Short communicationFirst vertebrate tracks and palaeoenvironment in a MIS-5 context in the Doñana National Park (Huelva, SW Spain)
Introduction
In the last decades, numerous researchers have focused on the analysis and evolution of coastal environments (beaches, cliffs, marshes) subject to high-energy erosive events (e.g. Earlie et al., 2018). An increase in the frequency of these events causes the acceleration of coastal cliff retreat rates with an additional effect: the exposure or erosion of old geological formations or archaeological sites (Westley and McNeary, 2015). The southwestern Spanish coast is made up of extensive beaches and soft cliffs (e.g. El Asperillo cliff) between the Tinto-Odiel and the Guadalquivir River estuaries. These soft cliffs are being progressively dismantled due to the erosive action of winter storms (Rodríguez-Ramírez et al., 2003), currently causing the exposure of an ancient reddish surface that had been trampled by vertebrate animals. Here we present the first record of fossil tracks and trackways of terrestrial mammals and birds in the Late Pleistocene coastal aeolian deposits of southwestern Spain. Our main objectives are (1) to describe the morphologies of the tracks, (2) to consider the species likely to have caused the tracks, and (3) to provide data on the palaeoenvironment in which they were produced.
Section snippets
Study area
The Asperillo cliff (average elevation 20–22 m and length 35 km) is located along the southwestern Spanish littoral (Matalascañas, Huelva, Fig. 1A). Zazo et al. (1999) were the first researchers to carry out a detailed study of the sedimentary formations of the Asperillo cliff. Aeolian deposits constitute the upper half of the cliffs in our study area, close to Matalascañas beach (Fig. 1C and D). These authors distinguished six units (AU in Fig. 1B), interpreted as aeolian deposits separated by
The ichnological material
Since the outcrop is located in the intertidal zone of Matalascañas beach, an area affected by intense tidal gradients, the time factor constrained data recovery which consisted largely to the taking photographs and making casts of some of the tracks. The recognized tracks and trackways have been grouped into four morphotypes for mammals, and three for birds. Insect traces and rizoliths have also been identified.
Photogrammetry
Digital photogrammetry and GIS techniques was been used to registry and highlight
Artiodactyla
Two morphotypes (named A1 and A2) of artiodactyl tracks were identified in the MTS. The Morphotype A1 (Fig. 2A˗F) corresponds to large hoof prints with an average size range of 120–135 mm in length and 75 mm broad (Fig. 2A˗D), and a few trackways with measured stride lengths between 1000 and 1320 mm. Tracks were rounded or rectangular in outline. Impressions of third and fourth toes are central, and well-developed mirror images with inner hoof surfaces sometimes in median or posterior contact,
Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction
The Doñana National Park consists of 55,000 ha of wetland with tens of kilometres of sandy beach and coastal sand dunes, with lakes, stone pine (Pinus pinea) woodland and shrublands. MTS is situated within the borders of the park and appears to reflect similar environmental conditions to those of the present day.
The recent erosion of the cliff, by the latest winter storms, has brought to the surface the base of the Unit 1 (Zazo et al., 1999). Along the base of the cliff, the maximum observed
Conclusions
- 1.
The Late Pleistocene trampled surface on El Asperillo cliff contains abundant and exceptional mammal and bird tracks and trackways. This represents the first record of fossil vertebrate footprints in the Gulf of Cádiz.
- 2.
This trampled surface was found in the bottom of the sedimentary Unit 1, dated by OSL to ∼106 ± 19 ky, corresponding to the marine stage MIS-5 or Last Interglacial.
- 3.
The studied mammal tracks of the “Matalascañas Trampled Surface” represent the activity of artiodactyls (cf. Bos
Author statement
This paper has been write by Carlos Neto de Carvalho (C.N.C), Fernando Muñiz (F.M.), José María Galán (J.M.G.), Joaquín Rodriguez-Vidal (J.R.V.), Paula Gómez (P.G.), Antonio Toscano (A.T.), Francisco Ruiz (F.R.), Joao Belo (J.B.), Zain Belaústegui (Z.B.), Luis Miguel Cáceres (L.M.C.), Geraldine Finlayson (G.F.), Stewart Finlayson (S.F.), Francisco Giles Guzman (F.G.G.), and Clive Finlayson (C.F.).
The individual contributions of each co-author to the article is as follows: C.N.C coordinated the
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
The tracks were discovered on June 4th, 2020 by Ana Mateos Morillo and Ma Dolores Cobo García, biologists from the Doñana Natural Space. Research was possible thanks to the Delegaciones territoriales de Huelva, Consejería de Agricultura, Ganadería, Pesca y Desarrollo Sostenible and Consejería de Cultura (Junta de Andalucía), Servicio de Geodiversidad y Biodiversidad (Dirección General de Medio Natural, Biodiversidad y Espacios Protegidos) and The National Park of Doñana. Thanks to Juan Jose
References (15)
- et al.
Pehuen Co: updated taxonomic review of a late Pleistocene ichnological site in Argentina
Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol.
(2015) - et al.
Pleistocene vertebrate tracksites on the Cape south coast of South Africa and their potential palaeoecological implications
Quat. Sci. Rev.
(2020) - et al.
Analysis of the recent storm record in the southwestern Spanish coast: implications for littoral management
Sci. Total Environ.
(2003) - et al.
Coastal uplift in continental collision plate boundaries: data from the Last Interglacial marine terraces of the Gibraltar Strait area (south Spain)
Tectonophysics
(1999) - et al.
Landscape evolution and geodynamic controls in the Gulf of Cadiz (Huelva coast, SW Spain) during the late quaternary
Geomorphology
(2005) - et al.
The coastal archives of the last 15 ka in the Atlantic–Mediterranean Spanish linkage area: sea level and climate changes
Quat. Int.
(2008) - et al.
Animal Tracks and Signs
(2001)