Insectivores (Eulipotyphla; Mammalia) from the Middle Miocene of Barranc de Can Vila 1 (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain)

Abstract

In this paper, we report the first detailed description of a fairly rich Middle Miocene insectivore assemblage from the Vallès-Penedès Basin (NE Spain). These fossils come from the locality of Barranc de Can Vila 1, which is the type locality of the stem great ape Pierolapithecus catalaunicus. This locality belongs to the Middle Miocene local stratigraphic series of Abocador de Can Mata (els Hostalets de Pierola), and has an estimated age of 11.9 Ma (MN7, late Aragonian). Herein, we identify and describe the fossil insectivores, which are the second best represented order of mammals at the site. The studied assemblage includes fossil remains of Parasorex socialis, cf. Galerix exilis, Plesiodimylus chantrei, Talpa minuta, Dinosorex zapfei and two indeterminate Soricidae. This assemblage shows a higher species diversity than other Middle Miocene insectivore assemblages from central Iberian basins, but a lower one when compared with the most representative assemblages from Central Europe. This fact is indicative of some kind of peculiar ecological conditions in northeastern Iberian Peninsula, which precluded the distribution of some of these insectivores to the southwest. Those insectivores absent in the central Spanish localities probably possessed more restrictive ecological requirements. This would be probably also the case of Middle Miocene primates, which are lacking from inner Iberian basins.