Tafonomía de los yacimientos paleontológicos de Batallones-3 y Batallones-10 (Vallesiense Superior, Madrid, España)

Abstract

The Cerro de los Batallones (Batallones Butte) complex is located 30 km south of Madrid (Spain). The butte hosts a total of nine Vallesian (Late Miocene) palaeontological sites, found in cavities with an upper opening formed due to soil piping processes. The lower part of the cavities is overwhelmingly dominated by carnivoran remains, whereas the upper part hosts more common mammalian herbivore-dominated assemblages. Batallones-3 corresponds to the carnivoran-rich lower part of the structure. In turn, Batallones-10 corresponds to the herbivore-rich upper part of the cavity. Batallones-3 has been systematically excavated between the years 2001 and 2017, whereas excavations at Batallones-10 started in 2007 and are ongoing. Standard vertebrate excavation protocols have been followed in both sites, and the extraction of fossils has been exhaustively documented on-site. Data recovered includes taxonomical and anatomical identification, spatial data (x, y and z coordinates) and trend and plunge of elongated remains, among others...