Miocenene Mammals

This study revises the mammal-bearing stratigraphic succession of Cava Gentile, near Cessaniti (Calabria, southern Italy), with the aim of dating the Late Miocene fossiliferous succession by the integration of mammal biochronology with sedimentology, magnetostratigraphy and marine biostratigraphy. Since the first discovery of mammal remains at Cessaniti, the chronological framework of the sedimentary succession was based on the biochronological significance of the mammal assemblage and on the biostratigraphic characterisation of the capping unit. Chronological control of the sedimentary succession and the age range of the mammal faunal assemblage at Cessaniti is now possible by combining the mammal biochronological constraints with biostratigraphy and the characterisation of the magnetostratigraphy of the sedimentary succession. Our study allows the conclusion that: i) an overall transgressive trend is recorded at the late Tortonian succession of the Capo Vaticano area, with locally different depositional trends; ii) the late Tortonian transgression was punctuated by minor episodes of forced regression, as attested by soils and fluvial deposits intercalated within the Cava Gentile succession (documented here for the first time); iii) the relative sea level rises that characterised these sedimentation patterns allowed accumulation of marine and terrestrial fossils in specific transgressive horizons; iv) the combination of palaeomagnetic data and biostratigraphic analyses, together with the biochronological constraints offered by the Cessaniti mammal assemblage, allows the assignment of the basal unit of the Cessaniti (Cava Gentile) succession to the normal Chron C4n (8.1–7.5 Ma); and v) the maximum range of the Cessaniti land mammal assemblage from Cava Gentile is about 1 Ma, bracketed between 8.1 and 7.2 Ma.

A new genus and species of megalonychid sloth, Zacatzontli tecolotlanensis n. gen. n. sp., is described from the late Hemphillian of Jalisco, Mexico. Comparison and analysis of the type specimen, a mandible, with other megalonychid sloths shows a closer relationship to South American taxa than those from North America or the Caribbean. This suggests that during the early stages of the Great American Biotic Interchange there were two separate dispersal events of megalonychid sloths—an earlier one represented by Pliometanastes and the later one by Zacatzontli n. gen. While the morphology of the spout of Zacatzontli more closely resembles that of Megalonyx, based on the current record, Zacatzontli does does not enter North America until after the evolution of Megalonyx from Pliometanastes. The role of the northern neotropics in South America as a staging area for South American taxa that entered North America is discussed.

MAMMALS AND STRATIGRAPHY FROM THE NEOGENE OF URUGUAY. Knowledge on the Uruguayan Neogene deposits is updated. These deposits are distributed along the southern coast of the country, and outcrop mainly in the departmentos of Colonia and San José. An updated list of the mammals is given including new records and some stratigraphic reallocations. The Camacho Formation, of clearly marine and marginal origins, is at least in part correlated with the Paraná Formation of Argentina, and contains important mastofaunistic representatives that are in common with the “Conglomerado osífero” of the Ituzaingó Formation and other beds of the Huayquerian Stage (Late Miocene). The Raigón Formation, of fluvial and in part marginal origins, overlies the former, and contains a mammal assemblage representing a wide temporal range, from Pliocene to middle Pleistocene. Both units represent a sequence beginning with the entrance of the “Mar Entrerriense”, its later retraction and associated phenomena: rivers, deltas, and origins of the estuary today named “Río de la Plata”.

