Los yacimientos de vertebrados continentales del Aragoniense superior (Mioceno medio) de Toril, Cuenca de Calatayud-Daroca

The paleontological sites of Toril 3A and B (Upper Aragonian, Biozone C3, MN 7/8) posses an exceptional and abundant fauna of vertebrates. From 1997 until 2001 these two localities have been object of systematic paleontological excavations. Up to now 36 species of large and small mammals have been found in these localities; the association of vertebrates also includes amphibians, reptiles and birds, among the remains of fossils birds it is frequent to found egg shell fragments. There are not significant differences in the qualitative and quantitative faunistic composition of the two sites; in both the undetermined bone fragments and the remains of chelonians, most of them dermal bones, are the dominant fossils. An important characteristic is the abundance of small size hornless ruminants, which are quite scarce in the stratified sites of the Spanish Aragonian. Neither there are differences in the composition of the micromammals, the association is overwhelmingly dominated (more than 95%) for different cricetid species; in Toril 3A beavers reappears for the first time during the Aragonian, and they will be frequent in younger faunas of the same basin. The fossils were deposited in different sedimentary environments, related with alluvial and shallow lacustrine environments

Estudio anatómico, biomecánico, paleoecológico y filogenético de "paramachairodus ogygia" (Kaup, 1832) Pilgrim, 1913 (Felidae, Machairodontinae) del yacimiento vallesiense (Mioceno superior) de batallones-1 (Torrejón de Velasco, Madrid)

Tesis inédita de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Departamento de Biología Animal I (Zoología), leída el 09-12-2002.Depto. de Genética, Fisiología y MicrobiologíaFac. de Ciencias BiológicasTRUEProQuestpu

Estudio anatómico, biomecánico, paleoecológico y filogenético de "paramachairodus ogygia" (Kaup, 1832) Pilgrim, 1913 (Felidae, Machairodontinae) del yacimiento vallesiense (Mioceno superior) de batallones-1 (Torrejón de Velasco, Madrid)

Tesis inédita de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Departamento de Biología Animal I (Zoología), leída el 09-12-2002.Depto. de Genética, Fisiología y MicrobiologíaFac. de Ciencias BiológicasTRUEProQuestpu

El tránsito Aragoniense-Vallesiense en el área de Daroca-Nombrevilla (Zaragoza, España)

A pesar del extenso registro fósil del Mioceno español, es escaso el conocimiento de yacimientos provenientes de depósitos que cubran el tránsito Aragoniense-Vallesiense. Durante los últimos años, nuevos muestreos paleontológicos se han llevado a cabo en el área de Daroca (Zaragoza, España) para completar la información sobre este intérvalo. Además se han realizado estudios litoestratigráficos y muestreos magnetoestratigráficos. El resultado de dichos estudios pone de manifiesto la existencia, en el área de Daroca-Nombrevilla, de una sección estratigráfica que incluye quince yacimientos fosilíferos (de los cuales nueve son de reciente hallazgo) y que viene a completar el conocimiento del registro fósil del Aragoniense superior-Vallesiense inferior. [ABSTRACT] Despite the extensive continental fossil record from the Spanish Miocene, few localities from deposits covering the Aragonian-Vallesian boundary are known. During the last few years new sampling has been carried out around Daroca (Zaragoza, Spain) in order to complete the information of that interval. In addition, lithostratigraphic and sedimentological studies as well as magnetostratigraphic sampling have been done. The results of all these studies allow to recognise a stratigrafic section that includes fifteen mammal fossil localities (of which nine are new) completing our knowledge of the fossil record of the upper Aragonian-lower Vallesian

The Aragonian-Vallesian transit on the Daroca-Nombrevilla area (Zaragoza, Spain)

[ES] A pesar del extenso registro fósil del Mioceno español, es escaso el conocimiento de yacimientos provenientes de depósitos que cubran el tránsito Aragoniense-Vallesiense. Durante los últimos años, nuevos muestreos paleontológicos se han llevado a cabo en el área de Daroca (Zaragoza, España) para completar la información sobre este intérvalo. Además se han realizado estudios litoestratigráficos y muestreos magnetoestratigráficos. El resultado de dichos estudios pone de manifiesto la existencia, en el área de Daroca-Nombrevilla, de una sección estratigráfica que incluye quince yacimientos fosilíferos (de los cuales nueve son de reciente hallazgo) y que viene a completar el conocimiento del registro fósil del Aragoniense superior-Vallesiense inferior.[EN] Despite the extensive continental fossil record from the Spanish Miocene, few localities from deposits covering the Aragonian- Vallesian boundary are known. During the last few years new sampling has been carried out around Daroca (Zaragoza, Spain) in order to complete the information of that interval. In addition, lithostratigraphic and sedimentological studies as well as magnetostratigraphic sampling have been done. The results of all these studies allow to recognise a stratigrafic section that includes fifteen mammal fossil localities (of which nine are new) completing our knowledge of the fossil record of the upper Aragonian-lower Vallesian.Este trabajo ha sido financiado por la DGESIC proyectos PB98-0691-C03-01, PB98- 0691-C03-02 y PB98-0691-C03-03, y por la Diputación General de Aragón.Peer reviewe

