A Dryopithecine Talus From Abocador de Can Mata (Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula): Morphometric Affinities and Evolutionary Implications for Hominoid Locomotion.

Objectives: The functional interpretation of postcranial remains of Middle Miocene great apes from Europe (dryopithecines) suggests a combination of quadrupedalism and orthograde behaviors without modern analogs. We provide further insights based on an isolated dryopithecine talus (IPS85037) from the Middle Miocene (11.7 Ma) Abocador de Can Mata locality ACM/C8-B* (Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula), which represents the most complete one known to date.

The Miocene primate Pliobates is a pliopithecoid.

The systematic status of the small-bodied catarrhine primate Pliobates cataloniae, from the Miocene (11.6 Ma) of Spain, is controversial because it displays a mosaic of primitive and derived features compared with extant hominoids (apes and humans). Cladistic analyses have recovered Pliobates as either a stem hominoid or as a pliopithecoid stem catarrhine (i.

Paleoenvironmental inferences on the Late Miocene hominoid-bearing site of Can Llobateres (NE Iberian Peninsula): An ecometric approach based on functional dental traits.

Hispanopithecus laietanus from the Late Miocene (9.8 Ma) of Can Llobateres 1 (CLL1; Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula) represents one of the latest occurrences of fossil apes in Western mainland Europe, where they are last recorded at ∼9.5 Ma.

A revised (earliest Vallesian) age for the hominoid-bearing locality of Can Mata 1 based on new magnetostratigraphic and biostratigraphic data from Abocador de Can Mata (Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula).

The Abocador de Can Mata (ACM) composite stratigraphic sequence (els Hostalets de Pierola, Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula) has yielded a diverse primate assemblage from the late Aragonian (Middle to Late Miocene). Detailed litho-, bio-, and magnetostratigraphic control has enabled an accurate dating of these fossil remains. Comparable data, however, were lacking for the nearby locality of Can Mata 1 (CM1), which yielded a dryopithecine canine of a female individual.

Palaeoecological differences underlie rare co-occurrence of Miocene European primates.

Background: The two main primate groups recorded throughout the European Miocene, hominoids and pliopithecoids, seldom co-occur. Due to both their rarity and insufficiently understood palaeoecology, it is currently unclear whether the infrequent co-occurrence of these groups is due to sampling bias or reflects different ecological preferences. Here we rely on the densely sampled primate-bearing sequence of Abocador de Can Mata (ACM) in Spain to test whether turnovers in primate assemblages are correlated with palaeoenvironmental changes.

Bio- and magnetostratigraphic correlation of the Miocene primate-bearing site of Castell de Barberà to the earliest Vallesian.

Castell de Barberà, located in the Vallès-Penedès Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula), is one of the few European sites where pliopithecoids (Barberapithecus) and hominoids (cf. Dryopithecus) co-occur. The dating of this Miocene site has proven controversial.

Revision of Varanus marathonensis (Squamata, Varanidae) based on historical and new material: morphology, systematics, and paleobiogeography of the European monitor lizards.

Monitor lizards (genus Varanus) inhabited Europe at least from the early Miocene to the Pleistocene. Their fossil record is limited to about 40 localities that have provided mostly isolated vertebrae. Due to the poor diagnostic value of these fossils, it was recently claimed that all the European species described prior to the 21st century are not taxonomically valid and a new species, Varanus amnhophilis, was erected on the basis of fragmentary material including cranial elements, from the late Miocene of Samos (Greece).

Oldest skeleton of a fossil flying squirrel casts new light on the phylogeny of the group.

Flying squirrels are the only group of gliding mammals with a remarkable diversity and wide geographical range. However, their evolutionary story is not well known. Thus far, identification of extinct flying squirrels has been exclusively based on dental features, which, contrary to certain postcranial characters, are not unique to them.

Ten years in the dump: An updated review of the Miocene primate-bearing localities from Abocador de Can Mata (NE Iberian Peninsula).

More than ten years of paleontological fieldwork during the enlargement of the Can Mata Landfill (Abocador de Can Mata [ACM]), in els Hostalets de Pierola (Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula) led to the recovery of >60,000 Miocene vertebrate remains. The huge sampling effort (due to continuous surveillance of heavy machinery digging activity, coupled with manual excavation and screen-washing of sediments) enabled generally rare faunal elements such as pliopithecoid and hominoid primates to be found. Thanks to detailed litho-, bio- and magnetostratigraphic controls, accurate dating is possible for all the recovered primate remains from 19 of the 235 localities defined along the 234 m-thick composite stratigraphic sequence of the ACM.

An amphisbaenian skull from the European miocene and the evolution of Mediterranean worm lizards.

The evolution of blanid amphisbaenians (Mediterranean worm lizards) is mainly inferred based on molecular studies, despite their fossils are common in Cenozoic European localities. This is because the fossil record exclusively consists in isolated elements of limited taxonomic value. We describe the only known fossil amphisbaenian skull from Europe - attributed to Blanus mendezi sp.

New dental remains of Anoiapithecus and the first appearance datum of hominoids in the Iberian Peninsula.