Sardomeryx oschiriensis is the oldest insular ruminant known (Burdigalian of Oschiri, Sardinia, Italy). Only two isolated upper dentitions compose the type material. The first phylogenetic hypothesis proposed Sardomeryx to be closely related to the Giraffoidea and especially the Late Miocene Sardinian derived giraffid Umbrotherium. Description of new specimens from Laerru (Burdigalian, Sardinia, Italy), including lower teeth and decidual premolars, leads to a reinterpretation of the phylogenetic position of Sardomeryx and of the early evolutionary history of the Giraffomorpha. Based on our phylogenetic hypothesis, Sardomeryx is nested within the Giraffomorpha as a basal Palaeomerycoidea. Sardomeryx may have originated from south western Europe before the separation of the Corsica-Sardinia Block during the earliest Miocene. The enigmatic latest Oligocene Bedenomeryx from the south-west France is also considered as a basal (and the most ancient) member of the Palaeomerycoidea. Including Bedenomeryx in the Palaeomerycoidea lineage would place the origin of the Giraffoidea, the sister family of Palaeomerycoidea, within the Oligocene. Bedenomeryx is characteristic of arid south-western France, directly echoing the advanced condition observed in the Sardomeryx dentition (e.g. high crowned teeth, absence of the external postprotocristid on lower molar, reduction in length of the premolar row) typical for insular ruminants in arid environments.

The extensive outpouring of the Oligocene Trap basalts over eastern Africa and western Arabia was interrupted by a period of quiescence marked by the deposition of terrestrial sediments. These so-called intertrappean beds are often lignitiferous and yield recurrent floras and faunas, sometimes represented by endemic mammals. We intended to highlight the peculiar features of these sedimentary intercalations using a large-scale approach including eastern Africa and the western Arabian peninsula. Starting from a new mapping in the Eritrean highland, the intertrappean beds resulted a continuous level that was a few tens of meters thick and traceable for some tens of kilometers. They consist of fluvial red, green and gray mudstones and siltstones with subordinate channelized pebbly sandstones, and lignite seams. Two new 40Ar–39Ar datings constraint the age of the intertrappean beds between 29.0 Ma and 23.6 Ma. The outcrops near Mendefera have yielded the remains of two proboscidean families, the Deinotheriidae and the Gomphoteriidae. The morphological grade of the two Mendefera proboscideans would suggest a more derived stage than that of representatives of the same families from other Oligocene African sites (e.g., Chilga, Ethiopia). An Oligocene age could be inferred for them. The occurrence of the genus Prodeinotherium at Mai Gobro possibly represents the first occurrence of this taxon, while the Gomphotheirum sp. might represent the oldest occurrence of this taxon in Africa before its dispersal towards Asia and Europe. Proboscideans have also been found in the lowland intertrappean beds of Dogali near Massawa. These sediments were contiguous with the Eritrean highland intertrappean beds during the Oligocene, but are now tectonically displaced from them by two thousand meters of vertical topographical distance. Dogali is also known for the occurrence of possible Deinotheriidae remains and the primitive elephantoid Eritreum. Entering the Ethiopian highland, an inspection of the Agere Selam (Mekele) intertrappean beds revealed the occurrence of lacustrine limestones and diatomites, which were contrastingly quite subordinate with respect to the fine clastic sediments found in the nearby Amba Alaji area. Further south, the intertrappean section in the Jema valley (100 km north of Addis Ababa and close to the Blue Nile gorge) is 120 m thick with predominant clastic sediments and a few diatomite's at the top. Literature information from 35 additional sites, including northern Kenya, Yemen, Sudan and Saudi Arabia sections, confirms the fluvial and lacustrine depositional environment of the intertrappean beds, underlines the interest in their mammal fauna (Chilga, Losodok), and reports exploitable coal seams for some of them. As for the vegetal landscape in which the intertrappean beds were deposited, pollen and plant analysis results indicative of a tropical wet forest, similar to that of present-day western Africa. Another common feature of the intertrappean beds is their relatively limited thickness, averaging a few tens of meters, but reaching a few hundred meters in graben-related basins, such as Delbi Moye in southern Ethiopia. In most cases only thin, lens-shaped successions were deposited above the hummocky topography of their volcanic substratum, commonly unaffected by significant faulting. An average duration of the intertrappean beds is from one to three million years. This time interval is commonly matched by a few tens (or more rarely, hundreds) of meters of sediments left over after erosive episodes or depositional starvation. As to the lateral continuity of the intertrappean beds, the present-day outcrops show large differences: from some tens of kilometers in the Mendefera area, to a few tens of kilometres in the Jema valley, and to a few hundreds meters in the Agere Selam (Mekele) area. Even if it is difficult to quantify the original size of the sedimentation areas, it nevertheless proves that the intertrappean basins exceed thousands of square kilometers in only a single case (Mendefera), but were quite restricted in most cases. Their most likely endorheic and local character, together with a regional ill-defined fluvial network, was the effect of a water-course rerouting caused by the progressive rising of the eastern African and Arabian plateaux. Chronological constraints for the intertrappean beds can be inferred from the age of the hosting Trap succession and by the stratigraphical position that they occupy. Intervolcanic sedimentary episodes are typically found in the basaltic and subordinately rhyolitic successions that followed the 31–29 Ma old basaltic widespread paroxysm. With due caveats deriving from the discontinuous availability of datings specifically dedicated to this issue, we regard the age of the intertrappean beds as mostly encompassed in the interval from 29 to 27 Ma at the transition between the Early and Late Oligocene in the Ethiopia/Yemen Trap core. In marginal areas, such as SW Arabia, Eritrea and Kenya, the volcanic activity above the intertrappean beds resumed later, and its quiescence allowed a more prolonged period of sedimentation. The intertrappean beds fall in the second cooling event of the Oligocene climatic deterioration. During the contemporaneous apparent drop in the global sea-level and closure of the Tethyan Ocean between Arabia and southwestern Asia, connections were established between the African and the Eurasian continents. At that time, southwestern Asia was experiencing severe aridity with faunal exchanges toward the luxuriously vegetated eastern Africa.

