Dpto. Ciencias de la Vida

La evolución de los tiranosauroideos, uno de los grupos de dinosaurios carnívoros más ubicuo del Mesozoico, se produjo a lo largo de 100 millones de años. Tuvieron una amplia distribución geográfica y algunos de sus representantes están entre los carnívoros terrestres más grandes que han existido. En este trabajo abordamos cuestiones sobre la paleobiogeografía del grupo aplicando un modelo de reconstrucción de rangos geográficos ancestrales basado en máxima probabilidad. Nuestro estudio apoya un origen Eurasiático del grupo y posteriores radiaciones que los extendieron también por Norteamérica. Los tiranosauroideos más derivados de finales del Cretácico posiblemente tengan un origen americano-europeo, desde donde radiaron en diferentes ocasiones a Asia. Algunos autores han planteado la posibilidad de que existieran tiranosauroideos en Gondwana. Aquí proponemos un análisis cladístico preliminar que incluye un espécimen australiano recientemente descubierto y muy controvertido (NMV_P1860689). Si la presencia del grupo se confirmase, al menos un linaje de tiranosauroideos podría haber pasado a Gondwana durante el final del Cretácico Inferior.

The exceptional fossil sites of Cerro de los Batallones (Madrid Basin, Spain) contain abundant remains of Late Miocene mammals. From these fossil assemblages, we have inferred diet, resource partitioning and habitat of three sympatric carnivorous mammals based on stable isotopes. The carnivorans include three apex predators: two sabre-toothed cats (Felidae) and a bear dog (Amphicyonidae). Herbivore and carnivore carbon isotope (δ(13)C) values from tooth enamel imply the presence of a woodland ecosystem dominated by C(3) plants. δ(13)C values and mixing-model analyses suggest that the two sabre-toothed cats, one the size of a leopard and the other the size of a tiger, consumed herbivores with similar δ(13)C values from a more wooded portion of the ecosystem. The two sabre-toothed cats probably hunted prey of different body sizes, and the smaller species could have used tree cover to avoid encounters with the larger felid. For the bear dog, δ(13)C values are higher and differ significantly from those of the sabre-toothed cats, suggesting a diet that includes prey from more open woodland. Coexistence of the sabre-toothed cats and the bear dog was likely facilitated by prey capture in different portions of the habitat. This study demonstrates the utility of stable isotope analysis for investigating the behaviour and ecology of members of past carnivoran guilds.

La fi logenia de Rhinocerotidae (Perissodactyla) ha sido tema de debate durante años. Sin embargo, algunos taxones han sido revisados recientemente. Uno de los grupos mejor conocidos es la subtribu Elasmotheriina, un grupo especializado de rinocerontes extendido a lo largo de Eurasia y África. Su historia paleobiogeográfi ca es compleja y no fácilmente explicable. En este trabajo presentamos el árbol fi logenético del grupo, basado en una hipótesis cladística y los rangos paleobioestratigráfi cos publicados, que apunta hacia un pico de diversidad del grupo a principios del Mioceno superior. Este hecho está posiblemente relacionado con la expansión de la continentalización del clima a lo largo de Asia Central durante el Vallesiense y la vicarianza provocada por estos cambios. Además, se ha realizado una reconstrucción biogeográfi ca utilizando el Análisis de Evolución de Rangos Geográfi cos por Máxima Probabilidad (LAGRANGE) recientemente desarrollado, para examinar los patrones de diversifi cación de estos "rinocerontes corredores" a través de sus rangos geográfi cos ancestrales.

Designed for palaeontology courses in biology and geology departments, this leading text will also be of interest to enthusiasts who want to experience the flavour of how the research is done. The book is strongly phylogenetic, and this makes it a source of current data on vertebrate evolution. Study aids include key questions, research to be done and recommendations of further reading and websites.

Comunicación presentada en el XIII Encuentro en Jóvenes Investigadores en Paleontología (XIII EJIP) - XIII Meeting of Early-Stage Researchers in Paleontology (XIII EJIP): Cercedilla, 15 - 18 de Abril de 2015[EN] Paleontological reconstructions are a powerful tool to transmit current scientific knowledge and/or hypotheses to the general public. Here we present the scientific illustration of the Messel fossil site included in the new exhibit of the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt (Germany). The Messel ecosystem has been divided into six different habitats with their own floral and faunal communities. These are: the maar’s shoreline and open water area, a diurnal view of the canopy, a nocturnal view of the same spot, the ground of the rainforest, a forest clearing, and the swampy neighboring areas. An additional overview of the entire Messel area was also created.[ES] Las reconstrucciones paleontológicas son una potente herramienta para transmitir el conocimiento y/o hipótesis cientí...

La fi logenia de Rhinocerotidae (Perissodactyla) ha sido tema de debate durante años. Sin embargo, algunos taxones han sido revisados recientemente. Uno de los grupos mejor conocidos es la subtribu Elasmotheriina, un grupo especializado de rinocerontes extendido a lo largo de Eurasia y África. Su historia paleobiogeográfi ca es compleja y no fácilmente explicable. En este trabajo presentamos el árbol fi logenético del grupo, basado en una hipótesis cladística y los rangos paleobioestratigráfi cos publicados, que apunta hacia un ...

