The Somosaguas palaeontology projectan envision of Nieves López Martínez for linking science and society

  1. Fesharaki, Omid 1
  2. Torices, Angélica 2
  3. García-Yelo, Blanca A 3
  4. Tejedor-Navarro, Natalia 4
  5. de la Ossa, Lucía 1
  6. Hernández-Fernández, Manuel
  1. 1 Departamento de Paleontología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
  2. 2 Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Edmonton
  3. 3 Departamento de Paleontología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid Departamento de Paleobiología, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC)
  4. 4 Escuela de Trabajo Social, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Journal:
Spanish journal of palaeontology

ISSN: 2255-0550

Year of publication: 2012

Issue Title: SPANISH JOURNAL OF PALAEONTOLOGY

Volume: 27

Issue: 2

Pages: 82-92

Type: Article

DOI: 10.7203/SJP.27.2.18100 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: Spanish journal of palaeontology

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Abstract

The palaeontological site of Somosaguas is located in Pozuelo de Alarcón, to the west of the city of Madrid (Spain), and contains fossils of Miocene age corresponding to 24 species of micro- and macromammals as well as other vertebrates. The Somosaguas Palaeontology Project is focused on this site and was coordinated by Nieves López Martínez between 1998 and 2010 as an example of management of a palaeontological site by university students and young researchers. This project began with field seasons for students in natural sciences grades and today is a multidisciplinary project open to students from any university degree. The significance of the investigations around this fossil site is reflected in a large number of papers published in national and international journals. Additionaly, there are numerous outreach activities in geology and palaeontology with special attention to what we call Social Palaeontology. Finally, this project has a strong commitment to educational innovation in both non-formal (during school visits, open days at the site and science fairs) and formal university education, with the establishment of an introduction to investigation group in order to prepare young researchers in different fields of geology, palaeontology and education

Funding information

This work is in memory of Nieves López Martínez, who allowed a group of young researchers to undertake the management of a unique project in a vertebrate site and that every day covers more areas in the scientific and educational outreach. The authors wish to thank all students and researchers who have collaborated during all these years in the Somosaguas Palaeontology Project; their work has allowed this project to grow more and more every year. The quality of this manuscript improved thanks to the insightful reviews of Laura Domingo Martínez and Juán López Cantalapiedra. This work is a contribution of the PMMV team (Palaeoclimatology, Macroecology and Macroevolution of Vertebrates) as part of the UCM 910607 Research Group on Evolution of Cenozoic Mammals and Continental Palaeoenvironments. It has been partially funded by MINECO (CGL2011-25754), MICINN (CGL2010-19116/BOS, CGL2008-05813-C02-01/BTE) and UCM (UCM-BSCH GR58/08-910607) projects. Blanca García Yelo is a researcher in training by a FPU contract (Education Ministry of Spain). Angelica Torices is funded by FECYT and the program “Ayudas para la movilidad postdoctoral en centros extranjeros”.