The rodents from the Upper Messinian deposits of Moncucco Torinese (MCC) (Piedmont, NW Italy) are described. Stratigraphic considerations indicate that the fossiliferous deposits exposed at MCC date back to the post-evaporitic phase of the Messinian Salinity Crisis (5.40–5.33 Ma). Thirteen rodent taxa belonging to the families Cricetidae Fischer, 1817, Muridae Illiger, 1811, Gliridae Thomas, 1897 and Sciuridae Fischer, 1817 are recognized based on 1177 teeth. The occurrence of Centralomys benericettii (De Giuli, 1989), Paraethomys meini (Michaux, 1969) and Apodemus gudruna van de Weerd, 1976 allows to compare MCC with other latest Messinian localities of northern Italy, such as Brisighella and Verduno. The rodent assemblages described herein and, more particularly, the taxa A. gudrunae, Muscardinus vireti Hugueney & Mein, 1965 and Glirulus lissiensis Hugueney & Mein, 1965, suggest that MCC can be referred to the Late Turolian (MN13). Moreover, the presence of taxa commonly found in Pliocene localities of western and central Europe (Occitanomys brailloni Michaux, 1969, Micromys bendai van de Weerd, 1979, Neocricetodon magnus (Fahlbusch, 1969) and Sciurus warthae Sulimski, 1964) indicates that some typical Ruscinian elements were already present at the end of the Miocene at least in southern-central Europe. The rodent assemblages of MCC also include Apodemus atavus Heller, 1936, Eliomys aff. intermedius Friant, 1953, Glis minor Kowalski, 1956, and Pliopetaurista pliocaenica (Depéret, 1897). Overall, the fossil assemblages documented in this paper remarkably expand our knowledge on the Late Miocene rodent communities of Italy, also providing useful data for the interpretation of biogeographic relationships between western and eastern Europe at the end of the Messinian.

Fort Ternan is of unusual interest, both because it is the oldest, directlydated site containing remains of Ramapithecus and because the well-known Early Miocene sites in the area afford the opportunity to trace hominoid evolution in one area over time. A phonolitic lava flow destroyed the lowland forest that had blanketed western Kenya since the Oligocene at about 15 Ma (date obtained by the 39Ar/40Ar step-heat method). The site itself is an inverted basin developed by erosion of a horst upthrust near the foot of the volcano, Tinderet. At 14 Ma, volcanic activity associated with the developing Western Rift Valley produced tuffs that washed into the basin and weathered into paleosols, in which the fossils are preserved. Mica flakes from the upper paleosol gave a date of 13·9 Ma, so the time span sampled is relatively brief. Evidence of the relative abundance and diversity of species and skeletal elements, the state of preservation of the fossils and their spatial distribution suggests that: (1) most of the fauma was locally derived; (2) only a small percentage of the species were derived from the forests on Tinderet; (3) Ramapithecus shared a common taphonomic history with the open-country animals and probably lived with them or in the ecotone; (4) the appearance of Ramapithecus and other new species may have been related to the ecological shift towards more open country.

