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The classification of rodent species can be challenging due to high morphological similarities observed among them. This problem is further increased in palaeontological systematics, where classification is traditionally based on the molar morphology. The subfamily Arvicolinae (Rodentia, Mammalia) is one of these rodent groups, whose classification being important for biostratigraphic and climatic studies of the Quaternary period is challenging. We present an application developed using the MatLab informatic algorithm, designed to classify the Arvicolinae species using Geometric Morphometrics (GMM) analyses of the first lower molar. Moreover, the application includes an option to automatically obtain the linear measurements that are commonly used for the identification of these species. This method shows a high degree of accuracy in the species classification, which is expected to increase as the reference database is further developed. This application can serve as an alternative tool for the classification of specimens with unclear morphologies. It can also be used to reduce the time required to manually obtain the linear indices necessary for their classification. We have developed a new application in the MatLab environment to address the challenging classification of Arvicolinae species, using images of the first lower molar, achieving high accuracy in the species classification.

As the south-westernmost region of Europe, the Iberian Peninsula stands as a key area for understanding the process of modern human dispersal into Eurasia. However, the precise timing, ecological setting and cultural context of this process remains controversial concerning its spatiotemporal distribution within the different regions of the peninsula. While traditional models assumed that the whole Iberian hinterland was avoided by modern humans due to ecological factors until the retreat of the Last Glacial Maximum, recent research has demonstrated that hunter-gatherers entered the Iberian interior at least during Solutrean times. We provide a multi-proxy geoarchaeological, chronometric and paleoecological study on human?environment interactions based on the key site of Peña Capón (Guadalajara, Spain). Results show (1) that this site hosts the oldest modern human presence recorded to date in central Iberia, associated to pre-Solutrean cultural traditions around 26,000 years ago, and (2) that this presence occurred during Heinrich Stadial 2 within harsh environmental conditions. These findings demonstrate that this area of the Iberian hinterland was recurrently occupied regardless of climate and environmental variability, thus challenging the widely accepted hypothesis that ecological risk hampered the human settlement of the Iberian interior highlands since the first arrival of modern humans to Southwest Europe.

The Sima del Elefante site, located in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain), is an important Pleistocene archaeopalaeontological locality that has been excavated every year since 1996. At least two main infill phases have been identified: a first (TELRU) early Pleistocene phase that has provided a rich faunal assemblage, various stone tools and the earliest human remains from western Europe; and a second phase (TEURU) attributed to the Middle Pleistocene. In this paper, for the first time we present a description of the TEURU small-mammal assemblage and its subsequent biochronological, palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic implications. The small-mammal assemblage is highly diverse and comprises at least 17 species: 3 insectivores (cf. Erinaceus sp., Crocidura sp. and Sorex sp.); 4 chiropters (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, Rhinolophus gr. euryale-mehelyi, Myotis gr. Myotisoxygnathus and Miniopteurs schreibersii); 9 rodents (Myodes glareolus, Microtus arvalis, Microtus agrestis, Iberomys brecciensis, Terricola cf. atapuerquensis, Arvicola sp., Apodemus sylvaticus, Eliomys quercinus and Allocricetus bursae) and 1 lagomorph (Oryctolagus sp.). Such an association suggests a late Middle Pleistocene age (ca. 250-350 ka), a patchy landscape dominated by humid meadows and woodland areas, and mild climatic conditions. These results are compared with other proxies, such as the herpetofauna, malacofauna, large-mammals and charcoals, providing a new scenario for the climatic and environmental conditions that prevailed during the latest Middle Pleistocene in the Sierra de Atapuerca.

This paper presents a palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic approach to the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in the Iberian Peninsula on the basis of the small-mammal assemblages (insectivores, bats and rodents). The LGM is an important period in our climate history defined by the maximum extension of ice sheets between ca. 22 and 19 ka BP. In the Mediterranean region the LGM is characterized by humid conditions, which allow for the development of arboreal vegetation. The small-mammal remains described in this study were recovered from four different sites within the Iberian Peninsula: El Miron cave (Ramales de la Victoria, Cantabria), Valdavara-1 (Becerrea, Lugo), El Portalon (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos), and Sala de las Chimeneas (Maltravieso, Caceres). We found in these sites a non-analogue association represented by species associated with mid-European climatic conditions, such as the voles Chionomys nivalis, Microtus arvalis, Microtus agrestis and Microtus oeconomus, together with species associated with Mediterranean requirements, such as Microtus (Iberomys) cabrerae and Microtus (Terricola) duodecimcostatus. These assemblages reveal that the climate was harsher than today in the sites under study, though not as rigorous as elsewhere in Europe, with mean annual temperatures lower than present and an environment dominated by wet open meadows. All our data have been compared with other environmental and climatic proxies, global isotope curves and pollen data, providing a scenario for the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental conditions that occurred during the LGM in the Iberian Peninsula.