El sistema de yacimientos de mamíferos miocenos del Cerro de los Batallones, Cuenca de Madrid: estado actual y perspectivas

77 págs, 24 láms.The Cerro de los Batallones (Los Batallones Butte) is located in the central-northern area of the Madrid Basin, central Spain. Nine vertebrates localities containing a large variety of mammals of Upper Vallesian Age (Late Miocene) have been found associated with the sediments forming the butte. From bottom to top, these sediments consist of magnesian lutite beds (Unit I), paleosols formed of sepiolite and opal (Unit II), and siliclastic, marlstone and carbonate beds (Unit III). The set of ERT profiles developed in Los Batallones Butte have demonstrate that electrical imaging techniques are an estimable tool for the characterization and prospecting of fossil sites developed in fine-grained siliciclastic sequences. These localities contain an exceptionally rich, varied and well-preserved vertebrate fauna together with invertebrate and plant fossils. Carnivore species are strikingly well represented at Batallones 1 and 3, and large herbivore species, such as mastodons, rhinoceros and giraffes, at Batallones 2, 4, 5 and 10. The taphonomical studies, together with the morphological features shown by the sedimentary fills of the mammal localities, permit an overall interpretation of these deposits as vertebrate traps. The study of these localities should offer a significant contribution to our understanding of the formation pattern of trap-like paleontological sites - which so far have been typically reported in karstic-type systems -, as well as an important source of paleobiological information about numerous vertebrate groups.Nuestro sincero agradecimiento a la Comunidad de Madrid (Dirección General de Patrimonio Histórico Artístico) por su apoyo a lo largo de todos estos años. A la empresa TOLSA, SA por su inapreciable ayuda en todas las circunstancias. National Geographic Society financió la campaña de Batallones-1 del año 2001. Son muchos los compañeros y amigos que han participado en las excavaciones, y en los diferentes proyectos de investigación de estos yacimientos, a todos ellos nuestro más sincero agradecimiento y nuestros mejores deseos, con la esperanza de seguir contando con su valiosa colaboración. Este trabajo se ha realizado en el marco de los proyectos de investigación MEC 2005-03900/BTE y CGL2006-01773/BTE, y del Grupo de Investigación CAM-UCM 910607.Peer reviewe

Pdleontology of the system of Miocene mam mal sites ofthe Cerro de los Batallones, Madrid Basin

Six Upper Vallesian (Upper Miocene) fossil vertebrate sites have been found in the Cerro de los Batallones (Torrejón de Velasco, Madrid). These localities contain an exceptionally rich, varied and well-preserved vertebrate fauna. Carnivore species are strikingly well represented at Batallones 1 and 3, and large herbivore species, such as mastodons, rhinoceros and giraffes, are common in Batallones 2, 4 and 5. The mammalian association, together with the morphological features shown by the sedimentary fills of the mammal sites, enables an overall interpretation of these deposits as vertebrate traps. The study of these localities should offer a significant contribution to our understanding of the formation pattern of trap-like paleontological sites which so far have been typically reported in karstic-type systems. These new sites also will contribute to a better knowledge of some of the most scarce mammal groups in the Miocene fossil recor

Architecture and performance of the KM3NeT front-end firmware

The KM3NeT infrastructure consists of two deep-sea neutrino telescopes being deployed in the Mediterranean Sea. The telescopes will detect extraterrestrial and atmospheric neutrinos by means of the incident photons induced by the passage of relativistic charged particles through the seawater as a consequence of a neutrino interaction. The telescopes are configured in a three-dimensional grid of digital optical modules, each hosting 31 photomultipliers. The photomultiplier signals produced by the incident Cherenkov photons are converted into digital information consisting of the integrated pulse duration and the time at which it surpasses a chosen threshold. The digitization is done by means of time to digital converters (TDCs) embedded in the field programmable gate array of the central logic board. Subsequently, a state machine formats the acquired data for its transmission to shore. We present the architecture and performance of the front-end firmware consisting of the TDCs and the state machine