Villafranchian large mammals from the Iberian Peninsula: paleobiogeography, paleoecology and dispersal events

In this paper, the rodents from the composite section of Torrent de Vallparadís (Terrassa, northeastern Spain) are described, with particular emphasis on the arvicolines. Due to their wide geographical distributions and rapid evolutionary rates, arvicolines are especially useful for biostratigraphical purposes. Eight stratigraphic layers have yielded rodent remains, including representatives of the genera Mimomys, Allophaiomys, Stenocranius, Iberomys, Microtus, Arvicola, Apodemus, Eliomys, and Hystrix. The presence of different rodent species, together with the available magnetostratigraphic data, allows a precise determination of the age of each layer and a detailed correlation with other Spanish Pleistocene sites, particularly those of the Sierra de Atapuerca. The complete studied sequence ranges from the pre-Jaramillo Biharian (1.4–1.2 Ma) to the early Toringian (less than 0.6 Ma.), constituting one of the most complete sequences of the Spanish Pleistocene and covering a time span of especial relevance in relation to the earliest human dispersal into western Europe.

The primate fossil record in the Iberian Peninsula