Research paper
The Ventian mammal age (Latest Miocene): present state
JORGE MORALES
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC). José Gutiérrez Abascal, 2. 28006 Madrid, Spain. jorge.morales@mncn.csic.es
Corresponding author
PABLO PELÁEZ-CAMPOMANES
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC). José Gutiérrez Abascal, 2. 28006 Madrid, Spain. mcnp177@mncn.csic.es
JUAN ABELLA
Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICP, Campus de la UAB s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain. juan.abella@icp.cat
PLINIO MONTOYA
Departament de Geologia, Àrea de Paleontologia, Universitat de València. Doctor Moliner, 50. 46100 Burjassot, Spain. Plinio.Montoya@uv.es
FRANCISCO J. RUIZ
Departament de Geologia, Àrea de Paleontologia, Universitat de València. Doctor Moliner, 50. 46100 Burjassot, Spain. francisco.ruiz@uv.es
GARY SCOTT
Berkeley Geochronology Center 2455 Ridge Road Berkeley Ca 94709, USA. gscott@bgc.org
JUAN L. CANTALAPIEDRA
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC). José Gutiérrez Abascal, 2. 28006 Madrid, Spain. jlopezcant@gmail.com
OSCAR SANISIDRO
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC). José Gutiérrez Abascal, 2. 28006 Madrid, Spain. oscarsanisidro@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The Ventian land mammal age includes most of the Spanish faunas assigned to the biochronologic unit MN 13. It is correlatable with the Messinian, although it may include, in its latest part, early Pliocene faunas. We propose that the Ventian begins with the first occurrence of the Muridae genus Stephanomys (7 Ma, paleomagnetic dating from El Bunker, Teruel basin), well recorded in Teruel basin, and ends with the appearance of Promimomys (ca. 5 Ma), also registered in the Teruel basin. We suggest a new reorganization of the Ventian. The first subdivision corresponds to the zone M (Dam et al., 2001). The second, zone N, is proposed here for the first time, being equivalent to the zone with Celadensia (Mein et al., 1990; Dam et al., 2006) plus the part of the zone with two Paraethomys (Dam et al., 2006) in which Celadensia has dissappeared and still does not register Promimomys. The Ventian is now accurately recognized with quite precise boundaries and divisions, so that it can be easily recognized in the Iberian continental basins with Mio-Pliocene sediments allowing refined intra- and inter-basin correlations.
Keywords: Biochronology, Iberian Peninsula, continental basins, Messinian.
How to cite: Morales, J., Peláez-Campomanes, P., Abella, J., Montoya, P., Gibert, L., Scott, G., Cantalapiedra, J.L. & Sanisidro, O. 2013. The Ventian mammal age (Latest Miocene): present state. Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, 28 (2), 149-160.
Received 06 May 2013, Accepted 21 October 2013, Published 31 December 2013
https://doi.org/10.7203/sjp.28.2.17849
