Els Casots (Miocene of Spain)

Also known as els Casots; Subirats; Cal Sutxet farmhouse

Where: Catalonia, Spain (41.4° N, 1.8° E: paleocoordinates 41.6° N, 0.5° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: MN4 mammal zone, Detritic-Carbonated Unit of Subirats Formation, Langhian (16.0 - 13.8 Ma)

• Detritic-Carbonated Unit of Subirats - MN4; zone C from the Early Aragonian of the Calatayud-Daroca Basin,with an estimated age of 16.5–16.3 Ma

•Considering these data, the dominantly reverse polarity interval recorded in the cores is best correlated to chron C5Br (15.974–15.160 Ma; boundaries after Ogg 2020). Coupled with the aforementioned correlation to Aragonian subzone Cb (16.15–15.94 Ma; Van der Meulen et al. 2012), this results in an estimated age of ~15.9 Ma for the site of els Casots.

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: lacustrine; limestone and mudstone

• Includes massive limestones corresponding to the center of the lake bottom, a variety of mudstone deposits corresponding to more marginal and shallow areas of the lake, and gravels and conglomerates from the external-most areas

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: coprolite

Collected by M. Crusafort, T. Adell, ICP teams in 1989-1994, 2018-present

• The fossiliferous area of els Casots is huge, comprising all the fields around the farmhouses of Cal Solà and Cal Sutxet, but only a small area of about 6,200 m2 is protected. For the moment being, a small surface of just 400 m2 has been excavated, most of it during the 1990s field campaigns.

•Field campaigns since 2018 have focused on the excavation of level J, a bone bed that has yielded partially articulated specimens. Furthermore, well-preserved carnivoran coprolites and numerous wood fragments have been found at level J.

Primary reference: J. L. Díaz Aráez, M. Delfino, A. H. Luján, J. Fortuny, F. Bernardini and D. M. Alba. 2017. New remains of Diplocynodon (Crocodylia: Diplocynodontidae) from the Early Miocene of the Iberian Peninsula. Comptes Rendus Palevol 16(1):12-26 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion/P. Mannion]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 180192: authorized by Philip Mannion, entered by Philip Mannion on 11.07.2016, edited by Mark Uhen and Evangelos Vlachos

