Small mammals and relative dating in continental environments
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17735/cyg.v36i3-4.94673Keywords:
biostratigraphy; rodents; small mammals; dentition; morphology; systematics and evolutionAbstract
In this special volume of Quaternary and Geomorphology, "Dating methods in the Quaternary" organized by AEQUA, a chapter dedicated to small mammals could not be missing. Microfauna, as the relative dating technique in continental environments is popularly known, or small mammals, are generally the best biostratigraphic dating tools. Small mammals, especially rodents, are very numerous today and were during the Quaternary. This characteristic makes them produce a significant number of microfossils that are useful for biostratigraphic dating, that is, relative dating based on the presence-absence and contemporary associations of small mammal species. The biostratigraphic dating of the sediments formed in continental environments is of special relevance, specifically in caves, since they constitute the majority of the archaeological and paleontological sites of the Iberian Peninsula in which human evolution has been documented in an extraordinary way, such as those of Atapuerca, Gibraltar, El Mirón, Aroeira, among others.
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