Published December 17, 2020
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PALEOECOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF LARGE-SIZED WILD BOAR TRACKS RECORDED DURING THE LAST INTERGLACIAL (MIS 5) AT HUELVA (SW SPAIN)

Creators

  • 1. UNESCO Naturtejo Global Geopark, Geology Office of the Municipality of Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal
  • 2. University of Seville
  • 3. University of Barcelona
  • 4. University of Coimbra
  • 5. University of Huelva
  • 6. University of Lisbon
  • 7. Gibraltar Hardware

Description

Well-preserved tracks of the wild boar Sus scrofa are described from the Matalascanas Trampled Surface (MTS) in the upper Pleistocene aeolian basal unit of the El Asperillo Cliff, Huelva (southwestern Spain). These are the first published tracks of suid pigs in the fossil record, here formally described as Suidichnus galani igen. and isp. nov. A revision of valid artiodactyl ichnogenera is provided for comparison. The large size of wild boar found in the Late Pleistocene of Spain contradicts the general trend towards smaller size known for the evolution of the species and the Bergmann's ecogeographical rule for the extant subspecies. In the present case, the remarkable large size that can be reached by these tracks is discussed as an ecomorphological adaptation of wild boars to either resource bonanza, and/or predation pressure during the Last Interglacial. The large S. scrofa scrofa identified in MTS corresponds to some of the earliest evidences known to this subspecies in Iberia.
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