In this work, a revision of the mammal assemblages from the local biozones E and F of the Madrid Basin, as well as a study of the faunal turnovers that took place around the middle Aragonian to upper Aragonian boundary, are carried out. This revision has allowed the emendation of some specific attributions and the identification of some taxa previously not cited. A faunal turnover is observed through biozone E, which might be related to global environmental changes. Furthermore, comparisons with the Calatayud-Montalbán Basin have been
performed.

Los castores representan un grupo importante de micromamíferos de gran talla, ya que han sido utilizados habitualmente como indicadores paleoambientales. En general, su presencia se ha asociado a la existencia de cursos de agua permanentes y, por tanto, son indicadores de condiciones de humedad relativamente elevada y de presencia de vegetación ripícola desarrollada (Meulen & Daams, 1992; Daams et al., 1999). Actualmente, dentro de la familia Castoridae se reconocen seis géneros presentes en el Mioceno Europeo (Hugueney, 1999): Steneofiber, Chalicomys, Trogontherium (Euroxenomys), Anchitheriomys, Dipoides y Eucastor (Schreuderia). En España, durante el Aragoniense y el Vallesiense, se han citado tres de estos géneros: Chalicomys, Trogontherium (Euroxenomys) y Eucastor (Schreuderia).
En este trabajo se realiza el estudio del material de la familia Castoridae del Aragoniense y Vallesiense de las cuencas de Calatayud-Daroca, Madrid y Duero. El periodo estudiado es muy importante ya que representa la nueva aparición de la familia Castoridae en España después de un intervalo de casi seis millones de años sin registro. Este hecho supone una clara diferencia respecto a lo que ocurre en Francia y Centro-Europa, dónde la distribución de la familia es continua durante todo el Mioceno (Hugueney, 1999).
En España este grupo aparece en el registro durante parte del Mioceno Inferior (MN1-MN3) y no vuelve a estar presente hasta la zona MN7/8 (Daams et al., 1988; Daams et al., 1999). La ausencia de castores durante la mayor parte del Aragoniense español, probablemente se debe a la existencia de condiciones paleoambientales poco favorables al establecimiento de representantes del grupo. Durante las zonas MN4 y MN5 se detecta una marcada tendencia hacia condiciones de mayor aridez en las Cuencas centrales de la Península Ibérica, tendencia que no comienza a invertirse hasta la zona MN6 (Daams et al., 1999; Alcalá et al., 2000). No obstante, las condiciones de humedad necesarias para el establecimiento de poblaciones de castores no se consiguen hasta bien entrada la zona MN7/8, ya que la primera aparición de este grupo se produce en los yacimientos de Simancas 2 en la Cuenca del Duero (López Martínez et al., 1986) y en Toril 3 en la Cuenca de Calatayud-Daroca (Álvarez Sierra et al., 2003). Sin embargo, en la Cuenca de Madrid el primer registro de castores no se produce hasta el Vallesiense Superior (MN10) en el yacimiento del Cerro de los Batallones (Morales et al., 2004).
A pesar de la relevancia paleoecológica y biocronológica de la familia Castoridae, sus representantes en la Península Ibérica no han sido objeto de estudios exhaustivos, por lo que la información disponible sobre este grupo es muy reducida en comparación con otras familias de roedores. Por tanto, el estudio del material de castores recolectado recientemente, así como del ya citado en la bibliografía, es de suma importancia para poder ampliar el conocimiento de esta interesante familia de roedores.

