tracksites of the Cenozoic of the southern margin of the Pyrenees and the northern Ebro Basin (Aragon, northeast Spain) by designing a palaeoichnological itinerary that includes the main tracksites. Scientific research in these fields is currently being carried out with very interesting preliminary results, given the poor ichnofossil record in the Palaeogene worldwide. In addition to its scientific importance, however, we want to emphasize the value of this palaeontological heritage as a tourist and educational resource and also the geoconservation work carried out on the tracksites. In some of these sites (Fondota, Sierra de Luna and La Playa Fósil), conservation and adaptation activities have been undertaken over the last few decades. These activities have allowed people to access and visit these tracksites, thus promoting them as socioeconomic assets of this region

La Cantalera: una excepcional ventana a la biodiversidad del tránsito Hauteriviense-Barremiense en la Península Ibérica

La Cantalera is an accumulation site for fossil vertebrates consisting mainly of teeth and isolated postcranial remains. It has the greatest vertebrate biodiversity of any site from the Hauterivian-Barremian transition in the Iberian Peninsula. Up to now, 31 vertebrate taxa have been recognized: an osteichthyan (Teleostei indet.), two amphibians (Albanerpetonidae indet. and Discoglossidae indet.), a chelonian (Pleurosternidae? indet.), a lizard (Paramacellodidae? indet.), four crocodylomorphs (cf. Theriosuchus sp., Bernissartiidae indet., Goniopholididae indet., cf. Lisboasaurus sp.), two pterosaurs (Istiodactylidae? indet., Ornithocheiridae? indet.), four ornithopod dinosaurs (Iguanodontoidea indet., Hadrosauroidea? indet., “Hypsilophodontidae” indet., Rhabdodontidae? indet.), a thyreophoran (Polacanthidae indet.), a sauropod (Euhelopodidae indet.), eleven theropods (Carcharodontosauridae? indet., Baryonychinae indet., aff. Paronychodon sp., Maniraptora indet. 1-3, Dromaeosaurinae indet. 1-3, Velociraptorinae indet., Avialae? indet.) and three or four multituberculate mammals (Cantalera abadi, Eobaatar sp., Plagiaulacidae or Eobaataridae gen. et sp. indet., “Plagiaulacida” indet.). Nine ootaxa have also been distinguished at the site of La Cantalera. Oofamilies assigned to dinosaurs (Elongaloolithidae, Prismatoolithidae, cf. Spheroolithidae), to crocodiles (Krokolithidae) and eggshells of two oofamilies incertidae sedis are represented. This association is consistent with the record of bone and tooth remains from the site. La Cantalera was formed in a marshy environment where there was an intermittent body of water. The great majority of the vertebrate fossil remains lack evidence of transport, so the preserved association is a good representation of the vertebrate ecosystem in or around the marshy area of La Cantalera. The vertebrate association of La Cantalera displays certain differences with respect to those from lacustrine environments of the Hauterivian-Barremian transition of the Iberian Range. These differences include, for example, the absence of Chondrichthyes, the merely token presence of the osteichthyans, the scarcity of chelonians, the presence of exclusively multituberculate mammals, the lower diversity of sauropods and the greater diversity of theropods