Human remains dating to more than 780,000 years ago are associated with a rich faunal and lithic assemblage in the Pleistocene cave site of Gran Dolina (TD), Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain. The micromammal species represent the late Biharian (Mimomys savini zone), and the lithic objects represent pre-Acheulean technology (Mode 1) and comes from the TD6 level below the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary. The Gran Dolina hominid fossils cannot be comfortably accommodated in any of the defined Homo species. They could be considered a primitive form of Homo heidelbergensis, but a new species might be named in the future if the sample is enlarged. The new human fossil evidence demonstrates that Western Europe was settled at least since the late early Pleistocene.

The first European? One of the most debated topics in stone-age archaeology is the date of the earliest human occupation of Europe. This has been frustratingly hard to establish, because the ages of the oldest-known occupation sites are hard to pin down with precision, and the sites contain stone tools rather than human remains. Now there is something more solid to go on, with the discovery of a human lower jaw associated with stone tools and animal bones from the Sima del Elefante cave deposit at the famous complex of fossil-human-bearing sites at Atapuerca in northern Spain. The finds have been dated to between 1.1 and 1.2 million years old using a variety of dating techniques. Of course it's impossible to know if these hominins were the first Europeans, but this site is certainly the oldest and most accurately dated record of human occupation in western Europe. The cover shows the key find, mandible fragment ATE9-1, now in the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, in Burgos. The discovery of a human lower jaw associated with stone tools and animal bones from the Sima del Elefante in northern Spain is reported. The finds have been dated to between 1.1 and 1.2 million years using a variety of dating techniques, making the site the oldest and most accurately dated record of human occupation in Europe. The earliest hominin occupation of Europe is one of the most debated topics in palaeoanthropology. However, the purportedly oldest of the Early Pleistocene sites in Eurasia lack precise age control and contain stone tools rather than human fossil remains 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 . Here we report the discovery of a human mandible associated with an assemblage of Mode 1 lithic tools and faunal remains bearing traces of hominin processing, in stratigraphic level TE9 at the site of the Sima del Elefante, Atapuerca, Spain 6 , 7 , 8 . Level TE9 has been dated to the Early Pleistocene (approximately 1.2–1.1 Myr), based on a combination of palaeomagnetism, cosmogenic nuclides and biostratigraphy. The Sima del Elefante site thus emerges as the oldest, most accurately dated record of human occupation in Europe, to our knowledge. The study of the human mandible suggests that the first settlement of Western Europe could be related to an early demographic expansion out of Africa. The new evidence, with previous findings in other Atapuerca sites (level TD6 from Gran Dolina 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ), also suggests that a speciation event occurred in this extreme area of the Eurasian continent during the Early Pleistocene, initiating the hominin lineage represented by the TE9 and TD6 hominins.

Spalacotheriids, basal trechnotheres with an acutely angled, reversed-triangle pattern of major molar cusps, are relatively rare pan-Laurasian mammals that ranged through much of the Cretaceous but are generally not well represented in the fossil record. Herein we describe newly collected specimens from the Molino Alto 1 locality, Teruel Province, Spain, and review previously described materials from the nearby locality of Galve; the sites lie in the same horizon in the upper El Castellar Formation and are of early Barremian age. On this basis, we recognize and name Aliaga molinensis, gen. et sp. nov., and provisionally place in the same genus a previously described species, cf. Aliaga henkeli, comb. nov., which appears to be the largest known spalacotheriid. The two species are characterized by a distinctive, multicuspate cingulid on lower cheek teeth. Based on acuteness of molar cusp triangulation and other features (e.g., planar molar shearing surfaces, elongation and cusp pattern of penultimate premolar, reduction of last molar, simplification of upper molar crown pattern), the species are referred to the Spalacolestinae. This subfamily is most diverse in North America, where it ranged from Albian—Campanian, but first appears in the Barremian of Western Europe, supporting the hypothesis that the group had a Eurasian origin and later dispersed to North America.