Oreopithecus bambolii is a Late Miocene ape from Italy, first described in the late 19th century. Its interpretation is still highly controversial, especially in reference to its hand proportions and thumb morphology. In this study, the authors provide detailed descriptions of the available Oreopithecus pollical distal phalanx (PDP) specimens, as well as bivariate and multivariate morphometric analyses in comparison with humans, extant apes, selected anthropoid monkeys, and available Miocene PDP specimens. The multivariate results reveal two opposite poles on the hominoid PDP shape spectrum: on one side, a mediolaterally broad and dorsopalmarly short human PDP, and on the other side, the narrow and “conical” PDP of chimpanzees and orangutans. The authors contend that Oreopithecus exhibits intermediate PDP proportions that are largely primitive for hominoids because it shares morphological similarities with Proconsul. Furthermore, Oreopithecus displays a mediolaterally wide tuft for a hominoid, as well as a palmarly elevated attachment for a long tendon of a flexor muscle that is associated at its proximal edge with a proximal fossa and at its distal edge with an ungual fossa. These nonmetrical traits have been associated in humans with their capability to oppose and contact the proximal pads of the thumb and fingers, that is, pad-to-pad precision grasping. These traits reinforce previous studies that indicate a human-like thumb-to-hand length ratio compatible with pad-to-pad precision grasping in Oreopithecus. Although specific hand use is still unresolved in Oreopithecus, the results suggest enhanced manipulative skills (unrelated to stone tool-making) in this taxon relative to other (extant or fossil) hominoids

New undescribed material of Megacricetodon from the early Aragonian locality of Artesilla is presented. On the basis of the composition of the fossil rodent association, with a peculiar
combination of taxa, it represents the first record of the genus Megacricetodon in the Iberian Peninsula. Megacricetodon primitivus and M. collongensis have been compared, using material from their type localities, in order to establish the validity of both species. After the morphometrical
study the sample from Artesilla has been assigned to M. primitivus. The evolutionary stage of this material is, as would be expected, relatively more primitive than that from Valtorres,
type locality of M. primitivus.

Megacricetodon Fahlbusch 1964 is one of the
principal bioestratigraphical indicators of the continental
Miocene of Europe. The appearance and
evolution of its different species are used to define
most of the biochronologycal units and local
biozones.
Daams et al. (1999) based the definition of
the local biozone Db on material from the Aragonian
Type Area (Calatayud-Daroca Basin). This
biozone Db is characterized by the presence of
two species of Megacricetodon having significant
differences in size. The small one is M. primitivus
Freudenthal 1963 and the big one is a new species
not described yet.
Although metric analysis shows significant differences
in size between these two species, the
dental morphology is, in general, very similar. The
different samples of M. primitivus from Biozone Db
show a rather homogeneous morphology, while
the material assigned to the new Megacricetodon
species shows a changing morphology through
time. Morphological differences between the two species are higher at the beginning of this biozone
than at the end, implying some degree of morphological
convergence of the larger species with M.
primitivus.
In this study we search for morphological differences
between both species, like the relative
position of the main cusps and the general shape
of the outline of the teeth in occlusal view. We applied
a geometric morphometric analysis in the
first molars of Megacricetodon in order to establish
the variability on, first, the relative position of
the main cusps among them, second, their position
with regard to the tooth’s outline, and third,
the changes in the outline. We used pictures in
occlusal view to define landmarks on top of the
occlusal surface of the tooth, corresponding to the
tips of the main cusps, and sliding semilandmarks
along the crown outline following the methodology
used by Martinón-Torres et al. (2006) and
Gómez-Robles et al. (2007).
We discuss the geometric morphometric results
and compare them with previous results based on morphological characters, in order to
infer evolutionary interpretations of the observed
patterns. We also studied influence of size (allometry)
on the differences in shape among different
samples of Megacricetodon.

