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Mammalian Faunas as Indicators of Environmental and Climatic Changes in Spain during the Pliocene–Quaternary Transition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Sophie Montuire
Sophie Montuire*
Affiliation:
Biogéosciences-Dijon (UMR CNRS 5561) et Paléobiodiversité et Préhistoire (EPHE), Université de Bourgogne, Centre des Sciences de la Terre, 6 Bd. Gabriel, 21000, Dijon, France
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Abstract

The study of mammal communities provides useful knowledge of paleoenvironments and paleoclimates during the Quaternary Period, and better documentation about the main fossil sites is making this task easier. Paleoecological reconstructions of this study are based on (i) rodent evolution and species richness, (ii) the cenogram method, and (iii) methods for quantifying climatic parameters. These analyses applied to a Pliocene–Quaternary faunal sequence of Spain indicate that a climatic change occurred at the end of the Pliocene when considerable cooling led to the onset of the glacial–interglacial cycles. Subsequently, during the Quaternary Period, alternating environmental patterns occurred, with a rather open and arid environment during the cold phases that contrasts with a somewhat more closed and comparatively wet environment during warmer phases. These observations are generalized from Spain to the remainder of the continent, noting that climatic conditions were less harsh and more arid in Spain than elsewhere in Europe.

Keywords

Spainmammal faunasPliocene-Pleistocene transitioncenograms
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 52 , Issue 1 , July 1999 , pp. 129 - 137
Copyright
University of Washington

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