A bird assemblage across the MIS 9/8 boundary: The Middle Pleistocene of Galería (Atapuerca)

Núñez‐Lahuerta, Carmen; García, Julia Galán; Bescós, Glòria Cuenca; García-Medrano, Paula; Cáceres, Isabel

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107708

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…In that study, the birds inferred a different component of the paleoenvironment (grasslands, wetlands) with respect to reptiles and small mammals (coniferous and oak forest). Other recent studies where birds provide qualitative paleoenvironmental information are for North America [73], the Neotropics [74][75][76], Europe [77][78][79], and South Africa [80].…”

Section: Paleoclimatic Inferences Between Vertebrate Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleoclimatic Reconstruction Based on the Late Pleistocene San Josecito Cave Stratum 720 Fauna Using Fossil Mammals, Reptiles, and Birds

et al. 2023

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Advances in technology have equipped paleobiologists with new analytical tools to assess the fossil record. The functional traits of vertebrates have been used to infer paleoenvironmental conditions. In Quaternary deposits, birds are the second-most-studied group after mammals. They are considered a poor paleoambiental proxy because their high vagility and phenotypic plasticity allow them to respond more effectively to climate change. Investigating multiple groups is important, but it is not often attempted. Biogeographical and climatic niche information concerning small mammals, reptiles, and birds have been used to infer the paleoclimatic conditions present during the Late Pleistocene at San Josecito Cave (~28,000 14C years BP), Mexico. Warmer and dryer conditions are inferred with respect to the present. The use of all of the groups of small vertebrates is recommended because they represent an assemblage of species that have gone through a series of environmental filters in the past. Individually, different vertebrate groups provide different paleoclimatic information. Birds are a good proxy for inferring paleoprecipitation but not paleotemperature. Together, reptiles and small mammals are a good proxy for inferring paleoprecipitation and paleotemperature, but reptiles alone are a bad proxy, and mammals alone are a good proxy for inferring paleotemperature and precipitation. The current paleoclimatic results coupled with those of a previous vegetation structure analysis indicate the presence of non-analog paleoenvironmental conditions during the Late Pleistocene in the San Josecito Cave area. This situation would explain the presence of a disharmonious fauna and the extinction of several taxa when these conditions later disappeared and do not reappear again.

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