In this paper are described the arvicolines from El Chaparral site (Villaluenga del Rosario, Cádiz, Southwestern Spain). Due to their wide geographical distributions and rapid evolutionary rates, arvicolines are especially useful for biostratigraphical purposes. The stratigraphic layers of El Chaparral have yielded arvicolines remains of the genera Allophaiomys, Iberomys, Pliomys, and Terricola. The presence of these rodents together the other vertebrates recovered allows to determinate the age of the El Chaparral site and compare our data with other Iberian Pleistocene sites, such as of the Sierra de Atapuerca. El Chaparral site ranges between the Jaramillo Subchron (1.07-0.99 Ma) and shortly after the Brunhes-Matuyama transition at 0.78 Ma covering a important time span for the knowledge of the earliest humans occupations in western Europe.

Seventeen Middle Pleistocene crania from the Sima de los Huesos site (Atapuerca, Spain) are analyzed, including seven new specimens. This sample makes it possible to thoroughly characterize a Middle Pleistocene hominin paleodeme and to address hypotheses about the origin and evolution of the Neandertals. Using a variety of techniques, the hominin-bearing layer could be reassigned to a period around 430,000 years ago. The sample shows a consistent morphological pattern with derived Neandertal features present in the face and anterior vault, many of which are related to the masticatory apparatus. This suggests that facial modification was the first step in the evolution of the Neandertal lineage, pointing to a mosaic pattern of evolution, with different anatomical and functional modules evolving at different rates.

This paper presents a palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic approach to the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in the Iberian Peninsula on the basis of the small-mammal assemblages (insectivores, bats and rodents). The LGM is an important period in our climate history defined by the maximum extension of ice sheets between ca. 22 and 19 ka BP. In the Mediterranean region the LGM is characterized by humid conditions, which allow for the development of arboreal vegetation. The small-mammal remains described in this study were recovered from four different sites within the Iberian Peninsula: El Miron cave (Ramales de la Victoria, Cantabria), Valdavara-1 (Becerrea, Lugo), El Portalon (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos), and Sala de las Chimeneas (Maltravieso, Caceres). We found in these sites a non-analogue association represented by species associated with mid-European climatic conditions, such as the voles Chionomys nivalis, Microtus arvalis, Microtus agrestis and Microtus oeconomus, together with species associated with Mediterranean requirements, such as Microtus (Iberomys) cabrerae and Microtus (Terricola) duodecimcostatus. These assemblages reveal that the climate was harsher than today in the sites under study, though not as rigorous as elsewhere in Europe, with mean annual temperatures lower than present and an environment dominated by wet open meadows. All our data have been compared with other environmental and climatic proxies, global isotope curves and pollen data, providing a scenario for the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental conditions that occurred during the LGM in the Iberian Peninsula. Keywords: Microvertebrate, palaeoenvironment, palaeoclimate, LGM, Late Pleistocene Este articulo representa un enfoque paleoambiental y paleoclimatico del final del Ultimo Maximo Glacial (UMG), en la Peninsula Iberica a partir de las asociaciones de pequenos mamiferos (insectivoros, murcielagos y roedores). El UMG es un periodo importante en nuestra historia del clima definido por la maxima extension de las capas de hielo entre ca. 22 y 19 ka BP. En la region del Mediterraneo, este UMG se caracteriza por condiciones de humedad, que permiten el desarrollo de la vegetacion arborea. Los restos de micromamiferos seleccionados para este estudio corresponden a cuatro yacimientos diferentes de la Peninsula Iberica: la cueva del Miron (Ramales de la Victoria, Cantabria), Valdavara-1 (Becerrea, Lugo), El Portalon (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos), y la Sala de las Chimeneas (Maltravieso, Caceres). En todos los yacimientos estudiados se ha encontrado una asociacion representada por las especies relacionadas con las condiciones climaticas medio-europeas, como los topillos Chionomys nivalis, Microtus arvalis, Microtus agrestis o Microtus oeconomus, junto con las especies asociadas con los requerimientos mediterraneos, como Microtus (Iberomys) cabrerae o Microtus (terricola) duodecimcostatus. Estas asociaciones nos permiten observar que el clima era mas frio que hoy en dia en los diferentes yacimientos estudiados, pero no tan riguroso como en otros lugares de Europa, con temperaturas medias anuales mas bajas que en la actualidad y un entorno dominado por prados humedos. Los resultados de este estudio han sido comparados con otros datos ambientales y climaticos, las curvas climaticas globales de isotopos y datos polinicos, proporcionando un escenario para las condiciones paleoclimaticas y paleoambientales que ocurrieron durante el UMG en la Peninsula Iberica. Palabras clave: Microvertebrados, paleoambiente, paleoclima, UMG, Pleistoceno superior.