The micromammal fauna from Negratn-1 (Guadix Basin, Southern Spain): New evidence of African-Iberian mammal exchanges during the late miocene

A rich and diverse micromammal fauna from the late Turolian (MN13) locality of Negratn-1 (Guadix Basin, southern Spain) is described. The faunal list of this site includes Apodemus gudrunae, Occitanomys alcalai, Stephanomys dubari, Paraethomys meini, Myocricetodon jaegeri, Debruijnimys almenarensis, Apocricetus alberti, Ruscinomys sp., Eliomys sp., Atlantoxerus sp., Parasorex ibericus, and Soricidae indet. This is the most nearly complete mammal fauna from the Miocene of the Guadix Basin and allows precise correlations with localities from other Iberian areas. In addition, some of the taxa identified in Negratn-1 are useful as palaeoecological indicators (Myocricetodon, Debruijnimys, Atlantoxerus), evidencing warm and dry climatic conditions. But the principal interest of the fauna from Negratn-1 is the presence of several species of African origin, the gerbillids Debruijnimys almenarensis and Myocricetodon jaegeri, which are recognized for the first time in Europe. We also ascribe to M. jaegeri the population from the upper Turolian karst infilling of Almenara-M. This finding constitutes new evidence for faunal exchanges between North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula during the Messinian Salinity Crisis. © 2009 The Paleontological Society.