Avian remains from new Upper Pleistocene and Holocene sites in the Spanish Pyrenees

Abstract

Despite the interest of birds in reconstructing ancient environments, there are but few works concerning Quaternary avian remains. We have the opportunity to show in the present paper, the fossil avian remains of one of the more interesting natural, high-mountanous regions in southern Europe: the Spanish Pyrenees. In the central part of the Pyrenees, in the province of Huesca, Spain, five new paleontological sites with bird remains have been described: La Brecha del Rincón B-9 cave, the B-8 cave (Secús Range), Los Batanes C-4 (Tendeñera Range), and C-15 and D-2 (Lecherines System). Their ages range from the Upper Pleistocene up to the Holocene. At least twenty three taxa are recorded: Galliformes indet., Lagopus muta, Coturnix coturnix, Bonasa bonasia, Rallus aquaticus, Columba oenas, Columba palumbus, Columba sp., Passeriformes indet., Ficedula hypoleuca, Ficedula sp., Lanius sp., Coccothraustes coccothraustes, Phoenicurus ochruros, Oenanthe oenanthe, Corvidae indet., cf. Perisoreus infaustus, Corvus frugilegus, Corvus monedula, Pyrrhocorax sp., Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax, Pyrrhocorax graculus, and Aves indet. In this work we present the highest-altitude paleontological record for Coturnix coturnix, Bonasa bonasia, Columba palumbus, and Corvus frugilegus, and the southernmost record of cf. Perisoreus infaustus. The new data go some way towards filling the gap in our information on avian assemblages in the Aragonese Pyrenees (especially by comparison with the vast knowledge that exist on the avian assemblages of the French Pyrenees sites) as well as the gap in what is known about avian assemblages in high-mountain systems, for La Brecha del Rincón B-9 and B-8 are the highest-altitude avian paleontological assemblages described in the Pyrenees Range.