Research paper
Amphibians and squamate reptiles from the stratigraphic unit Xb of El Salt (Middle Palaeolithic; Alcoy, Spain): palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic Implications
RAFAEL MARQUINA
Grup d’Investigació en Paleontologia de Vertebrats Cenozoics (PVC-GIUV). Àrea de Paleontologia, Universitat de València, Dr. Moliner, 50, 46100, Valencia, Spain. rafael.marquina@uv.es
Museu Valencià d´Història Natural, L´Hort de Feliu, P. O. Box 8460, Alginet, 46018, Valencia, Spain.
Corresponding author
ANA FAGOAGA
Grup d’Investigació en Paleontologia de Vertebrats Cenozoics (PVC-GIUV). Àrea de Paleontologia, Universitat de València, Dr. Moliner, 50, 46100, Valencia, Spain. ana.fagoaga@uv.es
Museu Valencià d´Història Natural, L´Hort de Feliu, P. O. Box 8460, Alginet, 46018, Valencia, Spain.
VICENTE D. CRESPO
Grup d’Investigació en Paleontologia de Vertebrats Cenozoics (PVC-GIUV). Àrea de Paleontologia, Universitat de València, Dr. Moliner, 50, 46100, Valencia, Spain. vicente.crespo@uv.es
Museu Valencià d´Història Natural, L´Hort de Feliu, P. O. Box 8460, Alginet, 46018, Valencia, Spain.
FRANCISCO JAVIER RUIZ-SÁNCHEZ
Grup d’Investigació en Paleontologia de Vertebrats Cenozoics (PVC-GIUV). Àrea de Paleontologia, Universitat de València, Dr. Moliner, 50, 46100, Valencia, Spain. francisco.ruiz@uv.es
Museu Valencià d´Història Natural, L´Hort de Feliu, P. O. Box 8460, Alginet, 46018, Valencia, Spain.
INCYT-UPSE, Universidad Estatal Península de Santa Elena, 7047, Santa Elena, Ecuador.
SALVADOR BAILON
MNHN, CNRS, «Histoire naturelle de l’Homme préhistorique», UMR 7194, Sorbonne universités, 1, rue René-Panhard, 75013 Paris, France. salvador.bailon@mnhm.fr
UMR 7209, «Archéozoologie, archéobotanique: sociétés, pratiques, environnements», Sorbonne universités, MNHN, CNRS, 55, rue Buffon, CP 55, 75005 Paris, France.
CRISTO M. HERNÁNDEZ
U.D.I. de Prehistoria, Arqueología e Historia Antigua, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de La Laguna, Campus de Guajara, 38071, La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. chergomw@gmail.com
BERTILA GALVÁN
U.D.I. de Prehistoria, Arqueología e Historia Antigua, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de La Laguna, Campus de Guajara, 38071, La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. bgalvan@ull.es
ABSTRACT
The locality of El Salt (Middle Paleolithic, Alcoy, Spain) is mainly known by having one of the youngest Neanderthals records of the southeastern Iberian Peninsula. In this work, we have analysed the herpetofaunal fossils from the upper part of stratigraphic unit Xb, dated at 52.3 ± 4.6 ka (MIS 3). The faunal list is composed by three taxa of anurans (Alytes obstetricans, Bufo bufo s.l., and Epidalea calamita), one taxon of blanid (Blanus cinereus s.l.), two taxa of lizards (Chalcides bedriagai and cf. Acanthodactylus erythrurus), and one taxon of snakes (cf. Rhinechis scalaris). All of them have a broad distribution range in the Mediterranean, with wide ecological preferences range. This association of amphibians and reptiles from the Unit Xb suggests a slightly warmer and more humid climate than the current one; with an annual temperature range less accused and a similar seasonality of the rainfall than it is recorded nowadays in Alcoy. These results may correspond to a warm period (Daansgard-Oeschger event) during the MIS 3. A landscape composed by bushland and forest patched in which some open areas were present, with presence of permanent water bodies in the nearby areas, would characterize the surroundings areas of El Salt.
Key words: Amphibia, Squamata, Middle Palaeolithic, El Salt, Iberian Peninsula.
How to cite: Marquina, R., Fagoaga, A., Crespo, V.D., Ruiz-Sánchez, F.J., Bailon, S., Hernández, C.M. & Galván, B. 2017. Amphibians and squamate reptiles from the stratigraphic unit Xb of El Salt (Middle Palaeolithic; Alcoy, Spain): palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic implications. Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, 32 (2), 291-312.
Received 10 December 2016, Accepted 22 May 2017, Published 31 December 2017
https://doi.org/10.7203/sjp.32.2.17045