The Cerro de los Batallones fossil sites, Upper Miocene (MN10), are located in the south of the province of Madrid (Spain). Batallones-1 and Batallones-3 have an unusually high proportion of fossil carnivores (over 98.5% of the remains determined as mammals are carnivores) and both localities have been interpreted as carnivore traps. The Batallones-3 carnivores association comprises two amphicionids (Magericyon sp and Thaumastocyon sp), one ursid (Indarctos sp), three felids (Machairodus aphanistus, Promegantereon ...

En este trabajo se incluyen fósiles no descritos de Estrepouy (Francia) depositados en la Universidad Claude Bernard (Lyon, France), que previamente habían sido identificados por Antoine et al. (2000). El registro de rinocerontes de Estrepouy está representado por tres especies: Protaceratherium minutum, ‘Plesiaceratherium’ platyodon y Diaceratherium aurelianense.

In La Rioja the widespread ichnological record of dinosaurs ranges from the Berriasian to the Aptian age (Early Cretaceous). There, due to the high palaeodiversity, several evidences of gregarious behaviour can be observed in different types of footprints (sauropods, theropods and ornithopods). Moreover, due to the huge dimensions of some sites, different types of dinosaur tracks representing gregarious behaviour can be found very close in space and time. All these evidences have been compiled and analysed, obtaining an overview of this type of behaviour in relation to the type of trackmaker. Twenty-eight evidences of gregariousness have been found, of which nine are of sauropod footprints, twelve of theropod, seven of ornithopod, and one of unknown bipedal dinosaurs. These data have been further divided into accumulations and sets of parallel trackways. In sauropod footprints the main evidence is represented by the accumulations of tracks made by herds of individuals of the same size. In ornithopod footprints there are accumulations and parallel trackways of large size individuals and even family groups. In theropod footprints, sets of parallel trackways of few individuals of the same size (from small to medium) are the most common evidence and there are no data about gregariousness in large theropod footprints. Thus, data were obtained on different sizes of herds, size of individuals and structure of the groups depending on different ichnotypes, providing information about important palaeoecological aspects of their trackmakers, such as population structure.

As a consequence of the growth of the Antarctic ice-sheet during the middle Miocene, a global decrease of temperatures and an associated increase in aridity provoked several environmental changes all around the world. Such environmental variations can be detected in the continental record of the mammalian prey community structure using a synecological approach. Because of the good quality of its faunas, the rich Aragonian vertebrate fossil record from the Madrid Basin (Spain) appears as a good candidate to explore these environmental changes. In order to analyse the climatic evolution of the Iberian Peninsula associated to the Global Cooling Event, two classic palaeosynecological methodologies (cenograms and body size diversity), based on body-size community structure, were applied to 6 fossil sites from the Madrid Basin, ranging over 2 million years (15.5-13.5 Ma). To establish a comparative framework, we used the ecological faunal data from 100 modern localities uniformly distributed all around the world. Our palaeoenvironmental inference is based on multivariate discriminant analysis of the dataset containing both modern and fossil mammals. Finally, we can conclude that the Aragonian mammalian assemblage from the Madrid Basin showed a predominance of semiarid environments with pulses of higher aridity in biozones Dc, E and F associated with the Global Cooling Event of the middle Miocene.

The Ventian land mammal age includes most of the Spanish faunas assigned to the biochronologic unit MN 13. It is correlatable with the Messinian, although it may include, in its latest part, early Pliocene faunas. We propose that the Ventian begins with the fi rst occurrence of the Muridae genus Stephanomys (7 Ma, paleomagnetic dating from El Bunker, Teruel basin), well recorded in Teruel basin, and ends with the appearance of Promimomys (ca. 5 Ma), also registered in the Teruel basin. We suggest a new reorganization of the Ventian. The fi rst subdivision corresponds to the zone M (Dam et al., 2001). The second, zone N, is proposed here for the fi rst time, being equivalent to the zone with Celadensia (Mein et al., 1990; Dam et al., 2006) plus the part of the zone with two Paraethomys (Dam et al., 2006) in which Celadensia has dissappeared and still does not register Promimomys. The Ventian is now accurately recognized with quite precise boundaries and divisions, so that it can be easily recognized RESUMEN La edad de mamíferos terrestres Ventiense incluye la mayoría de las faunas españolas de la unidad biocronológica MN 13. Se correlaciona con el Messiniense, aunque su parte fi nal puede incluir faunas de edad Plioceno basal. El Ventiense comienza con la primera aparición del genero de Muridae Stephanomys (7 Ma; datación paleomagnética de El Bunker, cuenca de Teruel), y termina con la aparición de Promimomys (ca. 5 Ma), ambas registradas en la cuenca de Teruel. En este trabajo proponemos una nueva organización del Ventiense. Una primera división correspondiente a la zona M (Dam et al., 2001), y una nueva zona denominada N, equivalente a la zona con Celadensia (Mein et al., 1990; Dam et al., 2001) más la parte de la zona con dos Paraethomys (Dam et al., 2006) en la que Celadensia ha desaparecido y aún no se registra Promimomys. El Ventiense es ahora reconocido con límites y divisiones precisas, de forma que puede ser fácilmente reconocible en las cuencas continentales Ibéricas brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk