PBDB Collection

Huelago Road, Macrofauna (Pliocene to of Spain)

Also known as Huelago-carretera

Where: Andalucia, Spain (37.4° N, 3.3° W: paleocoordinates 37.5° N, 3.5° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

When: Pliocene to Pliocene (5.3 - 0.0 Ma)

• Date: MN16b, Late Villafranchian, Plio-Pleistocene boundary, Villanyian/Biharian. The Huelago section is 67m thick. The site occurs at the base of the carbonate span of the upper unit, built up by a set of siltstones and lacustrine carbonates that crop out extensively in the surroundings of the site.

Environment/lithology: lacustrine

• At the top, a 2-15m stetch of palustrine facies is developed. This stretch contains the Huelago Road site, and is made up of a succession of a) massive and thinning upwards silty sands with intraclasts at its base and b) grayish-greenish silts with gastropods, ostracods, small bivalves and several cycled root-marks that evolve to calcrete levels.

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Collection methods: bulk,

• Excavated in 1984. Four pits were dug - A (14m2), B (14m2), C (18m2) and D (12m2), D is some 5m further down the slope and contained fewer bones than the others (175, 187, 285 and 67 specimens respectively). All pits were 2.9-3m deep.

Primary reference: M. T. Alberdi and B. Sanchez-Chillon. 1998. The Huelago-Road site. In Agusti, J., Oms, O. and Martin-Suarez, E., 1998, The Plio-Pleistocene vertebrate succession of the Guadix-Baza Basin (SE Spain), European Quaternary Mammal Research Association (INQUA-SEQS) 64-65 [A. Turner/H. O'Regan/H. O'Regan]more details

Purpose of describing collection: biostratigraphic analysis

PaleoDB collection 35038: authorized by Alan Turner, entered by Hannah O'Regan on 27.10.2003, edited by Mark Uhen

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• The mollusc and fish records have been sub-divided into levels within the site but the macromammal list has not. This is the composite mammal list and includes micromammals (also subdivided, but only into levels, e.g. level 4 could be associated with mollusc layer 4a, 4b or 4c (or all of them)). Individual levels have been entered separately for molluscs and fish (see subcollections).

Show authors, comments, and common names

Reptilia
Testudines - Testudinidae	Testudinidae indet. Testudinidae indet. Batsch 1788 turtle
Mammalia
Proboscidea - Elephantidae	cf. Mammuthus meridionalis⁴ cf. Mammuthus meridionalis⁴ Nesti 1825 mammoth 2 incomplete lamina, 1 deciduous tooth, some enamel fragments, 1 definate tooth and a tarsal.
Rodentia - Muridae	Castillomys crusafonti, Stephanomys cf. balcellsi, Apodemus sp. Castillomys crusafonti Michaux 1969 mouse Castillomys crusafonti crusafonti Stephanomys cf. balcellsi mouse Apodemus sp. Kaup 1829 Eurasian field mouse
Rodentia - Cricetidae	Mimomys cappettai, Mimomys reidi, Mimomys aff. pliocaenicus Mimomys cappettai vole Mimomys reidi vole Mimomys aff. pliocaenicus Forsyth Major 1889 vole
Rodentia - Castoridae	Castor sp. Castor sp. Linnaeus 1758 beaver
Lagomorpha - Leporidae	Oryctolagus sp. Oryctolagus sp. Lilljeborg 1874 rabbit
Lagomorpha - Ochotonidae	Prolagus sp. Prolagus sp. Pomel 1853 pika
Theriamorpha - Talpidae	Talpidae indet. Talpidae indet. Fischer de Waldheim 1817 mole
Theriamorpha - Soricidae	Soricidae indet.¹ Soricidae indet.¹ Fischer 1814 shrew
Placentalia -	Carnivora indet. Carnivora indet. Bowdich 1821 carnivoran
Artiodactyla - Giraffidae	"Mitilanotherium inexspectatum" = Palaeotragus inexspectatus⁶ "Mitilanotherium inexspectatum" = Palaeotragus inexspectatus⁶ Samson and Radulesco 1966 giraffe
Artiodactyla - Bovidae	Gazella borbonica³, Leptobos cf. elatus³, cf. Hesperidoceras merlae³, Gazellospira torticornis³ Gazella borbonica³ gazelle 2 horn fragments Leptobos cf. elatus³ antelope 1 upper tooth row (P3-M3), associated upper P4 and P2, 1 lower P3-M3, 1 lower M3 and 1 lower M2. cf. Hesperidoceras merlae³ antelope Ovibovini indet. (cf. Hesperidoceras merlae), 1 lower P4. Gazellospira torticornis³ antelope 6 horncore fragments, 9 upper molars, 5 lower molars, 1 upper P4, 1 upper P3.
Artiodactyla - Cervidae	Cervidae indet.³, Eucladoceros cf. senezensis³, Croizetoceros ramosus³ Cervidae indet.³ Gray 1821 deer medium sized, 2 mandible fragments with tooth roots. Eucladoceros cf. senezensis³ deer 1 upper M3. Croizetoceros ramosus³ Croizet and Jobert 1828 deer 7 antler fragments, 1 M1-2.
Perissodactyla - Equidae	"Equus stenonis" = Allohippus stenonis² "Equus stenonis" = Allohippus stenonis² Cocchi 1867 horse Equus stenonis livenzovensis (big, strong, primitive animal, Alberdi 1998). 22 upper teeth (2 P2, 2 P3, 2 P4, 4 P3-4, 2 M1, 2 M2, 1 M1-2, 6 M3), 21 lower teeth (5 P2, 1 P3, 9 P3-4, 2 M1, 1 M2, 3 M3) and 3 deciduous teeth.
Perissodactyla - Rhinocerotidae	Stephanorhinus cf. etruscus⁵ Stephanorhinus cf. etruscus⁵ Falconer 1868 rhinoceros 7 lower teeth (1 P3, 1M2, 2M3, 1M2-3, 2 mandible fragments - one with P3-M3, fragments of other molars) and 1 upper P4.

¹Alberdi et al. 1989; ²Alberdi and Ruiz-Bustos 1989; ³Azanza and Morales 1989; ⁴Mazo 1989; ⁵O'Regan 2003; ⁶van der Made and Morales 2011