Rodents and lagomorphs from the Middle Miocene hominoid-bearing site of Barranc de Can Vila 1 (els Hostalets de Pierola, Catalonia, Spain)

The Late Aragonian (MN7+8) locality of Barranc de Can Vila 1 (BCV1) (els Hostalets de Pierola, Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain) has delivered a rich small mammal sample associated to the Middle Miocene great ape Pierolapithecus catalaunicus. In this paper the rodents and lagomorphs from this site are described. The faunal list includes Prolagus oeningensis, Spermophilinus bredai, Miopetaurista cf. crusafonti, Glirudinus undosus, Muscardinus sansaniensis, Microdyromys complicatus, Paraglis sp., Eumyarion leemanni, Megacricetodon minor minor, Democricetodon brevis brevis, Democricetodon larteti and Hispanomys cf. aguirrei. The rodent fauna of BCV1 is diverse and includes a number of forest-dwelling genera indicating the existence of humid forest environments. The assemblage is very similar to that of other primate-bearing sites of the Vallès-Penedès Basin and markedly contrasts with that of similarly-aged sites from nearby areas such as the Calatayud-Daroca Basin. This suggests that this kind of environments, which appear to have been the favoured ones by great apes and pliopithecids, did not extent to the inner areas of the Iberian Peninsula. ©2010 E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, Germany.