A mammalian lost world in southwest Europe during the late Pliocene.
BACKGROUND
Over the last decades, there has been an increasing interest on the chronology, distribution and mammal taxonomy (including hominins) related with the faunal turnovers that took place around the Pliocene-Pleistocene transition [ca. 1.8 mega-annum (Ma)] in Europe. However, these turnovers are not fully understood due to: the precarious nature of the period's fossil record; the "non-coexistence" in this record of many of the species involved; and the enormous geographical area encompassed. This palaeontological information gap can now be in part bridged with data from the Fonelas P-1 site (Granada, Spain), whose faunal composition and late Upper Pliocene date shed light on some of the problems concerning the timing and geography of the dispersals.


RESULTS
This rich fossil site yielded 32 species of mammals, among which autochthonous species of the European Upper Villafranchian coexist with canids (Canis), ovibovines (Praeovibos) and giraffids (Mitilanotherium) from Asia. Typical African species, such as the brown hyena (Hyaena brunnea) and the bush pig (Potamochoerus) are also present.


CONCLUSIONS
This assemblage is taxonomically and palaeobiogeographically unique, and suggests that fewer dispersal events than was previously thought (possibly only one close to 2.0 Ma) are responsible for the changes seen around 1.9-1.7 Ma ago in the fauna of the two continents.
Departamento de Investigación en Recursos Geológicos, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Madrid, Spain. a.arribas@igme.es
Alfonso
A
Arribas
Guiomar
G
Garrido
César
C
Viseras
Jesús M
JM
Soria
Sila
S
Pla
José G
JG
Solano
Miguel
M
Garcés
Elisabet
E
Beamud
José S
JS
Carrión
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002980:Climate; D005060:Europe; D005580:Fossils; D005843:Geography; D008322:Mammals / Q000145:classification*; D010163:Paleontology / Q000145:classification*; D011157:Population Dynamics