A new Late Pleistocene non-anthropogenic vertebrate assemblage from the northern Iberian Peninsula: Artazu VII (Arrasate, Basque Country)

Abstract

Late Pleistocene palaeontological sites without human intervention are limited in theCantabrian region, and even more so those with a good state of preservation and rich bio-diversity. A new vertebrate fossiliferous locality discovered at Kobate Quarry (Arrasate,northern Iberian Peninsula) is presented in this article. This site, in which remains of 40different vertebrate taxa were accumulated, acted as a natural trap. The preliminary ver-tebrate faunal list includes five amphibian taxa, four reptiles, seven species of birds and 24mammalian taxa. While small mammals are represented by 13 small mammal taxa (sevenin the Order Rodentia, five in the Order Eulipotyphla, and one in the Order Chiroptera),the large mammal fauna comprises eleven species, including ungulates and carnivores. Thepalaeoecology inferred from this faunal assemblage suggests the existence of large forestedareas with some grassland and a watercourse nearby, within a notably warm and humidclimate. These palaeoenvironmental conditions, combined with AMS and AAR results car-ried out in macrofaunal bone samples, suggest that the deposit from Artazu VII would belocated in the first half of the Late Pleistocene, in the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5c.