This work gives preliminary information on the taxonomic determinations of the
micromammal fossil material from the locality of exceptional preservation of Casa Montero
(Madrid). The proposed taxonomic assignations have allow the correlation of this fossil fossil
material to localities belonging to the biozone E (Middle Aragonian, Middle Miocene) of
Daams et al. (1999). Finally, several taphonomic considerations are made that help to
understand how this fossiliferous locality of exceptional richness and quality had form.

In this work, a revision of the mammal assemblages from the local biozones E and F of the Madrid Basin, as well as a study of the faunal turnovers that took place around the middle Aragonian to upper Aragonian boundary, are carried out. This revision has allowed the emendation of some specific attributions and the identification of some taxa previously not cited. A faunal turnover is observed through biozone E, which might be related to global environmental changes. Furthermore, comparisons with the Calatayud-Montalbán Basin have been performed.

The oldest record of Cricetodon (Cricetidae, Rodentia,Mammalia) from the Aragonian type area (Calatayud-
Daroca Basin, Zaragoza, Spain) is described. The remains from Las Umbr´ıas (LUM) and Las Planas (LP) sections are
attributed to Cricetodon soriae, described in the locality Somosaguas N (SOMN) from the Madrid Basin (biozone E, MN5).
The studied material (including 52 jugal teeth) belongs to eight localities spanning a time interval from 14.06 to 13.80 Ma,
covering the entire biozone E. A morphometric analysis of the Calatayud-Daroca material provides the most specific and
detailed descriptions of C. soriae until now. New complete descriptions of the type material from SOMN and an emended
diagnosis of C. soriae are presented. Comparisons with all the species of Cricetodon described to date have been made.
Differences between Cricetodon aureus and Cricetodon meini are discussed; the results yielded by the study of more than 100
upper third molars from Vieux-Collonges make it possible, for the first time, to distinguish between those of C. aureus and
C. meini, and to compare them both with C. soriae. The presence of common characteristics indicates a closer relationship of C.
soriae with the species of Cricetodon from Asia Minor than with the first representatives of Cricetodon in central and eastern
Europe. The distribution of C. soriae in the Iberian Peninsula is coincident with the global cooling event and the increasing in
aridity in southwestern Europe, and the faunal dispersion event called Conohyus/Pliopitechus that took place during the local
biozone E.

In order to develop paleoecological studies involving many fossil sites, there is a need to establish a consistent time framework, which enables us to arrange the fossil associations according to a sequence of biotic events and subsequently to test a relationship with paleoenvironmental changes. The nature of the continental fossil record has given rise to much controversy with regard to the establishment of general biostratigraphical scales. Additionally, biochronological scales are sometimes all that can be proposed. The primary goal of the present paper is to present a time arrangement for the Iberoccitanian micromammalian fossil sites from the latest Middle Miocene to the Mio–Pliocene boundary, spanning around 7 million years (approximately 12.61–4.95 Ma). Herein we study over one hundred faunal lists of rodents from the Iberoccitanian Region, compiled from the literature. Previous research has described two biogeographical provinces in our study area: a northern one (Vallès–Penedès and southeast France) and a southern one (all the Iberian basins, except the Vallès–Penedès). We therefore conducted Alroy's Maximum Likelihood Appearance Event Ordination (MLAEO) methodology, applying it to the database compiled for each province. Finally, using available numerical dates for a quarter of the sites, we obtained a calibrated ordination for all localities. In each analysis, the results obtained are roughly coherent with the Mammalian Neogene units (MN) and allow estimation of the numerical ages for the entire set of fossil sites included in the study. Nevertheless, our results show severe diachrony between the two biogeographic provinces of the Iberoccitanian Region in relation to the MN boundaries, which might be linked to the existence of a refuge area associated with more humid environments in the northern province.

