Sima del Elefante TE9a: Calabrian, Spain

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Mammalia - Primates - Cercopithecidae
Macaca sp. Lacépède 1799
Reptilia - Galliformes
Galliformes indet. Temminck 1820
Núñez-Lahuerta et al. 2021 1 specimen
Reptilia - Phasianidae
Palaeocryptonyx donnezani Deperet 1890
Núñez-Lahuerta et al. 2021 2 specimens
Reptilia
Aves indet. Linnaeus 1758
Núñez-Lahuerta et al. 2021 13 specimens
Reptilia - Charadriiformes
Charadriiformes indet. Huxley 1867
Núñez-Lahuerta et al. 2021 1 specimen
Reptilia - Accipitriformes - Accipitridae
Accipitridae indet. Viellot 1816
Núñez-Lahuerta et al. 2021 7 specimens
Aquila informal cf. heliaca/adalberti
Núñez-Lahuerta et al. 2021 17 specimens
Haliaeetus albicilla (Linnaeus 1758)
Núñez-Lahuerta et al. 2021 1 specimen
Reptilia - Anseriformes
Anseriformes indet. Wagler 1831
Núñez-Lahuerta et al. 2021 1 specimen
Reptilia - Passeriformes
Passeriformes indet. Linnaeus 1758
Núñez-Lahuerta et al. 2021 5 specimens
Reptilia - Passeriformes - Corvidae
Corvidae indet. Vigors 1825
Núñez-Lahuerta et al. 2021 6 specimens
Corvus pliocaenus (Portis 1887)
Núñez-Lahuerta et al. 2021 219 specimens
Reptilia - Testudines - Testudinidae
Testudo hermanni Gmelin 1789
see common names

Geography
Country:Spain State/province:Palencia County:Burgos
Coordinates: 42.3° North, 3.3° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:42.3° North, 3.4° West
Basis of coordinate:estimated from map
Altitude:980 meters
Time
Period: Quaternary Epoch: Pleistocene
Stage: Calabrian 10 m.y. bin: Cenozoic 6
Key time interval: Calabrian
Age range of interval: 1.8 - 0.774 m.y. ago
Age estimate: 1.22 ± 0.16 Ma (unknown) to 0.89 ± 0.07 Ma (other)
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy comments: 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.
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology: not reported
Environment:terrestrial indet.
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body,anthropogenic
Size of fossils:macrofossils,mesofossils,microfossils
Collection methods and comments
Collection methods:field collection,survey of museum collection,observed (not collected)
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Metadata
Database number:205225
Authorizer:E. Vlachos, M. Clapham Enterer:E. Vlachos, M. Clapham
Modifier:M. Clapham Research group:vertebrate
Created:2019-10-09 09:46:06 Last modified:2021-08-13 23:57:10
Access level:the public Released:2019-10-09 09:46:06
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:
70426. R. Blasco, H.-A. Blain, J. Rosell, J. C. Díez, R. Huguet, J. Rodríguez, J. L. Arsuaga, J. M. Bermúdez Castro, and E. Carbonell. 2011. Earliest evidence for human consumption of tortoises in the European Early Pleistocene from Sima del Elefante, Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain. Journal of Human Evolution 61(4):503-509 [E. Vlachos/E. Vlachos]

Secondary references:

77641 C. Núñez-Lahuerta, J. Galán, G. Cuenca-Bescós and R. Huguet. 2021. Birds from Sime del Elefante, Atapuerca, Spain: palaeoecological implications in the oldest human bearing levels of the Iberian Peninsula. Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia 127:453-484 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham]