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

Sara G Arranz; Isaac Casanovas-Vilar; Indrė Žliobaitė; Juan Abella; Chiara Angelone; Beatriz Azanza; Raymond Bernor; Omar Cirilli; Daniel DeMiguel; Marc Furió; Luca Pandolfi; Josep M Robles; Israel M Sánchez; Lars W van den Hoek Ostende; David M Alba

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103441

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

J Hum Evol. 2023 Dec:185:103441. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103441. Epub 2023 Oct 17.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, c/ Columnes s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: sara.arranz@icp.cat.
² Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, c/ Columnes s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
³ Department of Computer Science, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 68, 00014 Helsinky, Finland; Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014 Helsinky, Finland.
⁴ Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, c/ Columnes s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain; Grup d'Investigació en Paleontologia de Vertebrats del Cenozoic (PVC-GIUV), Departament de Botànica i Geologia, Universitat de València, 46100 Burjassot, València, Spain; Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INABIO), Pje. Rumipamba N. 341 y Av. de los Shyris (Parque La Carolina), Quito, Ecuador.
⁵ Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, 00146 Roma, Italy; Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100044 Beijing, China.
⁶ Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, and Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ciencias Ambientales de Aragón (IUCA), Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain.
⁷ College of Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology, Howard University, 520 W St. N.W., 20059, Washington D.C., USA; Human Origins Program, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 20013, Washington D.C., USA.
⁸ College of Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology, Howard University, 520 W St. N.W., 20059, Washington D.C., USA; Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, MRC 121, 20013, Washington, D.C., USA.
⁹ Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, c/ Columnes s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain; Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, and Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ciencias Ambientales de Aragón (IUCA), Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain; ARAID Foundation, 50018, Zaragoza, Spain.
¹⁰ Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, c/ Columnes s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain; Serra Húnter Fellow, Departament de Geologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
¹¹ Dipartimento di Scienze, Università della Basilicata, Via dell'Ateneo Lucano, 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy.
¹² Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR Leiden, the Netherlands.
¹³ Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, c/ Columnes s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: david.alba@icp.cat.

PMID: 37857126
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103441

Abstract

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. The paleoenvironment of CLL1 is thus relevant for understanding the extinction of European hominoids. To refine paleoenvironmental inferences for CLL1, we apply ecometric models based on functional crown type (FCT) variables-a scoring scheme devised to capture macroscopic functional traits of occlusal shape and wear surfaces of herbivorous large mammal molars. Paleotemperature and paleoprecipitation estimates for CLL1 are provided based on published regional regression models linking average FCT of large herbivorous mammal communities to climatic conditions. A mapping to Whittaker's present-day biome classification is also attempted based on these estimates, as well as a case-based reasoning via canonical variate analysis of FCT variables from five relevant biomes. Estimates of mean annual temperature (25 °C) and mean annual precipitation (881 mm) classify CLL1 as a tropical seasonal forest/savanna, only in partial agreement with the canonical variate analysis results, which classify CLL1 as a tropical rainforest with a higher probability. The former biome agrees better with previous inferences derived from fossil plants and mammals, as well as preliminary isotopic data. The misclassification of CLL1 as a tropical forest is attributed to the mixture of forest-adapted taxa with others adapted to more open environments, given that faunal and plant composition indicates the presence of a dense wetland/riparian forest with more open woodlands nearby. The tested FCT ecometric approaches do not provide unambiguous biome classification for CLL1. Nevertheless, our results are consistent with those from other approaches, thus suggesting that FCT variables are potentially useful to investigate paleoenvironmental changes through time and space-including those that led to the extinction of European Miocene apes.

Keywords: Fossil apes; Functional crown types; Hispanopithecus; Paleoecology; Spain; Vallesian.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Ecosystem
Europe
Fossils
Hominidae*
Mammals
Plants
Tooth*