Late Villafranchian Mammuthus meridionalis (Nesti, 1825) from the Iberian Peninsula: Dentognathic remains from Incarcal-I (Crespia, Girona) and Venta Micena (Orce, Granada)

The late Early Pleistocene (Late Villafranchian) paleontological sites of Incarcal-I (Crespia, Catalonia, Spain) and Venta Micena (Orce, Andalusia, Spain), which are approximately 800 km apart, preserve a rich fossil record of proboscideans, corresponding to the species Mammuthus meridionalis. The remains from Incarcal-I have been described as an evolved form of the species. However, their comparison with the mandible of the same species from yenta Micena (with an approximate age of 1.4-1.6 Ma) and other specimens from different sites in Europe and Asia shows that the fossils from Incarcal-I and yenta Micena are very similar in morphology and metric data. Research suggests that the Catalonian specimens correspond to a form of the former species, which according to their morphology probably have a chronology closer to that of the yenta Micena specimens. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.