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

unclassified
  -
Aves
 Accipitriformes - Accipitridae
cf. Aquila sp.1 Linnaeus 1758 eagle
cf. Circaetus sp.1 Vieillot 1816 hawk
 Strigiformes - Strigidae
Strigidae indet.1 Vigors 1825 true owl
 Galliformes - Phasianidae
Miophasianus altus1 Milne-Edwards 1871 pheasant
Reptilia
 Crocodylia -
Diplocynodon ratelii Pomel 1847 crocodilian
cranial remains (IPS951,IPS14721, IPS35073, IPS35074 and IPS30504), fragmentarycranial and mandibular bones (IPS9427 to IPS9429, IPS9433, IPS24916, IPS30510a, IPS35078), about 150 teeth (IPS9446a, IPS9447, IPS9450, IPS9451, IPS9554,IPS24148, IPS30510c, IPS35077, and uncatalogued specimens), several vertebral bodies and fragments (IPS9430 to IPS9432, IPS9445, IPS30510b), and 50 osteoderms (IPS9426, IPS9444, IPS30505 to IPS30508)
 Squamata -
Scincoidea indet.1 Oppel 1811 squamates
Gekkota indet.1 Cuvier 1817 squamates
 Squamata - Varanidae
cf. Varanidae indet.1 Hardwicke and Gray 1824 monitor lizard
 Squamata - Anguidae
cf. Ophisaurus sp.1 Daudin 1803 glass lizard
Pseudopus sp.1 Merrem 1820 legless lizard
 Squamata - Amphisbaenidae
Blanus sp.1 Wagler 1830 worm lizard
 Squamata - Lacertidae
Lacertidae indet.1 Bonaparte 1831 squamates
cf. Amblyolacerta sp.1 Roček 1984 squamates
 Squamata -
Scolecophidia indet.1 Duméril and Bibron 1844 snake
 Squamata - Boidae
Erycinae indet.1 Bonaparte 1825 sand boa
Python sp.1 Daudin 1803 boa
 Squamata - Viperidae
Viperidae indet.1 Oppel 1811 viper
 Squamata - Crotalidae
Vipera sp.1 Laurenti 1768 pit viper
 Squamata - Colubridae
Colubrinae indet.1 Oppel 1811 colubrid snake
 Testudines - Testudinidae
Testudo sp.1 Linnaeus 1758 turtle
Titanochelon sp.1 Pérez-García and Vlachos 2014 turtle
 Testudines - Geoemydidae
Ptychogaster sp.1 Pomel 1847 turtle
Mammalia
 Theriamorpha - Herpetotheriidae
Amphiperatherium frequens1 von Meyer 1846 marsupial
 Proboscidea - Gomphotheriidae
 Proboscidea - Deinotheriidae
Prodeinotherium cf. bavaricum1 von Meyer 1831 deinothere
 Perissodactyla - Rhinocerotidae
Rhinocerotidae sp.1 Gray 1821 rhinoceros
Dromoceratherium mirallesi1 Crusafont et al. 1955 rhinoceros
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
Anchitherium sp.1 von Meyer 1844 anchitheriine horse
 Artiodactyla - Cainotheriidae
Cainotherium miocaenicum1 Crusafont-Pairo 1955 even-toed ungulate
 Artiodactyla - Tragulidae
Dorcatherium crassum1 Lartet 1851 chevrotain
 Artiodactyla - Cervidae
Procervulus cf. dichotomus1 Gervais 1849 deer
 Artiodactyla - Lagomerycidae
 Artiodactyla - Palaeomerycidae
Ampelomeryx ginsburgi1 Duranthon et al. 1995 ruminant
 Artiodactyla - Bovidae
Eotragus noyei1 antelope
 Artiodactyla - Cebochoeridae
Choeromorus ibericus1 even-toed ungulate
 Artiodactyla - Suidae
"Eurolistriodon adelli" = Bunolistriodon1
"Eurolistriodon adelli" = Bunolistriodon1 pig
 Carnivora - Felidae
"Pseudaelurus lorteti" = Miopanthera lorteti1
"Pseudaelurus lorteti" = Miopanthera lorteti1 Gaillard 1899 cat
 Carnivora - Hyaenidae
cf. Protictitherium sp.1 Kretzoi 1938 hyaena
 Carnivora - Viverridae
 Carnivora - Amphicyonidae
Amphicyonidae sp.1 Haeckel 1886 bear-dog
 Carnivora - Ursidae
 Carnivora - Mustelidae
Paralutra sp.1 Roman and Viret 1934 otter
Martes sp.1 Frisch 1775 marten
Iberictis buloti2 Ginsburg and Morales 1992 mustelid carnivore
 Theriamorpha - Soricidae
 Theriamorpha - Erinaceidae
Galerix symeonidisi1 Doukas 1986 hedgehog
 Theriamorpha - Erinaceoidae
cf. Plesiodimylus sp.1 Gaillard 1897 placental
 Rodentia - Cricetidae
Democricetodon sp.1 Fahlbusch 1964 mouse
Democricetodon hispanicus1 Freudenthal 1967 mouse
"Democricetodon gracilis" = Democricetodon minor gracilis1 Fahlbusch 1964 mouse
Megacricetodon primitivus1 Mein and Freudenthal 1971 mouse
Melissiodon dominans1 Dehm 1950 mouse
 Rodentia - Eomyidae
 Rodentia - Gliridae
Glirudinus modestus1 Dehm 1950 dormouse
Muscardinus sp.1 Kaup 1829 dormouse
Peridyromys murinus1 Pomel 1853 dormouse
Bransatoglis sp.1 Hugueney 1967 dormouse
Microdyromys monspeliensis1 Aguilar 1977 dormouse
Pseudodryomys ibericus1 de Bruijn 1966 dormouse
 Rodentia - Sciuridae
Palaeosciurus sp.1 Pomel 1853 squirrel
"Atlantoxerus idubedensis" = Atlantoxerus blacki1 de Bruijn 1967 squirrel
 Lagomorpha - Ochotonidae
Lagopsis sp.1 Schlosser 1894 pika
 Chiroptera -
Chiroptera indet.1 Blumenbach 1779 bat
Amphibia
 Salientia -
Latonia sp.1 von Meyer 1843 frog
 Salientia - Bufonidae
Bufotes viridis1 Laurenti 1768 toad
 Salientia - Ranidae
Pelophylax sp.1 Fitzinger 1843 frog
 Caudata - Urodela
Urodela indet.1 salamander