Small vertebrates from a Holocene gravelly deposit at El Salt (Alcoi, Alicante)

  1. FAGOAGA, Ana 1
  2. MARQUINA-BLASCO, Rafael 1
  3. GRACIA-MONFERRER, Daniel
  4. MARTÍNEZ-ORTÍ2, Alberto 2
  5. VIDAL-MATUTANO, Paloma 3
  6. SÁNCHEZ LÓPEZ, Laura
  7. MALLOL, Carolina 4
  8. M. HERNÁNDEZ, Cristo 4
  9. GALVÁN, Bertila 4
  10. BAILON, Salvador 5
  11. RUIZ-SÁNCHEZ, Francisco J. 1
  12. LAPLANA, César 6
  1. 1 Universitat de València
    info

    Universitat de València

    Valencia, España

    ROR https://ror.org/043nxc105

  2. 2 Museu Valencià d’Història Natural & i\Biotaxa
  3. 3 Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
    info

    Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

    Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España

    ROR https://ror.org/01teme464

  4. 4 Universidad de La Laguna
    info

    Universidad de La Laguna

    San Cristobal de La Laguna, España

    ROR https://ror.org/01r9z8p25

  5. 5 Histoire naturelle de l´Homme préhistorique
  6. 6 Museo Arqueológico Regional
    info

    Museo Arqueológico Regional

    Madrid, España

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Journal:
Spanish journal of palaeontology

ISSN: 2255-0550

Year of publication: 2021

Issue Title: SPANISH JOURNAL OF PALAEONTOLOGY

Volume: 36

Issue: 1

Pages: 51-76

Type: Article

DOI: 10.7203/SJP.36.1.20307 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: Spanish journal of palaeontology

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Abstract

The small-vertebrates’ assemblage recovered comes from Units I to IV from El Salt site (Alcoi, Spain). The sample is composed by nearly 310 remains, and includes one toad (Epidalea calamita), two lizards (Lacertidae indet. and Chalcides cf. bedriagai), two snakes (Coronella cf. girondica and cf. Coronella sp.), two insectivores (Crocidura sp. and Sorex sp.), one lagomorph (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and seven rodent taxa (Arvicola sapidus, Microtus sp., M. arvalis, M. cabrerae, M. duodecimcostatus, Apodemus sylvaticus, and Eliomys quercinus). All the species described in the present work are consistent with a Late Pleistocene-Holocene chronology. The presence of M. cabrerae (absent in the Middle Pleistocene) and M. duodecimcostatus (absent in the Mediterranean until the Late Pleistocene) seem to confirm this age. The presence of Neolithic pottery and M. arvalis in the same deposit is inconsistent from a biochronically point of view since this species was extirpated from this region at the end of the Late Pleistocene. Several taphonomic alterations related to transport within the small mammal remains have been identified. Further taphonomical and geoarchaeological work is needed to clarify the provenience of the studied faunal assemblages, which, given the high energy, erosional morphology and lithology of the sedimentary deposit, could have been reworked in a more recent time period.

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Funding information

This work has been possible thanks to the Sociedad Espa?ola de Paleontolog?a who has funded this project. Also, research at El Salt is funded by the Spanish Government project HAR2015-68321-P (MINECO FEDER/UE), Conselleria d?Educaci?, Investigaci?, Cultura i Esports and Museu Arqueol?gic Camil Visedo Molt?. The authors want to thank the editor Dr. Carlos Mart?nez P?rez (Universitat de Val?ncia, Valencia, Spain) and reviewers Dr. Sandra Ba?uls Cardona (Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain) and Dr. M?nica Fern?ndez Garc?a (Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain) for the corrections, suggestions and the constructive comments.

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Data source: Dialnet