New dental remains of the fossil great ape Anoiapithecus brevirostris are described from the Middle Miocene local stratigraphic series of Abocador de Can Mata (ACM) in els Hostalets de Pierola (Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula). These specimens correspond to maxillary fragments with upper teeth from two female individuals from two different localities: left P(3)-M(1) (IPS41712) from ACM/C3-Aj (type locality; 11.9 Ma [millions of years ago]); and right M(1)-M(2) and left P(4)-M(2) (IPS35027) from ACM/C1-E* (12.

Kretzoiarctos gen. nov., the oldest member of the giant panda clade.

The phylogenetic position of the giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca (Carnivora: Ursidae: Ailuropodinae), has been one of the most hotly debated topics by mammalian biologists and paleontologists during the last century. Based on molecular data, it is currently recognized as a true ursid, sister-taxon of the remaining extant bears, from which it would have diverged by the Early Miocene. However, from a paleobiogeographic and chronological perspective, the origin of the giant panda lineage has remained elusive due to the scarcity of the available Miocene fossil record.

New dental remains of Hispanopithecus laietanus (Primates: Hominidae) from Can Llobateres 1 and the taxonomy of Late Miocene hominoids from the Vallès-Penedès Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula).

Here we report 12 teeth of the fossil great ape Hispanopithecus (Hominidae: Dryopithecinae: Hispanopithecini), recovered in 2011 from the locality of Can Llobateres 1 (MN9, early Vallesian, Late Miocene, ca. 9.7 Ma [millions of years ago]) in the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Catalonia, Spain).

The paleoenvironment of Hispanopithecus laietanus as revealed by paleobotanical evidence from the Late Miocene of Can Llobateres 1 (Catalonia, Spain).

The early Vallesian site of Can Llobateres 1 (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain) is one of the richest localities of the European Late Miocene, having yielded the most complete remains of the fossil great ape Hispanopithecus laietanus (Primates: Hominidae). Fossil plant remains had been previously reported from this site but mostly remained unpublished. Here we describe an assemblage of plant megaremains recovered in 2010, which provides valuable paleoenvironmental data.

Brief communication: the oldest pliopithecid record in the Iberian Peninsula based on new material from the Vallès-Penedès Basin.

Here, we report on an isolated pliopithecid M3/ (IPS35028) from locality ACM/C3-B2 (12.0 Ma, MN7) of the late Middle Miocene stratigraphic series of Abocador de Can Mata (ACM, Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula). This tooth is about 0.

Updated chronology for the Miocene hominoid radiation in Western Eurasia.

Extant apes (Primates: Hominoidea) are the relics of a group that was much more diverse in the past. They originated in Africa around the Oligocene/Miocene boundary, but by the beginning of the Middle Miocene they expanded their range into Eurasia, where they experienced a far-reaching evolutionary radiation. A Eurasian origin of the great ape and human clade (Hominidae) has been favored by several authors, but the assessment of this hypothesis has been hampered by the lack of accurate datings for many Western Eurasian hominoids.

A new species of Pliopithecus Gervais, 1849 (Primates: Pliopithecidae) from the Middle Miocene (MN8) of Abocador de Can Mata (els Hostalets de Pierola, Catalonia, Spain).

Pliopithecus (Pliopithecus) canmatensis sp. nov. is described from several Late Aragonian localities from Abocador de Can Mata (ACM) in els Hostalets de Pierola (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain), spanning from approximately 11.

A unique Middle Miocene European hominoid and the origins of the great ape and human clade.

The great ape and human clade (Primates: Hominidae) currently includes orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans. When, where, and from which taxon hominids evolved are among the most exciting questions yet to be resolved. Within the Afropithecidae, the Kenyapithecinae (Kenyapithecini + Equatorini) have been proposed as the sister taxon of hominids, but thus far the fragmentary and scarce Middle Miocene fossil record has hampered testing this hypothesis.

First partial face and upper dentition of the Middle Miocene hominoid Dryopithecus fontani from Abocador de Can Mata (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, NE Spain): taxonomic and phylogenetic implications.

A well-preserved 11.8-million-years-old lower face attributed to the seminal taxon Dryopithecus fontani (Primates, Hominidae) from the Catalan site ACM/C3-Ae of the Hostalets de Pierola area (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, NE Spain) is described. The new data indicate that D.

Biochronological, taphonomical, and paleoenvironmental background of the fossil great ape Pierolapithecus catalaunicus (Primates, Hominidae).

The Late Aragonian (late middle Miocene) stratigraphic sequence of Abocador de Can Mata (ACM) from Els Hostalets de Pierola (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain), rich in fossil vertebrate localities, provides a unique opportunity to study the evolution of western Eurasian hominoids. Among these sites, Barranc de Can Vila 1 (BCV1) recently delivered a well-preserved hominoid partial skeleton of a new genus and species, Pierolapithecus catalaunicus. On the basis of the small-mammal fauna recovered at BCV1, we infer an early MN 7+8 age, between 12.