Debris-flow hosted assemblages dominated by mammalian remains are very scarce in the fossil record and few examples are reported. Herein we present a detailed taphonomic study of Somosaguas-North (Madrid Basin, Spain), a Middle Miocene mammalian-dominated site embedded in debris-flow deposits, in order to increase our knowledge of the mode of formation of fossiliferous assemblages in this depositional context. The assemblage includes 6592 large-mammal remains belonging to at least 10 different species. Fossils are found in matrix-supported , poorly-sorted coarse arkosic sandstones and fine conglomerates, which are interpreted as the result of successive debris-flow deposits. Breakage constitutes a pervasive taphonomic alteration in the bone assemblage; however, together with unidentifiable bone fragments, we also found complete to almost complete skeletal elements. Bone remains are isolated, a fact that is indicative of a time of exposure of the carcasses long enough to enable decay and complete disarticulation. There are no associations of elements belonging to the same individual , which suggests that, prior to or during debris-flow transport, bones were profusely dispersed. Based on the taphonomic evidence, we suggest that Somosaguas-North assemblage was formed by successive debris-flow transport and burial of pre-existing thanatocoenoses. Bones from those thanatocoenoses were modified by biostratinomic agents (trampling, weathering) in varying degrees depending on their time of exposure. Debris flow transport produced further abrasion and breakage in collagen-depleted bones. Our results are congruent with an environmental context of semiarid landscapes presenting long arid periods and highly irregular hydrological seasonality. Finally, we compared the Somosaguas-North assemblage with other debris-flow hosted vertebrate assemblages. Although Somosaguas-North shares taphonomic features with some of these sites, it is not possible to define consistent and single taphonomic patterns for debris-flow assemblages, given the varied taphonomic histories of the remains prior to and during debris-flow transport.

[EN]: This work shows the results of the preliminary study of the rodent faunas from the Miocene fossil site of El Cañaveral. This site is compared with other localities from the Madrid Basin of similar age. The morphometric study of the rodent assemblage from El ...

This work shows the results of the preliminary study of the rodent faunas from the Miocene fossil site of El Cañaveral.
This site is compared with other localities from the Madrid Basin of similar age. The morphometric study of the rodent assemblage
from El Cañaveral allows us to correlate this site with the local biozone E (Middle Aragonian, Middle Miocene,
MN5). Our results indicate that the age of this site is close to the oldest localities of the biozone E.

This study revises the mammal-bearing stratigraphic succession of Cava Gentile, near Cessaniti (Calabria, southern Italy), with the aim of dating the Late Miocene fossiliferous succession by the integration of mammal biochronology with sedimentology, magnetostratigraphy and marine biostratigraphy. Since the first discovery of mammal remains at Cessaniti, the chronological framework of the sedimentary succession was based on the biochronological significance of the mammal assemblage and on the biostratigraphic characterisation of the capping unit. Chronological control of the sedimentary succession and the age range of the mammal faunal assemblage at Cessaniti is now possible by combining the mammal biochronological constraints with biostratigraphy and the characterisation of the magnetostratigraphy of the sedimentary succession. Our study allows the conclusion that: i) an overall transgressive trend is recorded at the late Tortonian succession of the Capo Vaticano area, with locally...

[EN]: This work shows the results of the preliminary study of the rodent faunas from the Miocene fossil site of El Cañaveral. This site is compared with other localities from the Madrid Basin of similar age. The morphometric study of the rodent assemblage from El ...

Since the proposition in 1975 of the European Neogene Mammal (MN) scale by Pierre Mein, the amount on taxonomical, stratigraphical and chronological information around Europe has increased exponentially. The stratigraphical schemes of three of the best studied areas for the Lower and Middle Miocene, the Aragonian type area in Spain and the Upper Freshwater Molasse from the North Alpine Foreland Basin in Switzerland, and Bavaria, have been compared. The correlation of their local biostratigraphies has been discussed. Sixteen rodent’s events have been studied and ranked in the three areas according to their local biostratigraphy. This study shows, and quantifies for the first time, the significant asynchronies of the different included rodent events. The MN-system is discussed on the light of those results. In accordance, we propose that it is still useful but only if in a biochronological way, as a sequence of time-ordered reference localities allowing coarse long-distance correlations. In order to obtain better temporal resolution, this system has to be combined with well calibrated to the time scale local biostratigraphies, implementing the information about synchrony and diachrony of mammal events in different areas.