Research paper
Fossil micromammals of the early Pliocene locality of Almenara MB: biostratigraphical and palaeoecological implications
SAMUEL MANSINO
Departament de Geologia, Universitat de València, Doctor Moliner 50, 46100 Burjassot, Spain. samuel.mansino@uv.es
Museu Valencià d’Història Natural, L’Hort de Feliu, P.O. Box 8460, 46018 Alginet, Valencia, Spain.
Corresponding author
VICENTE DANIEL CRESPO
Departament de Geologia, Universitat de València, Doctor Moliner 50, 46100 Burjassot, Spain. vicente.crespo@uv.es
Museu Valencià d’Història Natural, L’Hort de Feliu, P.O. Box 8460, 46018 Alginet, Valencia, Spain.
MARÍA LÁZARO
Departament de Geologia, Universitat de València, Doctor Moliner 50, 46100 Burjassot, Spain. marialazaro16@hotmail.com
FRANCISCO JAVIER RUIZ- SÁNCHEZ
Departament de Geologia, Universitat de València, Doctor Moliner 50, 46100 Burjassot, Spain. francisco.ruiz@uv.es
Museu Valencià d’Història Natural, L’Hort de Feliu, P.O. Box 8460, 46018 Alginet, Valencia, Spain.
INCYT-UPSE, Universidad Estatal Península de Santa Elena, 7047, Santa Elena, Ecuador.
JUAN ABELLA
INCYT-UPSE, Universidad Estatal Península de Santa Elena, 7047, Santa Elena, Ecuador.
Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTA-ICP, Carrer de les Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193 Barcelona, Spain. juan.abella@gmail.com
PLINIO MONTOYA
Departament de Geologia, Universitat de València, Doctor Moliner 50, 46100 Burjassot, Spain. plinio.montoya@uv.es
ABSTRACT
In this work, we have studied the fossil rodent, insectivore and chiropteran faunas, of a new locality from the Almenara Casablanca karstic complex, named ACB MB (Castellón, east Spain). We consider an early Ruscinian age for this site, close to the Miocene/Pliocene boundary, and infer warm and relatively humid conditions from the analysis of the micromammal assemblage. We remark the presence of two species of Eliomys in ACB MB, rare in localities of this age, and the lack of any gerbil remains, fossil markers of faunal interchanges between Africa and Europe in the context of the Messinian Salinity Crisis, recorded in the nearby late Miocene site of ACB M.
Keywords: Biostratigraphy, palaeoecology, Miocene/Pliocene boundary, micromammal, Spain.
How to cite: Mansino, S., Crespo, V.D., Lázaro, M., Ruiz-Sánchez, F.J., Abella, J. & Montoya, P. 2016. Fossil micromammals of the early Pliocene locality of Almenara MB: biostratigraphical and palaeoecological implications. Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, 31 (2), 253-270.
Received 20 October 2015, Accepted 4 March 2016, Published 31 December 2016
https://doi.org/10.7203/sjp.31.2.17153
