Where: Palencia, Spain (42.3° N, 3.3° W: paleocoordinates 42.3° N, 3.3° W)

• coordinate estimated from map

When: Middle Pleistocene (0.8 - 0.1 Ma)

• The TE stratigraphic section comprises 16 stratigraphic levels from TE7 to TE21 that are grouped into three sedimentary phases. The lower phase (lower TE or TE-LRU) ranges from the bottom of the sequence up to the unit TE14 (TE7eTE14). The middle phase is composed of the TE15 to TE19 units. Finally, the upper phase comprises the TE20 and TE21 stratigraphic units. The lower phase (i.e., the Lower Red Unit) is extremely rich in faunal remains, including amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals (bats, rodents, insectivores, lagomorphs, in addition to large herbivores and carnivores). A detailed description of the exposed stratigraphic succession and the Lower Red Unit sediment composition can be found in Rosas et al. (2006).

•Small mammal remains are crucial in dating the TE-LRU as the oldest occupation in Atapuerca, i.e., pre-Jaramillo faunas (Cuenca- Bescós et al., 2010a). In particular, the arvicoline and insectivore associations suggest that TE-LRU is from the Early Pleistocene age and is at least as old as the localities of Fuente Nueva-3 and Barranco León in the GuadixeBaza basin (Granada, ca. 1.2e1.5 million years ago, Ma). This is consistent with the presence of the large-sized mustelid, Pannonictis nestii, which dates from the Early Pleistocene (García et al., 2008). Recent cosmogenic nuclide analysis dated the TE9 level tow1.2 Ma (Carbonell et al., 2008), and palaeomagnetism analysis show that the levels of TE-LRU have a reversed polarity (Parés et al., 2006), thus confirming the biostratigraphically inferred chronology.

Environment/lithology: terrestrial; lithology not reported

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils, microfossils

Preservation: anthropogenic

Primary reference: H.-A. Blain, J. M. Lopez-Garcia, and G. Cuenca-Bescos. 2011. A very diverse amphibian and reptile assemblage from the late Middle Pleistocene of the Sierra de Atapuerca (Sima del Elefante, Burgos, Northwestern Spain). Geobios 44:157-172 [E. Vlachos/E. Vlachos]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 205284: authorized by Evangelos Vlachos, entered by Evangelos Vlachos on 10.10.2019

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)