The marine fossil assemblages of the Pliocene of south Spain constitute the record of the marine fauna that colonised the western part of the Mediterranean after the Messinian Salinity Crisis. This work focuses on the analysis of lithofacies and fossil assemblages including trace fossils, invertebrates, and vertebrates with special attention to taphonomic features, for interpreting palaeoenvironmental conditions in the Vera Basin (SE Spain). The sedimentary sequences of the northern region of the Vera Basin display diverse stratigraphical, sedimentological, and palaeontological features that correspond to the evolution of a fan-delta in a narrow basin. The Vera Basin was characterised by shallow-marine shelf conditions during the early-mid Pliocene (Cuevas Formation). The basin emergence with the development of Gilbert-type fan deltas (Vera Member), and a protected, partially-enclosed marine embayment (Almanzora Member) occurred during the mid-late Pliocene due to regional uplift and movements of the Palomares strike-slip Fault along the eastern basin margin. The progradation of the central fan-delta lobes and the interaction with marginal fan-delta resulted in the partitioning of the basin that formed a small sub-basin with restricted stagnant conditions that favoured a Konservat Fossil-Lagerstätte. The high input of siliciclasts due to the uplift context of the margins of the basin favoured a high sedimentation rate and the fast burial of vertebrate remains. Fossil marine mammals occurs from shallow shelf deposits (Cuevas Formation) to bottomset (Cuevas Formation-Vera Member transition) and lower part of the clinoforms in the foreset (Vera Member). Cetacean remains are usually recorded not only in the relatively deep-water silty marls and sandy marls of the outer shelf and distal facies of the fan-delta (Espiritu Santo Formation), but also in the shallower coarse sands and conglomerates (Cuevas Formation and Espiritu Santo Formation). Sirenian remains, in contrast, are only recorded in coarse sand facies (Cuevas Formation and Espiritu Santo Formation) associated to charcoal wood fragments deposited in shallow waters near the shoreline. This narrow and relatively protected basin is interpreted as an area of reproduction and nursery of juveniles on the basis of the presence of cetaceans.

西班牙南部上新世的海洋化石组合构成了在墨西尼盐度危机后殖民在地中海西部的海洋动物群的记录。这项工作的重点是分析岩相和化石组合，包括痕迹化石，无脊椎动物和脊椎动物，并特别注意其分子生物学特征，以解释维拉盆地（西班牙东南部）的古环境条件。维拉盆地北部地区的沉积层序显示出不同的地层，沉积学和古生物学特征，与狭窄盆地中扇三角洲的演化相对应。维拉盆地的特征是在上新世中期到中期（Cuevas组）的浅海陆架条件。随着吉尔伯特型扇三角洲（维拉成员）的发展，盆地出现，并且由于区域隆升和帕洛马雷斯走滑断层的运动，在上新世中期后期发生了受保护的部分封闭的海相沉积（阿尔曼佐拉成员）。沿东部盆地边缘。中央扇三角洲的隆起和与边缘扇三角洲的相互作用导致盆地的划分，形成了一个小盆地，停滞条件受到限制，有利于KonservatFossil-Lagerstätte。由于盆地边缘隆起，硅质碎屑的大量输入有利于高沉积速率和脊椎动物遗体的快速埋葬。化石海洋哺乳动物发生在浅陆架沉积（Cuevas形成）到底部（Cuevas形成-Vera成员过渡）和前陆斜体的下部（Vera成员）。鲸类动物的遗骸通常不仅记录在扇形三角洲外陆架和远端相（Espiritu Santo组）的较深水粉质泥质和砂质泥质中，而且记录在较浅的粗砂和砾岩中（Cuevas组和Espiritu Santo组）。相比之下，Sirenian残骸仅记录在与沉积在海岸线附近浅水区的木炭碎片相关的粗砂相（Cuevas组和Espiritu Santo组）中。根据鲸类动物的存在，这个狭窄且相对受保护的盆地被解释为是未成年人的繁殖和育苗区。